The varied demands on master data management for Asset Accounting are met in the R/3 FI-AA component by

• Asset master records that are structured according to functional and goal-oriented requirements
• Master data maintenance that is organized according to this structure, and allows for individual adaptation

In order to make it easier for the user to create, maintain and evaluate master data, the varied individual information is structured according to its area of use and the relevant functions in the system. The asset master record consists of two main parts:

This part of the master record contains concrete information about the fixed asset. The following field groups exist:

• General information (description, quantity, etc.)
• Account assignment
• Posting information (for example, capitalization date)
• Time-dependent assignments (for example, cost center)
• Information for plant maintenance
• Entries for net worth tax
• Information on real estate
• Leasing conditions
• Investment support measures
• Information on the origins of the asset
• Physical inventory data
• Insurance data
• User fields/evaluation groups

In addition, you can create long texts for the individual field groups belonging to the general data part of the asset master record. You can simplify the creation of long texts by using freely-definable long text templates. You define these templates in FI-AA Customizing under Define long text templates.

You can specify depreciation terms in the asset master record for each depreciation area in the chart of depreciation. In order for you to make these specifications, the master record contains an overview of the depreciation areas. In addition, there is a detailed display available for each depreciation area. If there are depreciation areas that are not needed for a specific asset, it is possible to deactivate these depreciation areas at the asset level.

The following graphic shows the most important depreciation terms in a depreciation area: