Country Template 

Definition

A range of Customizing settings that are typical for a particular country. A country template is supplied with each standard country version.

Use

For information about how the country templates are used, see Setup of Country-Specific Organizational Units.

Structure

The main settings made by the country templates are listed below, in the order in which they occur in the Implementation Guide (IMG).

The exact range of settings made depends on the country template. The list here is intended as a guide only. For more information about what settings are made by the individual country templates, see that country version's documentation.

Cross-Application (CA)

Each country template includes:

Financial Accounting (FI)

Each country template comes with a wide range of Customizing settings for FI, as follows:

The country templates include a national tax calculation procedure and tax codes. Some of the calculation procedures contain all the settings required; others are less comprehensive and are intended as a starting point for your own Customizing. With one or two exceptions, the calculation procedures are named TAX followed by the country's ISO code, for example, TAXZA for South Africa.

Customizing settings (for example, withholding tax types and withholding tax codes) are provided for the withholding tax and extended withholding tax functions, depending on the country's requirements. Again, these vary in scope. In addition, some SAPscript forms for vendor withholding tax certificates are also provided for some countries, which you can adapt to suit your requirements.

The standard SAP System includes account determination settings for a wide range of business transactions – not just for FI – for example, which G/L accounts taxes are to be posted to, and which accounts inventory is to be recorded on. Separate settings are provided for each chart of accounts.

General Ledger (FI-GL)

Each country template contains:

For countries with no specific legal requirements as to the chart of accounts, a generic chart of accounts, INT, is supplied.

Where a country has legal requirements, recommendations, or accounting standards with regard to the chart of accounts, a separate chart of accounts is provided. In the SAP System, with one or two exceptions, these charts of accounts follow the same naming convention, CA followed by the country's ISO code, for example, CATR (Turkey).

Countries that work with chart of accounts INT share the same financial statement version, also called INT.

For countries where the structure of the financial statements is laid out by law, separate financial statement versions are provided, which go mainly under the name BA followed by the country's ISO code (BAHU for Hungary, for example). Note, however, that there are one or two exceptions to this naming convention.

Separate financial statement versions are also provided for German businesses working with charts of accounts GKR and IKR.

Accounts Payable (FI-AP)

In FI-AP, the country templates come with the Customizing settings needed for the payment program, including the major payment methods in the country and sample house banks.

Bank Accounting (FI-BL)

A limited number of country templates include national formats used by the electronic account statement.

Asset Accounting (FI-AA)

Each country template includes the following:

The naming convention for these charts is 0 plus the country's ISO code, for example, 0BR for Brazil, but the Country Installation Program automatically creates copies of these charts (as when you copy them manually) and renames them with a 1 instead of an 0, for example, 1BR or 1FR.

Controlling (CO)

Each country template includes the following Customizing settings:

A cost element group is provided, comprising primary and secondary cost elements, one for each G/L account, except for cost elements of category 11 and 12 (revenues and sales deductions), which cannot be provided for technical reasons, and which you have to maintain yourself, if you require them. A costing sheet is also provided.

Each country template includes a sample standard hierarchy with one cost center.

The standard SAP System includes a sample standard hierarchy of profit centers for each country template. Countries working with the generic chart of accounts (INT) share the same hierarchy, P0001; those with their own chart of accounts have their own hierarchy, with the name P plus the controlling area, for example, PCO01 for Colombia.

Sales and Distribution (SD)

For countries with pricing procedures that vary from the norm (for example, due to forms of taxes not found in other countries), a separate pricing procedure is supplied.

Real Estate Management (RE)

RE is covered by around one-third of the country templates. Where a template is supplied, it includes (with one or two exceptions):

Project System (PS)

The country templates include examples of PS objects and functions that need to be assigned to a controlling area, including sample settings for automatic and periodic allocations of revenues and earnings, and a sample value category.