Generation of Payment Reference Numbers 

Use

In Scandinavia, it is standard business practice to number invoices with a payment reference number. In Switzerland, companies that issue PostFinance invoices with detachable inpayment slips print a payment reference number on the slip.

The system can automatically generate a payment reference number.

Prerequisites

You have made the settings in Customizing for Customer Relationship Management, by choosing Billing  → Country-Specific Functions  → Payment Reference Numbers.

Activities

Creating Billing Documents

When a billing clerk creates a billing document, the system automatically generates a payment reference number and stores it in the document header.

If you use an R/3 back-end, the system also transfers the payment reference number to the accounting document in Accounts Receivable (FI-AR). The payment reference number is stored in the customer item.

Using the Payment Reference Number to Clear Incoming Payments

When your customer pays the invoice, it quotes the payment reference number. In the R/3 back-end, you can use the payment reference number to clear the invoice.

If the customer makes the payment via its bank, the payment details are included in the electronic bank statement sent to you by the bank. The accounts receivable clerk imports the statement into the R/3 back-end using the Electronic Bank Statement in Bank Accounting (FI-BL), or, in Switzerland, using the program RFESR000. These programs read the details of the payment, including the payment reference number, and search the R/3 back-end for the open item with the same payment reference number. When the program finds the open item, it clears it against the payment.

If a customer pays using another method, for example, in cash or by check, quoting the payment reference number, the accounts receivable clerk enters the payment manually in FI-AR. Similarly, he can use the payment reference number to match the payment to the correct invoice.

Canceling Billing Documents

When a billing clerk cancels a billing document that has a payment reference number, the system assigns the same payment reference number to the cancellation document.