Clearing Payment Items 

Use

You can close open items on special accounts in Account Management (AM) by using clearing, and if necessary, you can reset the clearing.

AM has accounts for posting processing, which you can use for a temporary posting transfer (for example, working accounts). This means that there is a business requirement that each item or item group posted on a working account has one or more offsetting items, which clear these items or item groups. You can clear items on the same day or at a later date.

To find out which items still have not been cleared, clearing items are referenced to each other (cleared). Items that have not been referenced are thus not part of a cleared business transaction.

Examples of this type of clearing account:

·        Outstanding receivable accounts

·        Collective accounts

·        Holding accounts

·        Clearing accounts for payment transactions

·        Disbursement accounts for account closure

(see also Clearing Accounts in Practice)

The classic suspense (CpD) account or incorrect posting account in AM (account with the CpD indicator) is not taken into account here. Suspense (CpD) accounts are only processed automatically, using posting control rules. The system creates a posting control order for each of these postings. The Posting Control Office provides only certain methods for processing these items (transfer posting, return), which reverse the original item. The items that are still to be processed on these accounts are not reversed, and have a posting control order.

The following constraints apply to clearing:

·        The clearing function is not a management function for open items, which means that there is no procedure for the automatic assignment of open items.

·        Only one processor can clear accounts at any one time.

·        Reversal items cannot be cleared. They have already been referenced to the reversal items and thus are cleared already. This also applies to transfer posted and returned items.

·        You cannot reverse, transfer post, or return cleared items.

·        You can access the item data to be cleared only in the transactions that have been especially provided, thus you cannot display them via payment items.

Prerequisites

You have created the products required for the clearing accounts in the Customizing of Account Management (FS-AM) under Product Management ® Product Definition ® Account Products ® Create Account Products. In the Clearing feature, you define the transaction types for taking differences off the books for manual clearing, and for automatic removal from the books with clearing, and the period for the automatic removal from the books and/or the Can Be Cleared Externally attribute, and the Period for External Clearing in Days.

A standard product change is not possible for an existing account without the Clearing feature to a product with the Clearing feature. If, in an individual case, the feature needs to be set up retroactively for the account, you normally create a new account for the business process and then process the previous account manually. You may then need to adapt the Customizing settings for account determination afterwards. If you cannot change the account number of the clearing account for business reasons, you need to create the required measures for conversion as a special case by using modification. For more information, see Migration.

Scope of Functions

You are provided with the following functions:

·        Display account items that have not yet been cleared.

·        Flag items that belong together and that clear each other.

·        Reference items to each other if they clear each other (reference group).

·        Take remaining balances off the books if the items do not clear each other. If items that belong together do not clear each other, and if the reference group is to be closed (for example, expected repayments have been received except for a minimal amount), then the system takes the difference amount off the books, which is reflected in the revenue.

·        Display cleared account items.

·        Display all open items for an account on a key date.

·        Close reference groups.

·        Report for taking items off the books and offsetting them in the P&L account if they have a posting date before a period of time defined on the account.

·        Transfer of items with external clearing references by using a BAPI (to post turnover items) or direct input.

·        Report for clearing items with an external clearing reference.

Activities

Clearing Payment Items

...

       1.      From the SAP Easy Access screen, choose Account Management ® Account ® Turnovers, Balances and Key Figures ® Payment Item ® Clear Payment Item.

       2.      Specify the identification of the account to be cleared.

       3.      Choose Execute.

The system lists all uncleared items for this account, separated by debit and credit.

You can change the display by choosing Layout Settings and thus adapt the display to the specific account data. You can display all the fields of the payment item.

       4.      Choose the Display <-> Change button.

The system displays the processing mode. The system now displays an additional list: Assigned Items.

       5.      Select the items to be cleared, then choose Function ® Assign. You can also choose the Assign button, or use Drag&Drop to move the selected items to the Assigned Items list.

The system moves the selected items to the Assigned Items table, and calculates the balance of the assigned items. The items have the processing status Not Cleared (red icon).

You can also remove individual items from the Assigned Items table, or reset the entire assignment table. You are provided with the Assignment Table: Reset Line and Reset Assignment Table buttons for this purpose.

You can reset this step as often as you require, until you achieve the desired results.

       6.      Choose Function ® Clear or the Clear button.

If the balance is not zero, the system displays a dialog box.

       7.      Enter a comment and choose a transaction type. The system enables you to choose from all suitable transaction types that have been set up on the product.

       8.      Choose OK.

The system displays the generated item within the assigned item of the reference group. The processing status of this item is Cleared (green icon).

Resetting Clearing

...

       1.      From the SAP Easy Access screen, choose Account Management ® Account ® Turnovers, Balances and Key Figures ® Payment Item ® Reset Clearing.

       2.      Specify the account identification of the account for which you want to reset the clearing.

       3.      Choose Execute.

The system lists all cleared items for this account, separated by debit and credit. You can choose the Select Reference Group and Reset Assignment Table buttons for more information on the existing reference groups.

       4.      Choose the Display <-> Change button.

The system displays the processing mode. The system now displays an additional list: Assigned Items.

       5.      Select an item and choose Function ® Select Reference Group or the Select Reference Group button.

The system displays the items that belong to this reference group under Assigned Items. The processing status of these items is Cleared.

You can reset the clearing of these items if all the items of the reference group can still be changed in the system, meaning that they have not yet been archived or flagged for archiving.

       6.      Choose Function ® Reset Clearing or the Reset Clearing button.

The system displays a security query. If you confirm this query, the system closes this reference group. If the reference group contains a clearing posting, the system generates a reversal posting for that clearing posting. The system displays all items under Assigned Items with the status Not Cleared.

Clear Payment Items Using External Reference

...

       1.      From the SAP Easy Access screen, choose Account Management ® Periodic Tasks  ® Payment Items  ® Clear Payment Items using External Reference.

The system displays the selection screen. In addition to the specifications on the processing flow control and the application log, you can restrict the accounts to be processed by entering general and special selection restrictions. You can thus restrict the selection to accounts whose open items are older than the period for external clearing in days that is set up on the product.

       2.         Choose Execute.

The report identifies all open items for the selected accounts with the attribute External Clearing that have the same external reference. If the items with an external reference total up to zero, then they are cleared (an internal reference group is generated). The system lists the open items that are older than the period for external clearing for each account in the log.

       3.      From the SAP Easy Access screen, choose Account Management ® Logs  ® Payment Items  ® Application Log – Clearing with External Reference.

The system displays the selection screen that lists the application logs of this mass run. For more information, choose the Program Documentation button.

Clearing Old Open Payment Items

...

       1.      From the SAP Easy Access screen, choose Account Management ® Periodic Tasks  ® Payment Items  ® Clear Old Open Payment Items.

The system displays the selection screen. In addition to the specifications on the processing flow control and the application log, you can restrict the accounts to be processed by entering general and special selection restrictions. You can thus restrict the selection to accounts whose open items are older than the period for automatic clearing in months that is set up on the product.

       2.      Choose Execute.

This program clears and takes all clearable items off the books from the selected accounts with the Automatically Clearable attribute, and whose specified period of time has expired. This means that the open items are closed, an offsetting position (total) is calculated, and posted with the specified transaction type (debit or credit).

       3.      From the SAP Easy Access screen, choose Account Management ® Logs  ® Payment Items  ® Application Log - Clear Old Items.

The system displays the selection screen that lists the application logs of this mass run. For more information, choose the Program Documentation button.

Display open items of an account

...

       1.      From the SAP Easy Access screen, choose Account Management ® Account ® Turnovers, Balances and Key Figures ® Payment Item ® Display Open Items of a Clearing Account.

       2.      Specify the identification of the account whose open items are to be checked.

       3.      Specify the key date on which you want to check the open items.

You can generate the list of open items for any required key date, for example, at the end of the quarter at any time required. The system determines the valid status for the key day.

       4.      Choose Execute.

The system displays all the open items of this account for the key day in a list.

On the key date, all the items that are open are those whose posting date is on or before the key date, and for which one of the following conditions applies:

¡        The item is not yet cleared.

¡        The item is cleared but at least one item with the same clearing reference has a posting date after the key date.

¡        The item is reversed but the reversal item has a posting date after the key date.