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  Depiction Using Additional Accounts

Use

You can portray parallel accounting in your SAP System by creating additional accounts. This means that you have different account areas:

One joint account area for postings that are the same for both accounting principles

One area with specific accounts for each accounting principle. Each business transaction that, dependent on the accounting principle, leads to a different posting, is posted to the corresponding specific account area.

When you perform closing according to a specific accounting principle, the common accounts and the specific accounts for this accounting principle are evaluated.

With this approach, all specific posting data per accounting principle are supported in the general ledger. This makes it easier to reconcile with other SAP components or to transfer to other SAP components. However, the disadvantage to this is that data from different valuations is entered in one ledger.

Recommendation

The following is the approach recommended by SAP for depicting parallel accounting using additional accounts.

All methods of parallel valuation in the SAP System (such as value adjustments or results analysis) support this approach.

Standard reporting is available.

The approach is particularly suitable if:

The number of valuation differences is limited in your accounting principles.

You work with just one fiscal year variant

Multiple valuation approaches in your general ledger do not pose a problem

You can accept a large number of G/L accounts

Features

If this approach is suitable in your case, you should note the following points:

Systematic Assignment of Account Numbers

Before you create the general ledger accounts for the specific account areas, you should set up a concept for number assignment.

Retained Earnings Account and Balance Carryforward

You can manage a separate retained earnings account for each accounting principle. This means that, at a fiscal year change, you can carry forward the balances of the profit and loss accounts from the specific account areas to the retained earnings account specified. You only have to carry forward the balances once.

When you create the general ledger accounts for the specific account areas, make sure that you assign a separate P&L statement account type for each account area. Then assign a separate retained earnings account to each P&L statement account type.

Financial Statement Versions

You can create a separate financial statement version for each accounting principle. This means that when you create financial statements, you can select a separate structure for each accounting principle.

Complete Postings versus Difference Postings

You can perform parallel postings in the specific account areas either as complete postings in both areas or as difference postings:

In Asset Accounting (FI-AA), both difference postings and complete postings are supported.

All other application components (FI, CO, CFM) support only complete postings.

Reporting

For reporting, you can use the following tools in this approach:

Drilldown Reporting

Report Painter/Report Writer

To create financial statements, you can use the report Financial Statements (RFBILA00)

Activities

To create additional accounts, from the SAP Easy Access screen, choose Accounting Financial Accounting General Ledger Master Data G/L Account Individual Processing Create.