Customizing Customer Fields 

Purpose

You make Customizing settings to be able to perform reporting using customer fields.

Prerequisites

Before you create a customer field, you must always run a data backup.

Process Flow

No postings may occur at the time when the field is created and at the time of the transport to the production system.

1. Defining the Coding Block

●        Note that you can no longer delete a customer field from the coding block as easily (that is, not with standard means).

●        To avoid naming conflicts, the customer fields must have names falling within the customer namespace. For more information about customer namespaces, see SAP Note 16466 and the related notes.

In the first step, you have to include the customer field in the coding block. You do this in the following IMG activity:

Financial Accounting (New) → Financial Accounting Global Settings (New) → Ledgers → Fields → Customer Fields → Edit Coding Block.

No posting transactions may be performed while you are including the customer field. We recommend using the “light” mode. For this, you only need to make the following entries so that all necessary changes to the dictionary and to the tables are performed automatically in the background:

●      Collection (package)

●      Field name

●      Field description

●      Data type

○       Character field (CHAR)

○       Character field with digits only (NUMC)

Depending on system performance, this may take some time. The system outputs the result in a log.

For detailed information, see the documentation on the IMG activity Edit Coding Block.

2. Changing the Field Status of a Customer Field

To be able to change and display a customer field in documents, you need to open it in the field status groups.

To change the field status groups for the G/L account, perform the IMG activity under the following path: Financial Accounting (New) → Financial Accounting Global Settings (New) → Ledgers → Fields → Define Field Status Variants. Customer fields are located in the subgroup Additional Account Assignments. Depending on the G/L accounts that you want to use, you can open the customer field in all field status groups or just in the relevant ones.

Besides the field status groups for G/L accounts, you also have to open the field in the field status for the posting key. You do this in the following IMG activity:

Financial Accounting (New) → Financial Accounting Global Settings (New) → Document → Define Posting Keys.

Since only G/L account items can have additional account assignments in the form of a customer field, only the posting keys for G/L accounts can be used here. We recommend including the customer field in the posting keys for G/L accounts as an optional field and using the field status groups for further control. It may be possible to define the customer field as a required entry field for some of the G/L accounts selected, and as an optional field for other G/L accounts. This option is particularly relevant if the customer field is substituted partially. As an alternative to specifying required entry fields in the field status, you can also use validation.

3. Creating Customer-Specific Totals Table (Optional)

If you want to use customer fields, you do not necessarily have to use a customer-specific table group. We recommend that you use the standard totals table. However, your accounting concept dictates whether, alongside the standard totals table, you also use a customer-specific totals table for selected data (such as for selected company codes). In this case, we recommend using the standard totals table FAGLFLEXT (or the corresponding industry-specific totals table, such as FMGLFLEXT in IS-PS) for the leading ledger. For more information, see Totals Table.

To create a customer-specific table group, perform the following IMG activity:

Financial Accounting (New) → Financial Accounting Global Settings (New) → Ledgers → Fields → Customer Fields → Include Fields in Totals Table.

Under Extras in the menu, select the option Create Table Group. Here, you can copy a template table (such as FAGLFLEXT) to a totals table in the customer namespace.

Note that, for a customer-specific table group, you cannot use the drilldown reports or the Report Writer/Report Painter reports that are delivered as standard. Instead, you must always create your own reports.

4. Including a Customer Field in the Totals Table

To include a customer field in the standard totals table or in a customer-specific totals table, perform the following IMG activity:

Financial Accounting (New) → Financial Accounting Global Settings (New) → Ledgers → Fields → Customer Fields → Include Fields in Totals Table.

You can include more than one field in the totals table. Note, however, that each additional field increases the data volume. Other than customer fields, you can also include standard fields in the totals table. Ensure that you reach a decision on this in good time. For more information, see Customer Field.

5. Assigning Customer Fields to Ledgers

To update a customer field in the desired ledgers, you have to assign the field to your ledgers in the following IMG activity:

Financial Accounting (New) → Financial Accounting Global Settings (New) → Ledgers → Ledger → Assign Scenarios and Customer Fields to Ledgers.

You can assign customer fields to the leading ledger as well as to non-leading ledgers. If, for example, you portray group accounting in the leading ledger and only need the customer field for local purposes, you can assign it just to the relevant non-leading ledger.

6. Setting Up Check on Customer Fields (Optional)

When you have included a customer field in the coding block, you can enter any information in this field - but this data is not checked. Since a customer field is generally applied for specific structured data or a limited number of characteristic values need to be entered, we recommend that you always run a check. You have the following options for this:

Check Using a Validation

You can use a validation in Financial Accounting to check the entries or the substituted field contents. This is useful if the validation rules are kept relatively simple and in a manageable number. You set up the validation by performing the following IMG activity:

Financial Accounting (New) → Financial Accounting Global Settings (New) → Tools → Validation/Substitution → Validation in Accounting Documents.

Here, you could choose between event 2 (document item) and event 3 (complete document).

Check Using a Check Table

Instead of performing a check using a validation, you can use a customer-specific, transparent table as a check table containing all possible characteristic values. You can define the customer-specific table using a table maintenance dialog. In this case, proceed as follows:

...

       1.      In transaction SE11, define a check table in the repository.

       2.      Create a table in the customer namespace. Such a table can have the following simple structure (as in the case of a Business Line):

Example: Check Table

Field Name	Key	Data Element	Type	Length	Description
MANDT	X	MANDT	CLNT	3	Client
BUSLINE	X	ZZBUSLINE(*)	NUMC	3	Business Line
TEXT50		TEXT50	CHAR	50	Description

*) Note that you should use the data element from coding block maintenance.

       3.      If you want to use a multilingual check, you have to move the texts to a separate table.

       4.      You can store this table in the BSEG as a check table for your customer field and in the structure CI_COBL under Foreign Key.

Search Help for Customer Fields

You can create a search help so that not only a check is performed on the customer field but a search help also appears.

...

       1.      In transaction SE11, select the Search Help option. For this, select the elementary search help.

       2.      As the selection method, enter the check table you created previously.

       3.      As search help parameters, see the example below.

Example: Search Help Parameters

Parameter	IMP	EXP	Data Element
BUSLINE	X	X	ZZBUSLINE
TEXT50			TEXT50

       4.      In the Entry Help/Check tab page, enter the search help in structure CI_COBL.

7. Defining the Master Data Check

To perform planning and allocation in new General Ledger Accounting, you need to define a master data check for customer fields. If you use a customer-specific check table, you can use it for this purpose. You can base your entry on the existing entries delivered by SAP and copy a suitable entry to your customer field. Specify your own table as the value table and text table. You define the master data check in the following IMG activity:

Financial Accounting (New) → Financial Accounting Global Settings (New) → Ledgers → Fields → Customer Fields → Define Master Data Check.

8. Including Customer Fields in Enjoy Transactions

In the entry variants of the Enjoy transactions, you can choose up to five generic fields under the technical name ACGL_ITEM_GEN-GEN_CH and occupy these fields with your customer fields.

...

       1.      Include the desired fields with the following IMG activity:

Financial Accounting (New) → Financial Accounting Global Settings (New) → Ledgers → Fields → Customer Fields → Include Customer Fields in Enjoy Transactions.

       2.      You can use the transaction Transaction and Screen Variants (SHD0) to show the fields. On the Screen Variant tab page, specify the desired Enjoy transactions (FB50, FB60, and so on) as well as the screen variants.

       3.      In the field overview that appears, switch the desired generic fields in the Hidden column to visible by deactivating the Hidden indicator.

For more information, see the documentation on the transaction SHD0. You call up the documentation by choosing the  Online Handbook pushbutton in the transaction.

9. Including Customer Fields in Document Splitting

Document splitting is used to split posting data according to specific document splitting criteria defined in General Ledger Accounting. Typically, document splitting is used to create balance sheets at the profit center level or used for segment reporting. Nevertheless, document splitting can also be applied to customer fields. It can be used even to create balance sheets with customer fields.

If you decide to perform document splitting using customer fields, we recommend examining your processes with regard to document splitting and drawing up a corresponding concept for those processes. In some circumstances, incorrect or incomplete document splitting settings can negatively effect General Ledger Accounting. See also SAP Note 891144.

As with the standard fields, you can use the Required Entry Fieldand Zero Balance options for customer fields. You should use no more than two or three fields - standard fields and customer fields alike - for document splitting. If you intend to use more fields for document splitting, you should seriously consider whether you really need to create a complete balance sheet for all dimensions.

You make the document splitting settings under Financial Accounting (New) → General Ledger Accounting (New) → Business Transactions → Document Splitting.

For more information on document splitting, see Document Splitting.