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(cid:131) Minimum/maximum payment amounts
(cid:131) Whether payment abroad or in foreign currency is allowed
(cid:131) Payment Media
(cid:131) Bank optimization
4. House Bank
228. How do You Execute an ‘Automatic Payment Program’?
The following are the series of events happening in the system when you try to execute an
‘Automatic Payment Program’:
1. Maintain Payment Parameters
To start with, you need to maintain the parameters required such as date of execution of
‘payment run,’ ‘payment run identifier,’ etc. Once this is done, you need to specify the
‘posting date’ of these payments, the ‘document date’ up to which the program should
consider the items, the paying Company Code, payment methods to be considered, the
‘next posting date,’ is there certain accounts which need to be excluded from the run, etc.
The payment run then needs to be scheduled either immediately or at a specified
time/date.
2. Payment Proposal
The system creates a ‘payment proposal’ based on the payment parameters maintained in
(1) above. The system selects the eligibleOpen Items based on the following sequence:
a. Due date is determined via theBase Line Date and theTerms of Payment for
each of the line items.
b. Program calculates theCash Discount Period and due date for theNet
Payment.
c. Grace Periods are then added to this due date.
d. WhichSpecial GL accounts are to be included, based on what you have already
maintained as the parameters in (1) above.
e. The system will determine whether to include an item during the current run or for
the future one based on the specifications you made in (1).
f. Blockingan item.
The payment proposal can be displayed for further processing; the ‘log’ can be
checked to see the system messages, and the exception list can be generated for
further evaluation.
3. Payment Proposal
With the payment proposal available, you can now edit the proposal to:
a. Change House Bank, from what was maintained earlier
b. Change Payment Method, if necessary
c. Change Payment Due Date to relax or restrict certain open items
d. Block/Unblock line items
4. Payment Run
After the payment proposal has been edited, you can run thePayment Program that
creates the payment documents and prepares the data for printing the forms or creating
the tape or disk. Before printing the forms, check the logs to determine that the payment
program run was successful.
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5. Print Run
Payment Medium Programs use the data prepared by the payment program to create
forms (payment advice, EDI accompanying sheet, etc.) or files for the data media. The
data created by the payment program is stored in the following tables:
REGUH Payee or Payment Method data
REGUP Individual Open Items data
REGUD Bank Data and Payment Amounts data
You need to defineVariants for print programs, which need to be defined:
a. Per Payment Method per country->assign a Print Program
b. To run the Print Program->at least one Variant per Print Program per Payment
Method
229. Can You Pay a Vendor in a Currency Other than the Invoice
Currency?
With release 4.5A, you can pay a vendor in a currency that is different from that of the
transaction/invoice currency. This is achieved by entering the required currency code directly in
the open item. Prior to this release, to pay in a different currency, you had to manually process
the payment.
230. What is a ‘Payment Block’?
A‘Payment Block’ prevents you from paying an open item of a vendor. The payment block is
entered in the‘Payment Block’ field in a vendor master record or directly in the open line item.
Use the payment‘Block Indicators’ to define the‘Payment Block Reasons.’ You may use the
SAP delivered payment block indicators (A, B, I, R, etc.) or create your own. An indicator such as
‘*’ is used when you want to skip the particular account, and a blank indicator indicates that the
account/item is free for payment. However, for each of these ‘block indicators,’ you need to
configure whether changes would be allowed while processing the payment proposal. Then, it is
also possible to block a payment or release a blocked one while processing the‘Payment
Proposal.’
You may also propose a ‘payment block indicator’ while defining Terms of Payment.
231. How do You Release ‘Blocked Invoices for Payments’?
The system willblock an invoice if it comes across with an item with a‘BlockingReason.’ The
blocking reason may be due to variances or inspection-related issues. When the system blocks
an invoice for payment, the ‘payment block’ field is checked by the system.
You will use an‘Invoice Release Transaction’ to select the blocked invoices for processing
further. The ‘release’ of blocked invoices for payments can be handled either manually or
automatically.
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232. What is the ‘Account Assignment Category’?
The‘Automatic Account Assignment’ logic takes care of posting to the correct GL accounts for
‘Stock Material’ with the‘Material Type’ permitting inventory management, and the material
master contains information as to which GL account needs to be updated. But there are material
line items(‘Non-Stock’ materials) created manually in the Purchase Requisition/Purchase
Order/Outline Agreement for which someone needs to decide the account assignment data and
manually enter it in the Purchase Requisition. Here, theAccount AssignmentCategory
determines where to allocate the costs relating to such materials. The account assignment
category helps you to define the type of account assignment (Sales Order-C, Project-P, Cost
Center-K, etc.) and which accounts are to be posted to when GR/IR is posted to.
233. What is a ‘Credit Memo’?
A‘Credit Memo’ is issued by a vendor who has earlier supplied you some services or materials.
The occasion is necessitated when the delivered goods are damaged or you have returned some
of the goods back to the vendor. The system treats both the invoices and the credit memo in the
same way, except that the postings are done with the opposite sign.
If the credit memo is for the entire invoiced quantity, the system generates the credit memo
automatically. However, if the credit memo relates to a portion of the invoiced quantity, you need
to process it manually in the system.
234. What are ‘Special GL Transactions’?
‘Special GL Transactions’ are not directly posted to the GL (Reconciliation Accounts) though
these are related to subledger accounts such as AR/AP. The transactions to these accounts are
shown separately in the balance sheet. There are specific posting keys/indicators defined in the
system to regulate the postings to these items. You need to specify aSpecial GL Indicator (such
as aF-Down Payment Request,A-Down Payment) for processing such a transaction. And the
system will make use of the specially defined posting keys (09-customer debit, 19-customer credit,
29-vendor debit, and 39-vendor credit) for posting these special GL transactions.
There are three types of Special GL transactions:
(cid:131) Free Offsetting Entries (Down Payment)
(cid:131) Statistical Postings (Guarantee)
(cid:131) Noted Items (Down Payment Request)
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Figure 56:Special GL Indicators
235. Differentiate ‘Free Offsetting Entry’ from a ‘Statistical Posting.’
‘Free Offsetting Entry’ postings are part of the regular postings but with a freely definable
offsetting entry, and relate to theOn-Balance Sheet Items. On the other hand, in aStatistical
Posting, you will always be posting to the same offsetting entry, and these are all theOff-
Balance Sheet Items.
236. What is a ‘Noted Item’
‘Noted Items’ are never displayed on Financial Statements as they serve only as reminders of a
financial obligation such as outstanding payments to be made or due to us, such as a‘Down
Payment Request.’ This kind of posting does not update any GL account in the system but helps
to keep track of such obligations for easy follow-up. This is also sometimes referred to as a
‘Memo Entry.’
It is interesting to note that while the Special GL Indicator for a Down Payment Request is‘F,’ you
need to enter the indicator‘A’ as the target Special GL indicator while you are in theDown
Payment Request Entry Screen. When you post this entry, the system creates a one-sided
memo entry for the customer or vendor but does not update the GL.
Asset Accounting
237. Explain ‘Asset Accounting’ (FI-AA).
The‘Asset Accounting’(FI-AA) submodule in SAP manages a company’s fixed assets, right
from acquisition to retirement/scrapping. All accounting transactions relating to depreciation,
insurance, etc., of assets are taken care of through this module, and all the accounting
information from this module flows to FI-GL on a real-time basis.
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Figure 57:FI-AA integration with other modules
You will be able to directly post (the goods receipt (GR), invoice receipt (IR), or any withdrawal
from a warehouse to a fixed asset) from MM or PP to FI-AA. The integration with FI-AR helps in
direct posting of sales to the customer account. Similarly, integration with FI-AP helps in posting
an asset directly to FI-AA and the relevant vendor account in cases where the purchase is not
routed through the MM module. You may capitalize the maintenance activities to an asset using
settlements through the PM module. FI-AA and FI-GL has real-time integration where all the
transactions such as asset acquisition, retirement, transfer, etc., are recorded simultaneously in
both the modules. However, batch processing is required to transfer the depreciation values,
interest, etc., to the FI module.
The FI-AA and CO integration helps in:
(cid:131) Assigning an asset to any of theControlling Objects such as cost center, internal
order/maintenance order, or an activity type.Internal Orders act as a two-way link to the FI-
AA: (i) they help to collect and pass on the capital expenditure to assets, and (ii) they collect
the depreciation/interest from FI-AA to controlling objects. (Note that when there is a
situation where the asset master record contains an internal order and a cost center, the
depreciation isalways posted to the internal order and not to the cost center.)
(cid:131) The depreciation and the interest are passed on to the cost/profit centers.
238. What is a ‘Lean Implementation’ in FI-AA?
A‘Lean Implementation’ is the scaled-down version of the regular FI-AA configuration in IMG,
with minimal configuration required to enable asset accounting. This is suitable for small
companies using the standard functionalities of asset accounting, and also in situations where the
Asset Catalog is not that large.
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Figure 58:Lean implementation in FI-AA
You should not opt for lean implementation if:
(cid:131) You need more than Depreciation Areas
(cid:131) You need to Depreciate In Foreign Currencies as well
(cid:131) You have Group Assets
(cid:131) You need to define your own Depreciation Keys/Transaction Types/ Reports
(cid:131) You need a Group Consolidation
239. What are the kinds of ‘Assets’ in SAP?
An asset can be aSimple Asset orComplex Asset. Depending on the requirement, assets are
maintained withAsset Main NumbersandAsset Subnumbers. A complex asset consists of
manySub-Assets; each of them identified using an asset subnumber. You may also use the
conceptGroup Asset in SAP.
240. Explain ‘Complex Assets’ and ‘Asset Subnumbers.’
A‘Complex Asset’ in SAP is made up of many master records each of which is denoted by an
‘Asset Subnumber.’ It is prudent to use asset subnumbers if:
(cid:131) You need to manage the ‘subsequent acquisitions’ separately from the initial one (for
example, your initial acquisition was a PC, and you are adding a printer later).
(cid:131) You want to manage the various parts of an asset separately even at the time of ‘initial
acquisition’ (for example, an initial purchase of a PC where you create separate asset master
records for the monitor, CPU, etc.).
(cid:131) You need to divide the assets based on certain technical qualities (keyboard, mouse,
etc.).
When you manage a complex asset, the system enables you to evaluate the asset in all possible
ways such as(i) for a single subnumber,(if) for all subnumbers, and(iii) for select subnumbers.
241. What is a ‘Group asset’ in SAP? When You will use This?
A‘Group Asset’ in SAP is almost like a normal asset except that it can have (any number of)
sub-assets denoted byAsset Subnumbers. The concept of group asset becomes necessary
when you need to carry out depreciation at a group level, for some special purposes such as tax
reporting. Remember that SAP’s way of depreciation is always at the individual asset level.
Hence, to manage at the group level, you need the group asset. Once you decide to have group
assets, you also need to have ‘special depreciation areas’ meant for group assets; you will not be
able depreciate a group asset using a normal depreciation area.
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UnlikeComplex Assets, you can delete a group asset only when all the associated subnumbers
have been marked for deletion.
242. What is a ‘Asset Super Number’ in SAP?
The concept of‘Asset Super Number,’ in FI-AA, is used only for reporting purposes. Here, you
will assign a number of individual assets to a single asset number. By using this methodology,
you will be able to see all the associated assets with the asset super number as a single asset
(for example, brake assembly line) or as individual assets (for example, machinery, equipment in
the brake assembly line).
243. What is a ‘Chart of Depreciation’? How does it differ from a
‘Chart of Accounts’?
A‘Chart of Depreciation’ contains a list of country-specific depreciation areas. It provides the
rules for the evaluation of assets that are valid in a given country or economic area. SAP comes
supplied with default charts of depreciation that are based on the requirements of each country.
These default charts of depreciation also serve as the ‘reference charts’ from which you can
create a new chart of depreciation by copying one of the relevant charts. After copying, you may
delete the depreciation areas you do not need. However, note that the deletion must be done
before any assets are created.
You are required to assign a chart of depreciation to your Company Code. Remember that one
Company Code can have only one chart of depreciation assigned to it, even though multiple
Company Codes can use a single chart of depreciation.
The chart of accounts can be global, country specific, and industry specific based on the needs of
the business. The chart of depreciation is onlycountryspecific. The charts are independent of
each other.
Open table as spreadsheet Chart of Depreciation Chart of Accounts
Established by FI-AA. Established by FI.
A chart of depreciation is a collection of country The chart of accounts is a list of GL
specific depreciation areas. accounts used in a Company Code.
The chart of accounts contains the
chart of accounts area and the
Company Code area.
The chart of depreciation is country specific. Usually Depending on the requirement you
you will not require more than one chart of account. may have an ‘operating chart of
SAP comes delivered with many country specific accounts,’ ‘country specific chart of
charts of depreciation as ‘reference charts’ which can accounts,’ ‘global chart of accounts,’
be copied to create your own chart of depreciation. etc.
One Company Code uses only one chart of One Company Code uses only one
depreciation. chart of accounts.
Many Company Codes, in the same country, can use Several Company Codes within the
the same chart of depreciation. same country can use the same
chart of accounts.
244. How do You Create an ‘Asset Accounting Company Code’?
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| Open table as spreadsheet Chart of Depreciation | Chart of Accounts |
|---|---|
| Established by FI-AA. | Established by FI. |
| A chart of depreciation is a collection of country specific depreciation areas. | The chart of accounts is a list of GL accounts used in a Company Code. The chart of accounts contains the chart of accounts area and the Company Code area. |
| The chart of depreciation is country specific. Usually you will not require more than one chart of account. SAP comes delivered with many country specific charts of depreciation as ‘reference charts’ which can be copied to create your own chart of depreciation. | Depending on the requirement you may have an ‘operating chart of accounts,’ ‘country specific chart of accounts,’ ‘global chart of accounts,’ etc. |
| One Company Code uses only one chart of depreciation. | One Company Code uses only one chart of accounts. |
| Many Company Codes, in the same country, can use the same chart of depreciation. | Several Company Codes within the same country can use the same chart of accounts. |
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i. Define the Company Code in FI configuration, and assign a chart of accounts to this
Company Code.
ii. Assign a chart of depreciation to this Company Code in FI-AA configuration.
iii. Add necessary data for the Company Code for use in FI-AA, and your ‘asset accounting
Company Code’ is now ready for use.
245. What is ‘Depreciation’? Explain the Various Types.
‘Depreciation’ is the reduction in thebook value of an asset due to its use over time (‘decline in
economic usefulness’) or due to legal framework for taxation reporting. The depreciation is
usually calculated taking into account theeconomiclife of the asset,expected value of the
asset at the end of its economic life(junk/scrap value), method of depreciation calculation
(straight line method, declining balance, sum of year digits, double declining, etc.), and the
defined percentage decline in the value of the asset every year (20%, or 15%, and so on).
The depreciation can either be planned or unplanned.
Planned depreciation is one which brings down the value of the asset after every planned
period; say every month, until the asset value is fully depreciated over its life period. With this
method, you will know what the value of the asset at any point of time in its active life.
On the contrary,unplanned depreciation is a sudden happening of an event or occurrence not
foreseen (there could be a sudden break out of a fire damaging an asset, which forces you to
depreciate fully as it is no longer useful economically) resulting in a permanent reduction of the
value of the asset.
In SAP, you will come across three types of depreciation:
1. Ordinary depreciation, which is nothing but ‘planned depreciation.’
2. Special depreciation, which is over and above ‘ordinary depreciation,’ used normally for
taxation purposes.
3. Unplanned depreciation, which is the result of reducing the asset value due to the
sudden occurrence of certain events.
246. Define ‘Depreciation Areas.’
Fixed assets are valued differently for different purposes (business, legal, etc.). SAP manages
these different valuations by means of‘Depreciation Areas.’ There are various depreciation
areas such as book depreciation, tax depreciation, depreciation for cost-accounting purposes, etc.
Figure 59:Depreciation Area
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A depreciation area decides how and for what purpose an asset is evaluated. The depreciation
area can be ‘real’ or a ‘derived one.’ You may need to use several depreciation areas for a single
asset depending on the valuation and reporting requirements.
The depreciation areas are denoted by a 2-character code in the system. The depreciation areas
contain the depreciation terms that are required to be entered in theasset master records or
asset classes. SAP comes delivered with many depreciation areas; however, the depreciation
area01—Book Depreciation is the major one.
Figure 60:Details of 01-Book Depreciation
The other depreciation areas are:
(cid:131) Book depreciation in group currency
(cid:131) Consolidated versions in local/group currency
(cid:131) Tax balance sheet depreciation
(cid:131) Special tax depreciation
(cid:131) Country-specific valuation (e.g., net-worth tax or state calculation)
(cid:131) Values/depreciations that differ from depreciation area 01 (for example, cost-accounting
reasons)
(cid:131) Derived depreciation area (the difference between book depreciation and country-specific
tax depreciation)
247. How do You Set up ‘Depreciation Area postings’ to FI from FI-
AA?
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You need to define how the various depreciation areas need to post to FI-GL. It can be any one
of the following scenarios:
(cid:131) Post depreciation through ‘periodic processing.’
(cid:131) Post both the APC (Acquisition and Production Costs) and depreciation through periodic
processing.
(cid:131) Post the APC in ‘real time’ but depreciation through periodic processing.
(cid:131) No values are posted.
However, you need to ensure that at least one depreciation area is configured to post values
automatically to the FI-GL. Normally, this depreciation area will be 01 (book depreciation). For the
rest of the depreciation areas, it may be configured that they derive their values from this area
and the difference thus calculated is automatically posted to FI-GL. There may also be situations
where you may define depreciation areas just for reporting purposes, and these areas need not
post to the GL.
248. What is an ‘Asset Class?
An‘Asset Class’ in SAP is the basis for classifying an asset based on business and legal
requirements. It is essentially a grouping of assets having certain common characteristics. Each
asset in the system needs to be associated with an asset class.
Figure 61:Asset Class
An asset class is the most important configuration element that decides the type of asset (such as
land, buildings, furniture and fixtures, equipment, assets under construction, leased assets, low-
value assets, etc.), the document number range, data entry screen layout for asset master
creation, GL account assignments, depreciation areas, depreciation terms, etc. An asset class is
defined at the Client level and is available to all the Company Codes of that Client.
The asset class consists of:
(cid:131) Aheader section—control parameters for master data maintenance and account
determination.
(cid:131) Amaster data section—default values for administrative data in the asset master record.
(cid:131) Avaluation section—control parameters for valuation and depreciation terms.
The asset class can be:
(cid:131) Buildings
(cid:131) Technical assets
(cid:131) Financial assets
(cid:131) Leased assets
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(cid:131) AuC (assets under construction)
(cid:131) Low value assets
249. Why do You need ‘Asset Classes’?
An‘Asset Class’ is the link between the asset master records and the relevant accounts in the
GL. Theaccount determination in the asset class enables you to post to the relevant GL
accounts. Several asset classes can use the same account determination provided all these
asset classes use the same chart of accounts and post to the same GL accounts.
250. What is an ‘Asset Class Catalog’?
An‘Asset Class Catalog’ contains all the asset classes in an enterprise and is therefore valid
across the Client. Since an asset class is valid across the Client, most of the characteristics of the
asset class are defined at the Client level; however, there are certain characteristics (such as the
depreciation key, for example), which can be defined at the chart of depreciation level.
251. Is it Possible to Create ‘Asset Classes’ Automatically?
One of the benefits of lean implementation configuration is the ability to create asset classes
automatically from the asset GL accounts. This tool selects only necessary system settings so
that the asset classes are created automatically in a very short time. During the process of
creation, the system allows you to delete all the existing objects (i.e., asset classes, number
ranges, account allocations, field selections, etc.) before creating the new ones.
The prerequisites for automatic asset class creation include:
(cid:131) Company Code must be assigned to a chart of depreciation
(cid:131) Depreciation areas have already been defined
(cid:131) GL account number is not more than 8 digits (otherwise you need to assign the classes
manually)
Also note that you may need to maintain the GL account for ‘accumulated depreciation’ manually.
The system maintains the necessary account assignment only with regard to the depreciation
area 01 (book depreciation). If you need more areas, you may need to do that manually in the
IMG.
252. What is an ‘Asset Value Date’?
The‘Asset Value Date’ is the start date of depreciation for the asset. The ‘planned depreciation’
is calculated by the system based on this depreciation start date and the selected ‘depreciation
term’ for that asset. Be careful with the posting date and asset value date. Both dates need to be
in the same fiscal year.
253. What is an ‘Asset Master’?
An‘Asset Master’ can be created by copying an existing asset in the same Company Code or
another Company Code; it can also be created from scratch when it is done for the first time.
Again, while creating the master, SAP allows you to create multiple assets in one step, provided
all such assets are similar (having the same asset class and all belonging to the same Company
Code).
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From Release 4.5, the transaction codes for creating an asset master have been changed to the
AS series instead of the earlier AT series (for example, create asset is codeAS01(AT01before),
change asset isAS02(AT02before), and so on. If you are more comfortable with the creation of
assets using the conventional screen than with the ‘tab’ feature available now in the AS
transaction series, you can do so, but you cannot find these transactions under ‘ASMN’!
Each asset master contains the necessary information to calculate the depreciation:
(cid:131) Capitalization date/acquisition period
(cid:131) Depreciation areas relevant for the asset
(cid:131) Depreciation key
(cid:131) Useful life/expired useful life
(cid:131) Change over year, if any
(cid:131) Scrap value, if any
(cid:131) Start date of (ordinary depreciation)
254. Explain the Two Ways used to Create ‘Asset Masters.’
(cid:131) Copy an existing asset as a reference for creating the new one.
(cid:131) From an existing asset class create a new asset so that this asset class provides the
default control parameters for the new asset.
255. Is it Possible to Create Multiple Assets in a Single Transaction?
SAP enables you to create multiple (but similar) assets in one transaction. What you need to
know is that all these assets should belong to thesame asset class and thesame Company
Code. Enter the number of assets you need to create in the‘Number of similar assets’ field.
After creating the assets, you will be able to change the individual descriptions/inventory numbers
when you are about to save the master records. When you save the master records, the system
assigns a range of asset numbers.
Figure 62:Create multiple assets
The only drawback of using this method of creating assets in bulk is that you will not be able to
createlong text for any of these assets.
256. What is the ‘Time-dependent Data’ in an Asset Master?
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All the cost accounting assignment-related data such as cost center, internal orders or investment
projects, etc., need to be maintained as‘Time-dependent Data’ in asset masters. Additionally,
the information related toasset shut-downandshiftoperation also needs to be maintained as
time dependent. SAP maintains all the time-dependent data for the entire life span of the assets.
257. Explain ‘Asset Acquisition.’
‘Asset Acquisition’ can be through any one of the following three routes:
1. External Acquisition through Purchase
External acquisition of assets will be primarily from vendors, who are either your business
partners or third parties. It can also be from your affiliated companies (useTransaction
Code: ABZP). The external asset acquisition can be done several ways:
i. The asset can be posted in the MM module.
ii. The asset can be created in FI-AA with automatic clearing of the offsetting entry
(Transaction Code: ABZON). This can be achieved either of the following ways:
a. The posting is made initially in FI-AP and the clearing account cleared
when the posting is made to the asset (FI-AA).
b. Post the asset with the automatic offsetting entry (FI-AA) and then clear
the clearing account through a credit posting by an incoming invoice (FI-AP).
iii. Whennot integrated with FI-AP, you may acquire the asset in FI-AA with an
automatic offsetting entry without referencing a Purchase Requisition (PR). This
kind of acquisition is necessary when:
c. You have not yet received the invoice or
d. When the invoice has already been posted in FI-AP
iv. When integrated with FI-AP, acquire the asset in FI-AA using an incoming
invoice but without a reference to a Purchase Order (PO).
2. In-house Production/Acquisition
In-house Asset Acquisition is primarily the capitalization of goods/services produced by
your company. The costs associated with the complete or partial production of the
goods/services from within the company needs to be capitalized into separate asset(s).
Usually, the capitalization is done as follows:
i. Create an order/project (in Investment Management) to capture the production
costs associated with the goods/services produced in-house.
ii. Settle the order/project to an AuC (Asst under Construction).
iii. Distribute/Settle the AuC so created into new asset(s). You will be using the
Transaction Type 110 for asset acquisition from in-house production.
3. Subsequent Acquisition
When the asset/vendor accounts are posted, the system updates the corresponding GL
accounts (FI-AP and FI-AA) through relevant account determinations. SAP uses various
kinds of ‘transaction types’ to distinguish the different transactions. During acquisition the
system makes the following entries in the asset master data:
(cid:131) Date of initial acquisition/period and year of acquisition.
(cid:131) Capitalization date of the asset.
(cid:131) Start date for ordinary depreciation (the start date is determined from the asset
value date/period/year of acquisition).
(cid:131) Vendor is automatically entered in the ‘origin.’
258. What are Automatically Set in the Asset Masters During ‘Initial
Acquisition’?
(cid:131) Date of capitalization
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(cid:131) Acquisition period
(cid:131) Posting date of original acquisition
(cid:131) Depreciation start date (per depreciation area)
259. Why it is Necessary to ‘Block’ an Asset Master Record?
In case you decide that you do not want to post any more acquisitions to an existing asset, then it
is necessary for you to set theBlock Indicator in the asset master record. This is usually the
case with AuC, where after the capitalization you no longer want any further additions to the asset.
The block indicator prevents only further postings but not transfers or retirements or depreciation;
even after an asset is blocked, you can continue to depreciate it as in the case of other assets.
260. How do you ‘Delete’ an Asset Master?
You can‘Delete an Asset Master’ record from the system only when there are no transactions
posted to it. The system will not allow you to delete the master record if there are transactions
against the asset, even if you reverse all the previous transactions pertaining to the asset and
bring down the asset value to zero. However, unlike FI-AR, FI-AP, or FI-GL wherearchiving is a
prerequisite to delete the master records, you may delete the asset master records without
archiving. When deleted, the system also deletes the asset number.
261. What is an ‘(Asset) Transaction Type’ in FI-AA?
‘Transaction Types’ in FI-AA identify the nature of an asset transaction (acquisition or transfer or
retirement) to specify what is updated, among(a) Depreciation area,(b) Value field, and(c) Asset
accounts (in B/S).
Figure 63:(Asset) Transaction types
The following are some of the common transaction types used:
(cid:131) 100 Asset Acquisition—Purchase
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(cid:131) 110 Asset Acquisition—In-house Production
(cid:131) 200 Asset Retirement—Without revenue
(cid:131) 210 Asset Retirement—With revenue
The transaction type is extensively used in most asset reports, including theasset history sheet,
to display the various asset transactions differentiated by the transaction types. SAP comes with
numerous transaction types, which will take care of almost all your requirements. However,
should there be a specific case, you may also create your own transaction type.
Every transaction type is grouped into aTransaction Type Group (for example, 10 ->
Acquisition), which characterizes the various transaction types (for example, transaction types
100 and 110) within that group. The system makes it possible to limit the transaction type groups
that are associated with certain asset classes.
262. Explain ‘Assets under Construction’ (AuC) in SAP.
The goods and/or services produced, in-house, can be capitalized into asset(s). But, there are
two distinct phases during this process:
1. Construction phase (AuC)
2. Utilization phase (useful or economic life phase)
It then becomes necessary to show the assets under these two phases in two different balance
sheet items:
The ‘construction phase’ is one in which you start producing or assembling the asset but it is not
yet ready for economic utilization. SAP categorizes these kinds of assets into a special asset
class called‘Assets under Construction’ (AuC).
The AuC is managed through a separate asset class with a separate asset GL account. SAP
allows posting ‘down payments’ to AuC. It is also possible to enter credit memos for AuC even
after its complete capitalization, provided you are managing this asset class and allowing
negativeAPC (Acquisition andProduction Costs). TheIM (Investment Management) module
helps to manage internal orders/projects for AuC. It is necessary to use thedepreciation key
‘0000’ to ensure that you are not calculating any depreciation for AuC. But you can continue to
havespecial tax depreciationandinvestment support even on these assets.
263. How do You Capitalize AuC in SAP?
An‘Asset under Construction’ can be managed in two ways as far as the asset master is
concerned:
(cid:131) As a ‘normal’ asset.
(cid:131) As an asset with ‘line item management.’
Later on, the AuC is capitalized and transferred to regular asset(s) by ‘distribution’/‘settlement.’
While doing so, the system, with the help of differenttransaction types, segregates the
transactions relating to the current year with that of the previous years. The capitalization can be:
1. Lump sum capitalization.
2. With line item settlement (when capitalized using line item settlement, it is not necessary
to settle all the line items and 100% in a particular line item).
In the case of integration with SAP-IM (Investment Management), capital investments can be
managed as an AuC by:
(cid:131) Collecting the production costs associated with an order/project.
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(cid:131) Settling the collected costs to an AuC.
(cid:131) Capitalizing the AuC into new assets by distribution/settlement.
264. What do You mean by ‘Low Value Assets’?
SAP uses the term‘Low Value Assets’ to denote assets that will be depreciated in the year of
purchase or in the period of acquisition. This categorization usually follows the statutory
requirements of the country of the Company Code, wherein you define a monetary limit and
consider all those assets falling below the value, say $1,000, as low value assets. You have the
flexibility of managing these assets either on an individual(individual check) basis or a collective
basis(quantity check).
SAP uses a specialdepreciation key called LVA, and the expected useful life of such an asset is
considered to be one period (month).
265. Explain ‘Asset Transfer’ in SAP.
There are two types of‘Asset Transfers,’ namely:
1. Inter-company asset transfer
2. Intra-company asset transfer
Inter-company Asset Transfer is between Company Codes, resulting in the creation of the new
asset in the target Company Code (the receiving one). The transaction posts the values per the
‘posting method’ selected during the transfer. In doing so the system:
(cid:131) Retires the asset in the source/sending Company Code byassetretirement.
(cid:131) Posts acquisition in the new/target Company Code byasset acquisition, and creates the
new asset in the target Company Code.
(cid:131) Posts inter-company profit/loss arising from the transfer.
(cid:131) Updates FI-GL automatically.
An inter-company asset transfer is usually necessitated when there is a need for physically
changing the location from one company to the other or there is an organization restructuring and
the new asset is to be attached to the new Company Code. You may use the standardTransfer
Variants supplied by SAP. The selection of a suitable transfer variant will be based on the legal
relationship among the Company Codes and the methods chosen for transferring the asset
values.
Inter-company asset transfers can be handled:
(cid:131) Individually using the normal transaction for a single asset.
(cid:131) For a number of assets using the‘mass transfer.’
If you need to transfer assets cross-system, you need to use ALE functionality.
Intra-company Asset Transfer is the transfer of an asset within the same Company Code. This
would be necessitated by:
(cid:131) Change in the asset class or business area, etc.
(cid:131) Settlement of an AuC to a new asset.
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(cid:131) Transfer of stock materials into an asset (by posting a GI to an order through MM or
settlement of a production order to an asset).
(cid:131) Splitting an existing asset into one or more new assets.
266. What is a ‘Transfer Variant?
A ‘Transfer Variant’ is dependent on whether the Company Codes involved are legally
dependent or independent. Transfer variants specify how the transferred asset will be valued at
the receiving Company Code and the type of transaction (acquisition or transfer) used for the
transaction.
Figure 64:Transfer variant
267. Explain ‘Asset Retirement’ in FI-AA.
‘Asset Retirement’ is an integral part of asset management. You may retire an asset by sale or
by scrapping. In the case of sales, it can be with revenue or without revenue; again, the asset
sale can be with the customer or without the customer.
Figure 65:Asset Retirement
During asset sales transactions, the system removes theAPC (Acquisition andProduction
Costs) and also the correspondingaccumulated depreciation, then theprofit or loss arising
from the sale is recorded in the system. Even in the case of ‘partial retirement’ or ‘partial sales,’
the system records the proportionate gain/ loss arising from the transaction. Any tax posting
arising from the transaction is automatically created by the system.
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SAP provides various ways of posting retirement in the system, which includes:
(cid:131) Mass retirement
(cid:131) Asset retirement with revenue
o With customer (involving integration with FI-AR)
(cid:120) Debit customer, credit assets
o Without customer
(cid:131) Asset retirement without revenue
o With customer
(cid:120) Debit clearing account, credit asset
(cid:120) Debit customer in A/R, credit the clearing account
(cid:131) Asset retirement using GL document posting
268. Describe Transfer of ‘Legacy Asset Data’ to SAP.
One of the challenges in the implementation of FI-AA is the transfer of‘LegacyAsset Data’ from
your existing systems to SAP FI-AA. Though SAP provides multiple options and appropriate tools
to carry out this task, you need a carefully planned strategy for completing this task. You may
have to transfer the old asset values through any one of the following ways:
(cid:131) Batch data inputs (large number of old assets)
(cid:131) Directly updating the SAP Tables (very large number of old assets)
(cid:131) Manual entry (few old assets)
Normally, you will not have to use the manual process as it is time consuming and laborious;
however, you may do this if you have a very limited number of assets. Otherwise, you may use
either of the other two options, though batch data input with error handling is the preferred way of
doing it. You need to reconcile the data transferred, if you resort to any of the two automatic ways
of transferring the data. You may also useBAPIs (Business Application Programming
Interface) to link and process the asset information in SAP FI-AA from non-SAP systems.
The transfer can be done at the end of the last closed fiscal year, or during the current fiscal year
following the last closed fiscal year. You will be able to transfer both master data as well as
accumulated values of the last closed fiscal year. If required, you can also transfer asset
transactions, including depreciation, during the current fiscal year. It is important to note that the
GL account balances of the old assets need to be transferred separately.
269. Outline ‘Automatic Transfer of Old Assets’
SAP provides you with the necessary interfaces for converting your ‘legacy asset data’ into
prescribed formats for upload into the SAP system. Thedata transferworkbench allows you to
control the entire data transfer process.
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