Bank Accounts
The International Bank Account Number (IBAN) 34 alphanumeric
characters are an internationally recognized and unique number that identifies
a specific bank account. It was designed by the International Organization for
Standardization (ISO) and the European Committee for Banking Standards (ECBS)
to facilitate the handling of international payment transactions. We can enter
it as follows:
·
The IBAN can only be entered in a vendor or
customer master record if the business partner provides his or her IBAN and requests
the entry.
·
When you enter an IBAN for new bank details, the
system can generate the country-specific bank details for certain countries.
1.
Each bank that is used must have a bank master
record in the bank directory in the system.
2.
Bank master data can be copied into the bank
directory manually or automatically. Each bank master record in the bank
directory is uniquely identified by the bank country and a bank key.
3.
The house bank is the bank used for internal
business. A bank becomes a house bank when you assign a house bank ID to it.
The payment program uses the house bank ID to determine the bank to be used.
4.
There are four ways to create bank master data:
·
When entering bank information in the customer
or vendor master record, or in the Customizing for house banks:
·
Using the Create Bank transaction in the
Accounts Receivable/Payable master data menu.
·
The bank directory can be imported from disk or
tape which can be obtained from one of the country banking organizations.
·
Customers that use the lockbox function can
create a batch input session that automatically updates customer banking
information in the master record.
.
The house bank ID and the account ID together uniquely
identify an account. An account ID can only be used once for each house bank.
You can create several accounts, each with a separate account ID, for each
house bank. This combination is entered in a G/L account that represents the
bank account in the general ledger.
A G/L account must be created for each bank account. This G/L
account is assigned to the bank account and vice versa. Both accounts must have
the same account currency.
Payment Run
The SAP payment program lets you automatically
·
Select open invoices to be paid or collected
·
Post payment documents
·
Print payment media, use data medium exchange
(DME), or generate electronic data interchange (EDI)
The settings for the payment program are defined in three
places:
·
In the master record for the business partner,
for example: bank details and payment methods
·
In the items, for example, payment methods in
the document, terms of payment, and so on
·
In Customizing for the payment program
The payment process consists of four steps:
·
Setting parameters: In this step, the following
questions are asked and answered:
o
What is to be paid?
o
Which payment method is to be used?
o
When is the payment to be made?
o
Which company codes are to be considered?
o
How are they to be paid?
·
Generating a proposal: Once you have entered the
parameters the system starts the proposal run. It generates a list of business
partners and open invoices that are due for payment. Invoices can be blocked or
unblocked for payment.
·
Scheduling the payment run: Once the payment
list has been verified, the payment run is scheduled. A payment document is
created and the general ledger and sub ledger accounts are updated.
·
Printing the payment media: The accounting
functions are completed and a separate print program is scheduled to generate
the payment media
Payment Program Configuration
There are six configuration areas for the payment program:
1.
All company codes (open items are automatically
counted or included)
2.
Paying company codes
3.
Payment method per country
4.
Payment method per company code
5.
Bank selection
6.
House banks
The first three areas only require minimum changes. The
standard system contains the common payment methods and their corresponding
forms, which have been defined separately for each country.
1. All company codes
A.
Control Data
·
Payment relationships that apply across all
company codes are defined here.
·
Sending Company Code -whose payment methods are
accepted (sub ledger accounting) Company code A pays for company code B.
Company code B is the sending company code. If no sending company code is
defined, the paying company code is interpreted as the sending company code.
·
Paying Company Code: This is the company code
that processes outgoing payments. This is the company code that records the
bank postings. The sub ledger postings are recorded in the sending company
code.
·
Payment Method Supplements: These are
two-character alphanumeric codes that are taken from the business partner’s
master record that is transferred to the document when the payment is posted.
·
Advantage:
o
The payment media can be sorted and printed
separately according to payment method supplement (such as sent to a vendor in
the same building by internal mail; functions as a mail box stop (internal
dispatch method)).
o
Vendor/Customer Sp. G/L Transactions to be paid
specifies which special general ledger transactions can be processed with the
payment program.
B. Cash Discount and Tolerances
·
You can define a minimum discount limit for
outgoing payments. If the discount is less than this limit, it is ignored and
the payment is not made until the due date for net payment.
·
The maximum discount setting causes the maximum
discount to be used, even if the cash discount period has been exceeded.
·
Tolerance days for payables specify the number
of days by which the cash discount period and period for net payment may be
exceeded (delayed payment).
2. Paying company code
·
The minimum amount for incoming/outgoing payment
specifies the minimum amount required to make an incoming or outgoing payment.
·
The forms that will be used for each paying
company code.
·
If you choose no exchange rate differences, the
full exchange rate differences are not posted until the bank posting has been
received.
·
The Separate Payment for Each Reference setting
specifies that a payment can only be used to pay invoices and credit memos that
have the same payment reference.
·
Define how many bills of exchange are created
for each account during the payment run for the bill of exchange payment
method.
·
Control which open items for the bill of
exchange payment method are to be considered during the payment run using the
due date specifications
3. Payment Method per country
·
Payment method either for outgoing or incoming
payment
·
Characteristics for classifying the payment
method: What is the method of payment and what are its characteristics?
·
Postal bank/postal check account
·
Allowed for Personnel Payments
·
Requirements in the master records, for example,
address required for check Posting details:
·
Document types for postings
·
Payment media info: Print programs; standard
programs RFFOD* (such as RFFOD__S) or PAYMENT MEDIUM WORKBENCH
·
Key in the code line: For the bank; for example,
51 on bank transfers
·
Permitted currencies (if no entry is made -valid
for all currencies)
Payment Method per company code
1.
Minimum and maximum payment amounts -The
breakdown amount has the following function: Payments that exceed this amount
are analyzed to see whether a split into several payments is possible, with the
specified amount as the maximum.
2.
Whether payments abroad and foreign currencies
are allowed
·
Foreign business partner allowed (address)
·
Customer/vendor bank abroad allowed (bank
country)
·
Foreign currency allowed
o
Grouping of items:
o
Single payment for marked items: Items that
contain this payment method are paid individually; if an item does not contain
a payment method with the result that the payment method is determined from the
master record, it can be paid together with other items.
o
Payment per due day: Specifies that only items
that are due on the same day are paid with a single payment.
o
Bank Selection Control -Settings for selecting
the house bank
• No optimization
• Optimization by bank group: Every bank can be freely
assigned to a bank group; the program looks for a solution where two banks are
used that are assigned to the same bank group.
• Optimization by post code: Allows you to choose the house
bank based on the business partner’s location.
4. Bank Selection
o
The order in which the house banks are used is
determined as follows: The payment method/currency determines which house bank
is used first, second, third, and so on.
o
For each combination of house bank and payment
method, you can specify the:
o
Offsetting account for the sub ledger posting
(bank subaccount)
o
Clearing account: For payments by bill of
exchange, the offsetting entry for the bill of exchange liability at the bank
is made here.
o
Available funds in each bank. Note that the
amount field is not updated automatically after each payment run.
o
These sub-accounts are managed with open items
so that users can manage the status of the payments.
o
The number of days up to the value date is the
probable number of days until a debit memo or credit memo is entered in the
bank account. The number of days is usually added to the posting date to
produce the expected debit or credit memo date on the bank account for cash
management and forecast purposes.
o
The value date is usually calculated from the
posting date of the payment run plus the number of days up to the value date.
o
The incoming and outgoing payment functions have
a bank charges field for entering all types of bank charges. For incoming
payments, the system subtracts the bank charges from the clearing amount. For
outgoing payments, it adds the charges to the clearing amount. The system also
posts the charges to an expense account. To do this, it requires a posting key
and an account assignment, both of which are already defined in the standard
system
Running Payment Program
Every payment program run is identified by two fields:
o
Run Date – it is recommended as the actual date
when the program is executed. Its main purpose is to identify the program run
o
Identification -The identification field is used
to differentiate between program runs that have the same run date.
·
All documents that were entered up to the Docs
entered up to date are included in the payment run.
·
The posting date is the date when the general
ledger is updated with the postings. This date is defaulted from the run date
on the previous screen.
·
If multiple company codes are listed, they have
to be separated by commas.
·
The company codes in a payment run must be in
the same country.
·
For each country, we defined payment methods
that can be used within that particular country. From these payment methods,
choose the ones to be used in the current payment run.
·
If you use more than one payment method in the
payment run, remember that the order in which you enter them is important. The
method entered first has first priority; the next has second priority, and so
on. The system makes the payment using the highest priority possible after the
check.
·
What happens in the proposal run?
o
The items to be paid are selected (based on the
search criteria entered with the parameters).
o
The items for the payments are collected and
payment methods and bank details assigned.
o
If the system cannot find a payment method or
bank details, the items are added to the exception list.
o
The proposal and exception list are generated
after the proposal run.
·
How is the due date determined for payables?
·
A vendor item is paid if the following applies
at the next payment run (taking the tolerance days into account):
o
The discount has expired.
o
A lower discount should be received.
o
The net due date would have been exceeded.
Once the proposal run is completed, the system generates two
reports: the payment proposal list and the exception list. You can edit these
reports online or print them.
The proposal list shows the business partners and the
amounts to be paid or received.
Any exceptions are also listed here. Users can drill down
several times to view and change the details of the individual payment items
There are several ways to configure a payment block:
o
If a problem arises during the invoice
verification process, the invoice is usually blocked for payment.
o
If there is a reason why a vendor should not be
paid, you can create a payment block in the master record.
o
When an AP invoice is entered, an invoice may be
blocked for payment.
o
You can define additional payment blocks in the
system. Users can also specify whether the payment block can be removed when
payments are processed.
After you have edited the payment proposal, the system uses
it as a basis for the actual payments.
What happens during the payment run?
1.
Payment documents are created or posted.
2.
Open items are cleared.
3.
Postings are made to general ledger and sub
ledgers
It is advisable to use bank subaccounts for posting incoming
and outgoing payments, for example, accounts for outgoing checks, outgoing
transfers, incoming checks and transfers received.
There are many advantages to using subaccounts. You can
reconcile the bank account balance at any time with the corresponding G/L
account. Subaccounts are generally managed on an open item basis and with line
item display.
The document type for payment documents is defined in the
country-specific specifications for the payment method. For cross-company-code
payments, you can enter a further document type that is used for the clearing
postings. Both document types must be defined using internal number assignment.
Documents from the payment run contain the date and identification
number (for example, 19940301-ID) of the run in the document header text.
For calculating the value date of check payments, you can
enter a check cashing time in the master data. This has priority over the days
to value date for checks
The print run starts the standard print programs, which can
both generate the payment media (such as checks) and provide the files (DME)
for transfer to the banks.
Individual steps:
o
The payment media, payment advice notes, and
payment summary are sent to the print administration
o
The DME payment data is sent to DME
administration
o
Intermediate documents are created for selected
payments and forwarded to the EDI subsystem.
A print program is assigned to each payment method for each
country.
A print program is assigned to each payment method for each
country when it is configured. To run the print programs, the system needs at
least one variant for each print program and payment method.
If several variants are assigned to a print program, the
system runs the program once for each variant.
The first print program run by the payment program is the
print program RFFOEDI1. This program chooses all the payments that were
selected for EDI. Intermediate SAP documents are created for these payments and
forwarded to the EDI subsystem. The EDI subsystem then transforms the
intermediate documents into EDI data, which is sent to the bank.
With Data Medium Exchange, a file is created that contains
all the relevant payment information in accordance with the banking rules of
the country in question. The DME file is stored in Data Medium Administration
and can be downloaded to a data medium. You can also print out the DMEaccompanying
note. The data medium and the DME accompanying note are then sent to the bank.
The DME file can be either stored in the SAP TemSe
(TEMporary SEquential file) within the SAP System or in the PC file system. In
the SAP TemSe, the file cannot be accessed by unauthorized external users
The print program:
o
Assigns check numbers to payment documents
o
Updates the payment documents and original
invoice documents with the check information
o
Prints checks and accompanying documents
Payment Medium Workbench
PMW is used to create payment media. The user is provided
with a generic payment medium program for all payment medium formats whose
variants are to be entered in Customizing. The user can create the structure of
the note to the payee and choose different notes to the payee according to
their origin (vendors, customers, personnel, travel expenses, treasury, online
payments, and so on).
Developers, consultants, and system administrators have
simple tools for changing delivered formats without modification or setting up
new formats. Well-known development tools (Data Dictionary, Function Builder,
and so on) and the new Data Medium Exchange Engine (DMEE) are integrated,
enabling PMW to function like a workbench. without modification or setting up
new formats. Well-known development tools (Data Dictionary, Function Builder,
and so on) and the new Data Medium Exchange Engine (DMEE) are integrated,
enabling PMW to function like a workbench.
Simple, modification-free options for adjusting delivered
formats to meet customer or bank requirements (including individual selection
parameters for the payment medium program). Simple tools for creating new
formats (no programming experience required to use the DMEE). Customizing to
structure the note to the payee.
Standardized creation of advice notes with the new RFFOAVIS_FPAYM program.
Improved performance, especially for large payment runs
A payment method becomes a PMW payment method in only four
steps:
o
The payment medium format is assigned to the
payment method after you have determined that you want to use PMW. You may have
to enter a substitute format.
o
The note to the payee is assigned to the payment
method by origin. Here you can use the examples provided by SAP: SAMPLE 02 as
the note to payee for FI-AP and FI-AR and SAMPLE 00 for all others (origin
remains blank), for example.
o
You enter the form for the accompanying sheet
provided by SAP in the payment method for each company code (under Next Form).
o
And finally, you must create and assign
selection variants.
Additional info on PMW
·
Set the PMW payment medium formats
·
Release information on PMW
·
Documentation on the generic payment medium
program
·
Integration of check management in PMW
·
Creation of cross-payment run payment media
·
PMW connection to online payments
Conversion Steps for a Payment Method:
1.
Switch to PMW (radio button) in the payment
method definition/country.
2.
Enter an existing PMW format in the payment
method definition/country. Hint: Note the documentation buttons for the PMW and
the individual PMW format.
3.
Assign notes to payee (general and/or origin
specific) to the payment method definition/country (for example, SAMPLE 02 for
origin FI-AP and FI-AR)
4.
Assign a PMW form for accompanying sheets
5.
Remove the form for document-based payment
medium (if you have not already done so)
6.
Create and assign selection variants for each
payment group.
When the payment media are created for a payment with a PMW
payment method, the program SAPFPAYM_SCHEDULE is launched.
This first carries out a pre-service. The pre-service
processes the data supplied by the payment run again specifically for the PMW:
1.
The payments are sorted according to PMW format
and other format-specific fields.
2.
Payment groups are created based on the level of
granularity (one payment medium file is usually created later for each group).
3.
The note to payee is formed
The granularity is specified in the definition of the
payment medium format and determines how the payment media are to be output
separately in payment groups. A payment group usually corresponds to one
payment file.
Every PMW format (with or without a supplement) has up to
three types of text fields for reference information (text box on the left in
the PMW Format graphic above).
·
Type 1: Invoice information (classic note to
payee)
·
Type 2: Internal reference (in case the payment
media is returned)
·
Type 3: External reference (for the business
partner)
Debit Balance Check
In some cases, the payment run can result in payments being
made even though the account has a debit balance.
The debit balance check can be carried out after a payment
proposal has been created. The check offsets the entire due debit items without
an incoming payment method against the proposed payments. If the resulting
debit balance or credit balance is less than the minimum payment amount, the
payments are added to the exception list and the account is placed on a list of
blocked accounts.
The relevant accounts remain blocked even if the payment
proposal is then deleted.
Program RFF110S is used to schedule the payment program
SAPF110S in the background. The selection screen for this program essentially
features the same parameters as transaction F110.
The program RFF110S, in turn, can automatically run four additional
programs consecutively.
·
To prevent outgoing payments despite a due debit
balance, the program RFF110S should first be scheduled as a proposal run.
Following this, the program RFF110SSP should be called automatically to perform
the debit balance check.
·
After the debit balance check, the program
RFF110S is called again automatically. This time, however, as an update run
with possible generation of the payment media
The programs can be scheduled to run periodically using job
management or the Schedule Manager.