If you have joined a company that runs SAP, finance work happens in FI (Financial Accounting) and CO (Controlling). This guide explains the building blocks and the daily transactions in plain English.
In this article
FI vs CO
| FI — Financial Accounting | CO — Controlling |
|---|---|
| External reporting: balance sheet, P&L, tax | Internal reporting: costs by department, product, project |
| GL, vendors (AP), customers (AR), assets, banks | Cost centres, internal orders, profit centres, product costing |
| Legal entity view (company code) | Management view (controlling area) |
The organisation structure
- Company code — a legal entity with its own balance sheet (for example, your Indian company).
- Chart of accounts — the list of GL accounts, shared by company codes.
- Controlling area — groups company codes for internal reporting.
- Fiscal year variant — for India usually April–March with 12 periods plus special periods for year-end adjustments.
Documents: everything is a document
Every posting creates a document with a number, a document type (SA = GL posting, KR = vendor invoice, DR = customer invoice, KZ = vendor payment…) and line items with posting keys (40 = debit GL, 50 = credit GL, 31 = credit vendor, 01 = debit customer). You rarely memorise keys — the transaction screens choose them — but they explain what you see in reports.
Accounts payable (vendors)
| T-code | Does |
|---|---|
| FB60 / MIRO | Enter a vendor invoice (without / with purchase order) |
| F-53, F110 | Manual payment / automatic payment run |
| FBL1N | Vendor line items — open and cleared |
| FK03 | Display vendor master |
Accounts receivable (customers)
| T-code | Does |
|---|---|
| FB70 / VF01 | Customer invoice (FI / from sales billing) |
| F-28 | Incoming payment |
| FBL5N | Customer line items and ageing |
General ledger
| T-code | Does |
|---|---|
| FB50 / F-02 | GL journal entry |
| FBL3N (or FAGLL03) | GL line items |
| FS10N / FAGLB03 | GL balances by period |
| FB03 | Display any document |
| FB08 | Reverse a document |
Controlling: where the cost belongs
- Cost centre — a department that spends (HR, IT, Plant maintenance). Expenses posted in FI carry a cost centre.
- Internal order — a temporary collector for an event or project (a trade fair, a marketing campaign).
- Profit centre — a business area measured on profit (a product line or region).
Useful reports: KSB1 (cost centre line items), S_ALR_87013611 (cost centres: actual vs plan), KOB1 (internal order line items).
Month-end close, simplified
- Post accruals and provisions (FB50, or recurring entries).
- Run depreciation (AFAB) for fixed assets.
- Foreign-currency revaluation of open items.
- Settle internal orders and run CO allocations (assessments/distributions).
- Reconcile GL with sub-ledgers; review FS10N balances.
- Close the posting period (OB52 — usually a controlled role).
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