📎 This article includes 1 downloadable practice file ↓
SAP FI records every financial transaction as an accounting document. Understanding its building blocks makes the reports make sense.
Sub-ledgers and the G/L
- AP (vendors) and AR (customers) keep line items per partner.
- Each posts automatically to a reconciliation account in the general ledger, so the G/L always matches the sub-ledgers.
Documents
Every posting is a document with a number, header (date, type, period) and line items (account, amount, debit/credit via posting key). FB03 displays one; the document type (KR vendor invoice, DZ customer payment, SA G/L) tells you what it was.
Open items and clearing
An invoice is an open item until a payment clears it. FBL1N/FBL5N show open and cleared items; ageing reports start here (see the receivables ageing lesson).
Period close basics
Posting periods are opened and closed (OB52) so nothing posts into a closed month; accruals, depreciation runs and reconciliations happen at month-end.
More: SAP FICO basics for finance users.
Transaction codes and menus are standard SAP ECC/S4HANA examples; your company may have custom codes, restricted authorisations or a different layout. Practise in a training or quality system.
Practice
Do the four checklist exercises in a training system.
📎 Practice files for this article
- 📄Lesson 6 checklistStep-by-step exercises for this lesson.⬇ TXT · 232 B
Free to use for learning. Files with macros (.bas) are plain text — import them with Alt+F11 → File → Import File, and always test on a copy.
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