Describing Advanced Cash Operations (J78)

Objectives
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

  • Describe the scope of Advanced Cash Operations
  • Use the Advanced Cash Operations
  • Identify Advanced Cash Operations configuration settings

Advanced Cash Operations Overview

Advanced Cash Operations Overview

For Advanced Cash Operations, you can get a consistent view for the actual cash position as well as the short/mid-term cash forecast. Drill-down features are provided for the detailed transactions and rich dimensions are provided for the analysis. A comparison view between the actual and forecasted cash flow is also available.

This scope item also allows you to make bank transfer and track its status, and to approve the bank payments and monitor the payment processing status.

Advanced Cash Operations Process

When you are sending payments with the Advanced Cash Operations, you can integrate the approval workflow available through the Bank Communication Management functionality. The signatories approve the payment batches created and can be passed further to, for example, the SAP Multi-Bank Connectivity solution or through file integration to the external house banks.

Tracking of outgoing payments is always ensured with cash reports showing the most up-to-date information.

All of the business transactions recorded in the system can be analyzed in full with SAP S/4HANA Cloud capabilities. The single source of truth One Exposure from Operations holds all relevant data and acts thereby as the basis for the Fiori apps. Data about the Cash Position or the Cash Flow Items can be checked in various ways.

The Cash Flow Analyzer gives an overview of cash management data. Several different views are available ranging from Liquidity forecast, cash position or cash pool related information.

The import of bank statement and intraday bank statement can be monitored with the Advanced Cash Operations capabilities.

Memo Records

Memo Records Overview

In the SAP S/4HANA Cloud application, you can create memo records centrally for expected cash flows that are not yet generated in the system. The memo records are then displayed in the cash management apps, such as Cash Flow Analyzer and Check Cash Flow Items. You can also use this app to view, change, and delete the intraday memo records that are generated automatically from imported intraday bank statements.

Furthermore, you can also create cash trade requests for foreign exchange or money market transactions.

The master data of a memo record in SAP S/4HANA Cloud consists mainly of three parts.

The tile setup is made up from three main parts:

  • Header Data
  • General Data
  • Additional Info

The Manage Memo Records app provides the functionality to create, delete, archive, or reactivate memo records centrally.

The app allows you to search for specific memo record items using the filter bar at the top. Furthermore, you can sort the search results according to your needs, or download the complete table.

Key features of the app are as follows:

  • Display a list of memo records with an active or inactive status.
  • Create memo records manually.
  • Create multiple memo records in one go by copying or distributing a memo record.
  • Convert the status between active and inactive.
  • Active memo records can be converted into archived records, which are then no longer displayed in cash management reports.
  • Delete memo records that are no longer valid. The deleted records are no longer displayed in cash management reports.
  • Auto expire memo records when the expiration date arrives.
  • Store the memo record data in One Exposure from Operations, which are consumed in other cash management apps such as Cash Flow Analyzer and Check Cash Flow Items.

The memo record item screen holds detailed data about the memo record. Set the data as per your requirement in terms of amount, company code, value dates, or currency.

Depending on the type of memo record you are creating, there are certain mandatory fields required before you can activate the item.

The planning level is one of the mandatory fields of a new memo record to be created.

You use planning levels to reflect typical financial transactions.

  • Levels with the source symbol BNK show transactions from bank accounts and bank clearing accounts to represent payment advice notes or planned items
  • Levels with the source symbol PSK represent payment flows for planning purposes

You manage these planning levels in the Manage your Solutions app.

You can set an expiration date for memo records that need to be automatically expired.

If you create a memo record for an outgoing payment, set the payment date as the expiration date. After this date, the memo record is automatically expired. The status is then changed from Active to Inactive.

Note

You cannot activate memo records that have already expired. If you do need to activate an expired memo record, you can change the expiration date to a future date and then you can activate the memo record.

To create several memo records in one go for cash flows that are expected in a repetitive pattern, copy or distribute an existing memo record. The Copy function creates memo records with an identical amount to the original memo records. The Distribute function splits the original memo record evenly into smaller ones.

Furthermore, the working calendar principle is applied to the copy and distribute functionality for memo records.

If it is required, the offsetting information can also be maintained for memo records. The offsetting company code, bank account ID, and value date are available to specifically control the memo record behavior.

You can also offset memo records in the Manage Memo Records app. Choose the Account Transfer button to offset the amount of a memo record by creating another memo record for its offsetting bank account.

To offset a memo record, complete the following steps:

  • In the Manage Memo Records app, create a memo record with the information required.
  • Fill the fields under the Offsetting Information section on the Additional Data tab.
  • Choose the Transfer button.

A new memo record is created for the offsetting bank account. For example, you created a memo record with 500 EUR for bank account A. You defined the offsetting bank account B. When you choose the Transfer button, a new memo record is created for bank account B with the amount -500 EUR.

Cash Flow Analyzer Integration

As the memo records are stored directly in One Exposure, other cash management apps, such as the Cash Flow Analyzer and Check Cash Flow Items, are able to consume the information generated in the Manage Memo Records app.

The information is displayed according to the previously set account and value date, and is shown as cash flow, for example, in the Cash Flow Analyzer. This ensures that all items are correctly reflected to make up your final balance.

Cash Request

In the Manage Memo Records app, you can create cash requests with an approval process, which will later trigger trade requests in treasury and risk management systems.

The process to manage trade requests on the SAP Cloud Platform is equivalent to the trade requests coming from hedge requests in SAP Treasury and Risk Management.

For the outbound process, trade requests can be split, grouped as block requests, or handled as phone trades.

These trade requests (other than phone trades) are sent to an external trading platform (for example, 360T), where the orders are placed and an offer is accepted. The completed trade information is later imported to the SAP Cloud Platform and matched against the trade request.

The cash request is a communication channel between a cash manager and the trading department. When a cash manager needs to do Foreign Exchange (FX), they have to ask the trading department for an FX deal. The cost of information transfer, confirmation, and approval is quite high. The cash request scenario provides end-to-end support for this process.

The cash manager initiates the cash request with foreign exchange information. The cash manager and the trading department check this request and the cash request is released to the trading department with a trade request. When the deal is created via the trading platform or manually, the cash request is fulfilled. The cash request impacts cash position for a better forecast.

A cash request entry is split into cash forecast inflow and outflow, under corresponding bank accounts according to its receiving and sending information. Different statuses are mapped to different planning levels.

Furthermore, the cash manager has the option to not only create a cash request for foreign exchange transactions, but also for money market instruments.

The Cash Trade Requests for Money Market functionality enables you to create a cash trade request for the new instrument category Money Market: Fixed Term Deposit/Loan. Once you release the cash trade request, the cash trade request is automatically passed to the treasury platform integration application.

Starting from the Cash Flow Analyzer, the cash manager can create a cash request as a receiving bank account or a sending bank account.

There is also the option to create the cash request directly in the Manage Memo Records app.

In terms of the Money Market transactions, the following instruments are covered:

  • Deposits and Loans
  • Fixed Term
  • Fixed Interest Rate

From the Cash Flow Analyzer, you are directed to the Manage Memo Records app. The cash request is handled in this app. From here, you create a cash request for a specific financial instrument, such as FX spot rate, with a specific traded amount. It is also possible to assign other information to this cash request, such as liquidity items, planning levels, certificate documents, and payment information.

In the Manage Memo Records app, cash trade requests that have not yet been submitted can now be processed by other users in addition to the users who created them. For example, other users can edit, delete, or submit cash trade requests. This ensures that cash trade requests can be processed smoothly even when the users who created them are not available.

Manage the status of the cash request once it is created. A cash request can have the following statuses:

  • Created: You create a new cash request. It can be deleted.

  • Submitted: After you create a cash request, you can submit it for approval. As a result, your request can be released or rejected. A submitted request cannot be edited anymore. If the request is rejected, you can still edit it and submit it again.

  • Released: You can only release a request after it is submitted. The released request will be transmitted to create a trade request.

  • Fulfilled: A released request is then fulfilled once a trade request is created.

  • Canceled: A released request gets canceled if the trade request is not created.

The cash trade request is equipped with an additional instrument category called FT (Money Market: Fixed Term Deposit/Loan).

The information from the cash trade request is transformed into a money market trade request, which is moved to the trading platform integration application. Here, the money market transactions are executed and the incoming information updates the cash trade request and the transaction manager.

From the memo record information, the Cash Flow Analyzer and the liquidity forecast information are updated. The outgoing and incoming flows with the new planning levels are shown:

  • C1 - Cash Request Created
  • C2 - Submitted Cash Request
  • C3 - Released Cash Request

This allows for more accurate cash management.

The cash request functionality comes equipped with a double-checking principle. A second person needs to release the cash request. When the cash request is released, the trade request is created.

This trade request is picked up by the trading platform integration for further processing. For more information on this process, see the scope item 2F5 - Treasury Trading via Trading Platforms.

Finally, the cash manager in the SAP S/4HANA Cloud system is informed from the inbound service of the trading platform integration that the cash request has been fulfilled.

It could also be the case that the trade request was partially fulfilled on the trading platform. After a trade request is split into two or more line items, you may observe the following status changes in your cash trade request:

  • When any of the line items are fulfilled or declined, the original cash trade request acquires the In Process status.

  • When all the line items are fulfilled, the original cash trade request acquires the Completed status.

  • When all the line items are declined, the original cash trade request acquires the Canceled status.

Lockbox

Lockbox Processing

Payment transactions in the USA are often made in the form of checks. In order to process these payments quickly, banks offer lockbox services where customers can send their payments directly to the bank (lockbox). The bank scans the checks and sends the check information in batches to the payee as a data file.

A lockbox is created with the lockbox number, destination, origin and valid customer invoices.

The upload file requires a specific BAI2 format. If the BAI2 format received from the issuing bank does not match the SAP BAI2 format, the file can not be processed.

For more information, see the Steps to Create the BAI2 File document, provided on the SAP Support Portal.

After having uploaded the Lockbox files you can schedule an Accounts Receivable Jobs for the automatic Lockbox Processing.

Note
Automatic Lockbox Reprocessing is optional because it requires you have implemented SAP Cash Applications, which requires a separate, additional license.

When implemented, automatic reprocessing is applied to certain business scenarios. Currently, Automatic Lockbox Reprocessing can only be used for Unprocessed or Posted on acct business scenarios.

Lockbox processing creates payment advices for any payment that can not be applied fully. These payment advices are stored and post processing uses these advices to correctly make payments to the customer. Use this process for Unprocessed, Posted on Acct, or Part. applied business scenarios.

Lockbox processing has been performed and lockbox data exists to be reprocessed. There are three scenarios requiring reprocessing of incoming checks:

  • Scenario 1: Unprocessed - Neither the customer account nor the invoice could be found in the system. Create a new file with an incorrect invoice number and an incorrect customer number (MICR number).
  • Scenario 2: Posted on acct. - The customer account was found but not the invoice. Create a new file with the correct customer number (MICR number) and the incorrect invoice number.
  • Scenario 3: Part. Applied - The customer was found but one invoice was correct and the other was incorrect. Create a new file with the correct customer (MICR number) and one with the correct invoice number, and another with an incorrect invoice number.

Run the Upload Lockbox Files (FLB2) app to execute the step. Depending on which of the three scenarios applies, the Items list and Log gives you additional details that let you compare to the information available in the Lockbox: process checks view.

Bank Statement Processing

Bank Statements Overview

The Bank Statement Processing consists of three main parts. There are the statement formats, which need to be considered when importing information to the SAP S/4HANA Cloud system. For the import itself, there are three main options available in the Basic Cash Operations scope item.

The Advanced Cash Operations scope items include, next to all of the items from BFB - Basic Cash Operations, the intraday statement processing.

After the import, there is the possibility to monitor all of the imported information and, if reprocessing is needed, this is also highly integrated.

Bank Statement Formats

When it comes to electronic bank statements, the following internationally recognized formats exist:

  • The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) is an institution that provides financial services around the world. The network is widely recognized as a secure way to handle bank transactions and integrates in many cases with SAP ERP software. The message types for bank statements typically used in the SWIFT environment are MT940, MT942, and MT950.
  • In the course of the SEPA implementation across Europe, not only was the outgoing data transfer from enterprises towards banks reworked, but also the bank-to-customer side. The SEPA Cash Management Message Types (SEPA CAMT) was therefore implemented in due course. Message types for bank statements typically used in the SEPA CAMT environment are CAMT.052, CAMT.053, and CAMT.054.
  • In the United States, the BAI Format administrated by the Bank Administration Institute is used. In short, the BAI2 format is a cash management balance reporting specification developed by the BAI (Bank Administration Institute). From experience, the BAI2 format is widely used in the US. BAI2 is globally supported by most of the major global banks, but outside of the US and with local banks, corporates might find that the BAI2 format has limited availability. Message Types typically associated with the Bank Administration Institute are BAI or BAI2.

There are many more standardized formats available around the world. For the purpose of simplicity, we stick to these three formats.

With the implementation of the SEPA, not only were the outgoing payments standardized, but new file formats for the electronic bank statement have also been introduced.

New bank statement formats, mainly introduced along with the SEPA implementation, are as follows:

  • CAMT.052 Bank to Customer Account Report

  • CAMT.053 Bank to Customer Statement

  • CAMT.054 Bank to Customer Debit Credit Notification

A comparison between the SWIFT message and the XML based provided by the European Payments Council standard is shown in the figure, Comparison SWIFT and XML Formats.

Statement Import with Multi-Bank Connectivity

This section describes how to handle the bank statement in the SAP S/4HANA Cloud system. There are three means of importing bank statements to the SAP S/4HANA Cloud System:

  • Import electronic bank statement file using SAP Multi-Bank Connectivity (MBC)

  • Import the electronic bank statement file manually

  • Create a manual bank statement

Import Electronic Bank Statement File using SAP Multi-Bank Connectivity (MBC)

If the system is connected to SAP Multi-Bank Connectivity (MBC), the electronic bank statement file provided by the bank is stored in an SFTP folder, MBC retrieves the electronic bank statement file from SFTP and then does validation and mapping. This process integrates with the scope item Bank Integration with SAP Multi-Bank Connectivity (16R).

For banks with an MBC connection, bank statements are handled by MBC. MBC maps from the local bank statement format to an ISO CAMT.053 format, and SAP S/4HANA Cloud pulls the ISO CAMT.053 bank statement from MBC and then imports it automatically. The SAP S/4HANA Cloud system schedules a background job every 10 minutes to retrieve the bank statement file from MBC, and the file is automatically imported into the SAP S/4HANA Cloud system.

After the CAMT.053 bank statement is pulled from MBC, the postings in bank accounting and subledger accounting are performed. Since MBC maps the local bank statement formats to a CAMT.053 format, there is only one set of posting rules for the electronic bank statement.

When importing bank statements to the SAP S/4HANA Cloud application, several programs are used to read statement information, to interpret this information, and come to a conclusion about how to post the interpreted data.

Essentially, the steps are similar for the bank statement import using the SAP Multi-Bank Connectivity and the electronic bank statement version. Depending on the import method of the manual process, there could be a difference in the interpretation and posting logic.

When the electronic bank statement reaches the SAP S/4HANA Cloud system, the note to payee information is analyzed. Here, the customer would normally provide some kind of reference information about the invoice, customer number, and so on. In the system configuration, the interpretation algorithm is defined. Based on that, the system uses no algorithm, a standard algorithm, or, for example, the document number, to assign the note to payee information to internal business partner-related transactions.

If the system can find a match, for example, based on the document number provided in the bank statement, it will perform the subledger accounting posting and clear the open item of the business partner. If there is no match possible, the reprocessing of items is needed.

You can use the Manage Bank Statements app to manage manual and electronic bank statements. The app provides an overview of all bank statements for all house bank accounts. You can also view detailed information for each bank statement.

Set the filter value to electronic bank statement items to see all the automatically imported statement items. Search for bank statements using search criteria, such as house bank account, bank statement date, bank statement status, and bank statement number. From the app, you will also see the details of a bank statement such as line items, dates, and processing status.

In the Manage Bank Statements app, you can also to delete a bank statement. However, only bank statements with the statuses Received, Saved, or Aborted can be deleted. An already completed item can no longer be deleted from the system. In this case, you need to reverse the transaction.

A saved item is not yet posted to the database. Because there is no document flow associated with it, this statement can be deleted.

You can reverse imported or manually created bank statements in the SAP S/4HANA Cloud system. To accomplish this, navigate to the Manage Bank Statements app. Choose the item to be reversed to see the details of the transaction.

After choosing Reverse, you are prompted for the reversal reason and the posting date. After the confirmation, you can see from the reversal log the bank ledger and subledger items that are reversed, meaning that the clearing of the open item is taken back and the posting on the bank account as well. Afterwards, you might want to check the statement content and reimport the statement or clear the items manually.

Electronic Bank Statement Import

Import Electronic Bank Statement File Manually

You get the electronic bank statement file from the bank, and import it into SAP S/4HANA Cloud system manually. This process integrates with the Bank Integration with File Interface (1EG) scope item.

If there is no connection to SAP Multi-Bank Connectivity, you can import this electronic bank statement file in SAP S/4HANA Cloud application manually. This procedure can be used for different file formats, for example, the BAI formats in the United States, or the more general CAMT.053 format.

In the case of the manual upload of electronic bank statements to the SAP S/4HANA Cloud application, several programs are used to read statement information, to interpret this information and, finally, to come to a conclusion about how to post the interpreted data.

The Manage Incoming Payment Files app facilitates the manual upload of electronic bank statements. Here again, the note to payee information plays a vital role in the matching of bank statement items to transactions in the system. The customer would normally provide some kind of reference information about the invoice, customer number, and so on. In the system configuration, the interpretation algorithm is defined per external transaction type. Based on that, the system uses no algorithm, a standard algorithm, or, for example, the document number, to assign the note to payee information to internal business partner-related transactions.

If the system can find a match, for example, based on the document number provided in the bank statement, it will perform the subledger accounting posting and clear the open item of the business partner. If there is no match possible, the reprocessing of items is needed.

If the transaction type is maintained in the Manage Bank Accounts app, the system automatically uses this information for the import of the bank statement. Even if you, as a user, do not have the authorizations to view the master data of a bank account, the system uses the transaction type that is maintained there for the import of bank statements using the Manage Incoming Payment Files app.

The Manage Incoming Payment Files app facilitates the manual import of bank statements and lockbox batches using electronic payment files. For the import of bank statements, you can select from a wide array of formats for example, BAI in the US, MT940 Germany, CAMT.053.001.02, and a number of further country-specific formats.

After the bank statements and lockbox batches are imported and posted, you will find them in the overview table of the Manage Incoming Payment Files app. Apply the filter criteria that you need to find, and track the items for which you are responsible.

If you want to follow up on the statement items, you can use the Manage Bank Statements and Manage Lockbox Batches apps.

The Manage Incoming Payment Files app allows you to directly reprocess files containing records that failed to be imported previously. There could be, for example, a missing account in the system. Like in the previous figure, the system would not be able to match the statement against any account. The account needs to be created in the SAP S/4HANA Cloud system first. After resolving the problems that caused the original import failure, the files can be reprocessed.

You can also mark files as obsolete if they contain records that failed to be imported and should be disregarded.

Manual Statement Import

Create a Manual Bank Statement

To manually enter a bank statement into the SAP S/4HANA Cloud system, use the Manage Bank Statements app. There are two options on how to key in the data. You can either use manual transaction or external transactions to create a manual bank statement.

In the case of the manual input of bank statement information to the SAP S/4HANA Cloud system, the manually entered in the memo line or the customer reference information field is used for the interpretation of how to post the bank statement data.

The Manage Bank Statements app allows you to enter data from the statement in two ways – either with the payment transaction type group, or without, as a manual transaction. If the payment transaction type group is used, and the external transaction types indicate which logical business transaction is associated with the entered item, the system behavior is similar to the upload of the electronic bank statement. The note to payee information plays a vital role in the matching of bank statement items to transactions in the system. The customer would normally provide some kind of reference information about the invoice, customer number, and so on. In the system configuration, the interpretation algorithm is defined per external transaction type. Based on that, the system uses no algorithm, a standard algorithm, for example, the document number, to assign the note to payee information to internal business partner-related transactions.

If the system can find a match, for example, based on the document number provided in the bank statement, it performs the subledger accounting posting and clears the open item of the business partner. If there is no match possible, the reprocessing of items is needed.

If no payment transaction type group is used when entering bank statement information, the posting rule is not derived from the external business transaction code but is directly selected by the statement processor. The interpretation and posting logic in the bank ledger and subledger remains the same.

For manual transaction, just leave the payment transaction type group blank. No external transaction can be used in this type of bank statement. If you are clearing open items with the bank statement, go to the detail screen of the line item and enter the customer reference number.

When you maintain a payment transaction type group, for example, MT940, the external transactions configured in the system can be used later. No manual transaction can be used in such a bank statement.

In manual bank statement processing, you work with a two-step approach to complete the task. When you enter the transaction details, you are saving this information in the system. At this point, no posting on any account has happened. Due to this fact, such items are open for further processing or can be deleted.

The second step is to post these transactions to the system. Consequently, the general ledger postings are done and customer/vendor open items are cleared. At this point, the statement can no longer be deleted, and only the reversal of the created postings is possible.

Define Bank Account Settings - Bank Statements

The Define Bank Account Settings - Bank Statements app enables you to define settings for integrating end-of-day electronic bank statements with cash management at bank-account level. You define how bank statement data is consumed by cash management, and whether a posting is needed after bank statements are imported.

You can use this app to do the following:

  • Retrieve default settings defined for company codes.

    Choose the Retrieve Default Settings button to retrieve all bank accounts that belong to the company codes that have configuration defined in the configuration step Integrate with End-of-Day Bank Statements. The configuration settings defined for company codes are also retrieved and stored with these bank accounts. You can find this configuration step in the Manage Your Solution app, under Finance Cash and Liquidity Management Bank Account Management.

  • Change settings for individual bank accounts.

    You can change the default settings for individual bank accounts as required. The setting is time-dependent. You can define different settings for different validity periods.

    Note

    By default, the system uses the following logic for bank accounts when there are no relevant settings defined in the app or in the configuration step Integrate with End-of-Day Bank Statements:

    • Posting category: Posting to Be Processed
    • Transfer mode: Bank Statement Items Only

Settings on how end-of-day statements should be processed are maintained in the Manage Your Solution app, under FinanceCash and Liquidity ManagementBank Account ManagementIntegrate with End-of-Day Statements. Here you set the default values that can be retrieved in the Define Bank Account Settings - Bank Statements app later on. The values are set per company code and have a validity period, meaning they are time-dependent.

If you need specific settings for a single account or you have not set default values in the configuration, you can maintain individual values for bank accounts in the Define Bank Account Settings – Bank Statements app. In the app, you define the following settings:

Posting Category

Specify whether you need to post the bank statements after they are imported in your cash management system.

  • Posting to Be Processed

    You select this option when you need to post bank statements after they are imported.

  • No Posting Processing

    You select this option when you do not need to post bank statements after they are imported. For example, you can use this option for bank accounts managed in a remote system, as you only want to push bank statement information to cash management apps.

Transfer Mode

Define what type of data from the bank statements is transferred to cash management.

  • Balance Only

    Transfer only the bank account balances to cash management. With this mode, you can use the Manage Bank Account Balances app to view balance updates.

  • Bank Statement Items Only

    Transfer only line items of bank statements to cash management. With this mode, you can use the following apps:

    • Short-Term Cash Position
    • Cash Position
    • Cash Flow Analyzer
    • Check Cash Flow Items
  • Balance and Bank Statement Items

    Transfer both the balances and line items from bank statements to cash management. With this mode, you can use the following apps:

    • Short-Term Cash Position: The app displays both the balances and the line items from imported bank statements.
    • Cash Position: The app displays the line items from imported bank statements. The bank account balances are calculated based on actual and forecasted cash flows.
    • Cash Flow Analyzer: The app displays the line items from imported bank statements. The bank account balances are calculated based on actual and forecasted cash flows.
    • Check Cash Flow Items: The app displays the line items from imported bank statements.
    • Manage Bank Account Balances: The app displays the bank account balances from imported bank statements.
  • No Update for Cash Management

    Import bank statements but without transferring the data to cash management. With this mode, the system does not update bank statement data in cash management apps. Therefore, none of the following apps work with this mode:

    • Short-Term Cash Position
    • Cash Position
    • Cash Flow Analyzer
    • Check Cash Flow Items
Balance Update Method
The Balance Update Method defines the processing options that are allowed for a bank account containing the following:
  • Enable Balance from Manual Entry:

    Allows you to manually enter a balance for the bank account in the Manage Bank Account Balances app.

  • Enable Balance from Spreadsheet Import:

    Allows you to import a spreadsheet to update the balance of the bank account in the Manage Bank Account Balances app.

  • Enable Balance from EPIC:

    Allows you to update balances for the bank account using Electronic Payment Integration (China).

  • Source Attribute:

    With this attribute, you can identify whether a setting is retrieved from the company-level setting defined in the configuration object Integrate with End-of-Day Bank Statements or whether it is defined in the Define Bank Account Settings - Bank Statements app for a bank account.

  • Change Documents:

    In this section, you can see the change log for a setting.

If the transaction type is maintained in the Manage Bank Accounts app, the system automatically uses this information for the import of the bank statement. If you do not maintain the transaction type in the Manage Bank Accounts app, the system is not able to post and clear bank statement items correctly or to post and clear them at all. To avoid this problem in the area of bank statement processing, we recommend that you maintain the Transaction Type field for every bank account manually in the Manage Bank Accounts app.

Monitor Bank Statements

There are two apps that help you to manage and monitor the bank statements for the end-of-day process. The Manage Bank Statements app lists all the uploaded statements to the system with its line item details. The Monitor Bank Statements app gives a broader view of the current bank statements in the SAP S/4HANA Cloud application.

Along with these two apps, there is also the Bank Statement Monitor - Intraday app. This is designed to monitor the import status of intraday bank statements for the bank accounts that have been selected. The intraday statement processing is nevertheless only available with the scope item J78 - Advanced Cash Operations.

You can use the Bank Statement Monitor app to monitor the import status of end-of-day bank statements for all the bank accounts that have been selected for monitoring. This app provides you with an overall status of the monitored bank accounts and also allows you to identify bank accounts with statement import errors. Then, you can communicate the issue to the responsible person using emails directly from this app.

There are plenty of options in Bank Statement Monitor to display and sort the information available. The color coding gives a crisp idea of the import status for the bank statements. This information can be grouped in several different ways, for example, by bank and company, by country, and so on.

Toggle between the chart view and a table view for a different perspective on the numbers.

The Bank Statement Monitor app also acts as a hub for further processing on bank statement items. From the app, you can navigate to, for example, the Cash Flow Analyzer or the Manage Bank Statements app.

This feature ensures efficient processing of bank statements throughout the value chain.

SAP CoPilot Skills for Statements

SAP CoPilot Skills help you to quickly and easily display manual and electronic bank statement items as well as open bank statement items. For example, you can use a command to show one or more bank statement items. You can type commands into the SAP CoPilot window or use voice recognition.

There are no specific required data fields, but you must input data into at least one of the following fields:

  • House Bank
  • Company Code
  • Company Name
  • Statement Status
  • Bank Statement No.

Good examples of queries for the SAP CoPilot are as follows:

  • Show me the bank statements that are not completed.

  • Show me the bank statements for company code 1010.

  • Display this month's bank statements for company code 1010.

  • Show me the latest bank statements for company code 1010.

The SAP CoPilot skill Reprocess Bank Statement Items supports you when you query how to open bank statement items, which could not be posted manually or electronically.

This skill allows you to query open bank statement items using SAP CoPilot. You can simply say or type your query to see an overview of your open bank statement items. If you wish to post a bank statement item, choose Open in app on the CoPilot screen.

There are no specific required data fields but you must input data into at least one of the following fields:

  • Line Item No. (Line Item Number)
  • Bank Statement No.
  • Amount
  • Currency
  • Company Code

Good examples of queries for the SAP CoPilot are as follows:

  • Show me the bank statement items for Account IBAN 179.

  • Show me the bank statement items for Assignment 0000456790.

  • Show me the bank statement items for Reference Document 111.

  • Show me the bank statement items for Bank Key 1122.

This SAP CoPilot skill allows you to query reprocessing rules for open bank statement items using SAP CoPilot. You can simply say or type your query to see an overview of reprocessing rules fitting your query. If you wish to create or apply a rule, choose Open in the app on the CoPilot screen.

There are no specific required data fields, but you must at least enter a Rule ID

For example, you could create a query asking the following: "Show me reprocessing rule with rule ID 868".

Intraday Bank Statements

The Bank Statement Monitor - Intraday app helps you to monitor the import status of intraday bank statements for the bank accounts that have been selected for monitoring.

You can use this app to do the following:

  • Monitor the import status of intraday bank statements for bank accounts that have been selected for monitoring
  • Compare the expected number of imports with the actual number
  • View the import schedule and status for bank accounts in a timeline that can be zoomed in or out

If you are using the intraday bank statement functionality, you must specify a planning level for each bank account that is set for intraday bank statements in the Manage Bank Accounts app. Go to the Manage Bank Accounts app and select the Bank Relationship tab. Set the planning level (memo records) as per your requirements. Otherwise, the system can not generate intraday memo records from intraday bank statements.

As a result, the cash flows for intraday bank statements can not be identified properly and displayed in the Cash Flow Analyzer app and the Reconcile Cash Flows - Intraday Memo Records app.

The Bank Statement Monitor - Intraday app gives a clear overview of how many intraday bank statements you would expect for each account and the comparison on how many are actually imported.

The color coding of the time scale shows you right away if there is an issue with one of the intraday statements, or if everything is running according to plan.

The monitoring rule that is set in the bank account master data plays a vital role here. The rule clearly defines how many statements are expected at which time, or what exceptions might apply.

The prerequisites for the Intraday Bank Statement Monitor app are as follows:

  1. Define the bank accounts to be monitored.

    Only bank accounts that are set to be monitored appear in this app. To monitor a bank account for intraday bank statements, in the Manage Bank Accounts app, choose the Upload of Intraday Statements checkbox for this bank account.

    Note that bank accounts can be linked to multiple house bank accounts by using the House Bank Account Connectivity setting. However, only bank accounts that are linked to one house bank account can currently be monitored by the Bank Statement Monitor - Intraday  app.

  2. Define monitoring rules for checking the import status of intraday bank statements.

    Depending on how banks send out intraday bank statements, you can define monitoring rules for bank accounts that have a recurring schedule for intraday bank statements, or you can skip this step if the bank sends out intraday bank statements only when transactions occur.

    To define monitoring rules, use the Define Monitoring Rules - Intraday Statements app.

  3. Assign monitoring rules to banks and bank accounts.

    You can assign monitoring rules at bank level or bank account level. To do so, you make the relevant entry in the Rule for Intraday Statements field in the Manage Banks app, on the Control Data section of the General Data tab.

    The rule assigned at bank level applies to all the bank accounts in this bank if there are no other rules specified for individual bank accounts.

    If you have opted to monitor a bank account but you have not specified the monitoring rule either at bank level or at bank account level, the system regards the bank account as receiving intraday bank statements only when transactions occur. In this case, the expected number of intraday bank statements is always shown as 0 in the Bank Statement Monitor - Intraday app. The app monitors the bank account on a daily basis. The system displays the warning status for the bank account from the beginning of the day until the first intraday bank statement is imported for that day.

In the Manage Bank Accounts tile, navigate to the Bank Relationship tab. Here, you can set the values if you want to Reconcile Intraday Memo Records and which Tolerance Group must be used for this reconciliation.

If you select the Upload Intraday Statements checkbox, intraday bank account statements are taken into consideration for the bank account balance. It also decides whether the bank account is monitored in the Bank Statement Monitor - Intraday  app.

The rule for the intraday bank statement processing is defined in the Define Monitoring Rules - Intraday Statements app. Here, you outline the details of the rule – how many statements at which time, which exceptions apply, and what calendar to be used.

Reconcile Cash Flows

If you want to learn more about the functionality of the Reconcile Cash Flows - Intraday Bank Statement app click the boxes in light yellow of the interactive graphic below.

Reconcile Cash Flows - Intraday Bank Statements

With the Reconcile Cash Flows app, you can manually reconcile intraday memo records that were generated automatically from intraday bank statements with forecasted cash flows. This feature enables you to compare your intraday bank statements with your forecasts before the end of the business. This way, you can easily identify unfinished and unknown payments in time. It also helps you to get rid of duplicated items in forecasts to gain a more accurate account of your cash positions.

Key features of this app include the following:

  • View automatically reconciled intraday memo records and forecasted cash flows. When an intraday bank statement is imported into the system, the system automatically generates an intraday memo record for each bank account. The system then automatically reconciles open intraday memo records with open forecasted cash flows.
  • Manually reconcile intraday memo records with forecasted cash flows.
  • Undo reconciliations for selected items and reset them to the open status.

    To do so, select any item and then choose the Undo Reconciliations button. The system resets the reconciliation for the selected items and all other items that have been reconciled and sets them all back to open items.

  • Monitor the reconciliation status of all relevant bank accounts.

After a bank statement is imported, the system triggers the automatic reconciliation process. The system first reads table FEBCL for the existing mapping relationships between intraday memo records and the corresponding FI documents. Then, it checks the One Exposure table (FQM_FlOW) and automatically matches the rest of the open intraday memo records with open forecasted cash flows. The matching process considers the company code, bank account, currency, value date, amount, as well as the tolerance group setting. The system updates the result in the cash reconciliation table. You can then see the matched memo records and forecasted cash flows as Reconciled in the Reconcile Cash Flows - Intraday Memo Records app.

The matching logic is as follows:

  • The company code, currency, and bank account must be the same.
  • The value date of the two parties can be different but the difference can not be larger than one day.
  • The amounts of the two parties have to be matched with the tolerance setting taken into consideration. The amounts are rounded to the nearest one.

An example of this is as follows:

Intraday memo record A and forecasted cash flow B are matched in every way except that the value date of the memo record is a day before the value date of the cash flow. In this case, the two parties are matched and reconciled because the value date difference is not larger than one day.

Intraday memo record A and forecasted cash flow B are matched in every way except that the memo record is 5000 EURO while the cash flow is 4950 EURO. The program checks the tolerance group setting for the bank account and the result can vary: if the bank account is not assigned with a tolerance group or the tolerance amount is zero, the memo record and the cash flow are not reconciled. If the difference of 50 EURO is within the tolerance limit defined by the tolerance group for the bank account, the memo record and the cash flow are reconciled.

The tolerance group for the bank accounts is needed when you reconcile intraday memo records with forecasted cash flows. There might be an amount difference. The system then checks if the bank account has a defined tolerance group. If the bank account has no tolerance group assigned, or the difference exceeds the defined limit of the tolerance group, the system displays a warning message to warn you about the notable difference.

In the Reconcile Cash Flows - Intraday Bank Statement Payment tile you find, depending on your filter criteria, the bank accounts in reconciliation.

Selecting one line item shows you the details of the intraday memo records, forecasted cash flows, and reconciled items.

For the intraday memo records, the notes in bank statement are available and are linked with the relevant memo record.

By default, forecast flows of the selected back account are listed. You can also switch that over to Company Code view. This could be meaningful if you reconcile with forecast flows which do not link with any bank account, or for the cases where the actual payment is different from the expected account.

The reconciliation result is also reflected in the Cash Flow Analyzer, where you can filter intraday bank statements and forecasted cash flows according to their reconciliation status. With combinations of different filter options, you can analyze your cash flows and bank account balances in various dimensions.

With this app Schedule Intraday Memo Records Reconciliation, you can schedule jobs to perform automatic reconciliation between intraday memo records and forecasted cash flows. It complements the automatic reconciliation triggered by the import of intraday bank statements and reduces the effort involved in manual reconciliation.

You can use this app to the following:

  • Create and schedule jobs for automatic reconciliation between intraday memo records and forecasted cash flows according to your requirements. Cash flows with the following certainty levels are considered as forecasted cash flows.
    • Accounts receivable (certainty level REC_N)
    • Accounts payable (certainty level PAY_N)
    • Self-initiated cash in transit (certainty level SI_CIT)
    • General memo records (certainty level MEMO)
  • View the results of the scheduled jobs

Prerequisites

Before you use this app, define the following: to include a bank account in cash flow reconciliation, in the Manage Bank Accounts app, open the bank account and select the Reconcile Intraday Memo Records indicator.

If you want to allow amount differences in reconciliation for certain bank accounts, define the following settings:

  • In the Manage Your Solution app, define tolerance groups for cash flow reconciliation in the Define Tolerance Groups for Cash Flow Reconciliation configuration step.
  • You can find this configuration step under Finance Cash and Liquidity Management Cash Operations.
  • In the Manage Bank Accounts app, assign tolerance groups to bank accounts in the Tolerance Group for Reconciliation field.

The following run types are available for this job template:

Reconcile with Bank Statement Information

You use this mode when the FEBCL table already contains the mapping relationship between intraday memo records and the corresponding FI documents. You can use this mode to retrieve the mapping relationship and update the reconciliation table. You can then see the matched memo records and forecasted cash flows with the status Reconciled in the Reconcile Cash Flows - Intraday Memo Records app.

Reconcile with Bank Statement Info and Match by Amount

In this mode, the app first reads the FEBCL table for the existing mapping relationship between intraday memo records and the corresponding FI documents. Then it checks the One Exposure table (FQM_FlOW) and automatically matches the rest of the open intraday memo records with open forecasted cash flows. The matching process considers the company code, bank account, currency, value date, amount, as well as the tolerance group setting. The system then updates the result in the cash reconciliation table. You can then see the matched memo records and forecasted cash flows with the status Reconciled in the Reconcile Cash Flows - Intraday Memo Records app.

Post-Process Bank Statements

Post-Process Bank Statements

You are importing bank statements to your system. Particularly for incoming customer payments, you want a high automation rate for the open item clearing. This can be achieved in three ways:

  • There is the standard interpretation algorithm which reads the external note to payee information and searches for it in the system to find a match.
  • If there are regular incoming payments where a dedicated rule can be applied (for example, monthly rent payments) there is the possibility to create a reprocessing rule directly in the application. The Manage Bank Statement Reprocessing Rules app facilitates this process.
  • Enrich and enhance this process with the SAP Cash Application (scope item 1MV). Machine Learning (ML) helps with the matching and clears items automatically or proposes the best match.

If there is still no match found between an item in the bank statement and an open item in the system, manual reprocessing is needed.

A good place to start the reprocessing of bank statement items is the Manage Bank Statements app. You get a first impression of the bank statements' status and can decide to follow up with these items.

You take this information to use in the Reprocess Bank Statement Items app where you actually reprocess the statement items that were not matched automatically by the system.

Interpretation Algorithm

If necessary, define an interpretation algorithm if open items are to be cleared automatically as a result of the posting.

Examples of interpretation algorithms you can set in conjunction with the external transaction type and the internal posting rule are as follows:

  • No algorithm
  • Standard algorithm
  • Document number search
  • Reference number search
  • Payment order number

Depending on the algorithm you choose from the configuration, the system applies specific rules to find matching data in the open items.

SAP Cash Application

SAP Cash Application is a cloud-based solution that leverages ML technology to provide matching prediction results based on historical data.

The solution intends to improve the cash application process by automating the labor-intense activity of clearing incoming bank payments with corresponding receivable invoices with the help of SAP Cash Application.

In SAP S/4HANA Cloud, the integration process can be scheduled to extract historical data and replicate to the ML platform as machine training data. It can then be scheduled to extract open receivable items and replicate to the ML platform for scoring. The prediction result from ML is proposed when the customer reprocesses the bank statement items.

Using SAP Leonardo ML capabilities, the matching engine learns from accountants' past manual actions, capturing a much richer detail of customer- and country-specific behavior, without the costs of manually defining detailed rules.

Reprocessing Rules

The Bank Statement Reprocessing Rules app helps you to create and manage bank statement reprocessing rules. This allows you to automate the reprocessing of bank statement items and enables you to spend more time on critical tasks.

You can use this app to do the following tasks:

  • Create new bank statement reprocessing rules.
  • Define conditions and actions for the reprocessing rules.
  • Select open bank statement items by reprocessing rule.
  • Check for which open bank statement items the rules applies to.
  • Select bank statement items that should be handled with the reprocessing rule.
  • Apply the reprocessing rule to the selected bank statement items.

Every time a new statement is imported and an item fulfills the rule criteria, it is routed through this procedure and posted accordingly. This way, the automatic matching and posting rate is greatly increased.

In the example, we are setting the condition for all statements of company code 1010 that run with a memo line that contains the word RENT and the external business transaction code 153. In this case, the account is 63005000 and the cost center is 10101302 to which it must be posted.

Reprocess Statements

If no match is found between the incoming payment and the system's internal information, the cash specialist is needed to perform a manual reprocessing. You can use the Reprocess Bank Statement Items app to reprocess bank statement information that was not processed automatically. In this app, you can reprocess a bank statement item, mark it as reprocessed, and enter a reason for reprocessing. You can also add attachments to bank statement items.

From the overall bank statement list, it is possible to directly assign a reprocessing rule for a certain set of items. To do so, select the statement items and choose the Apply Rule button. On the prompt, you find the already created rules from the Manage Bank Statement Reprocessing Rules app.

To administer statement items, use the Reprocess button on the overview page. You are then directed to the item details. From here, you have several options for how to process and post the statement item.

At the top of the screen, the general bank statement information is displayed. That is the company code, house bank, or external transaction, for example. The details below contain all the information that is available from the individual item.

The account type describes mainly the object against which you are trying to post this item. If you are clearing a customer open item with a line item, select this option for a more streamlined process. In addition, select the customer number.

The reprocessing reason holds information as to why you are working on this item. This could be missing configuration, missing master data, or tolerance limits, for example.

A menu bar in the lower part of the screen provides you with the posting options. You can either post the item against AP/AR items, post it on account, or post it against a G/L item. You can also add attachments and see already created documents, probably the bank ledger in the case of an incoming payment.

The figure shows a possible allocation of an incoming payment. Let's assume our customer has paid 1345 EUR, as shown on the top, but did not specify which items are to be paid via a payment advice. Providing the customer number as the account type, the cash specialist can obtain all the open items of that account. They can now manually assign the items by moving them to the Items to be Cleared area.

Posting the entries clears the open items and completes the reprocessing for this bank statement item.

If no open items are found or the amount paid is too low, the accounting clerk or cash specialist can also create a dispute case directly from the app.

The Analyze As field in the Manage Bank Statement Reprocessing Rules and Reprocess Bank Statement Items app has been renamed to Allocation Algorithm. By selecting an allocation algorithm, you define how the reprocessing rule processes bank statement items that fulfill the rule's conditions. Furthermore, you can order them in a sequence.

With the allocation algorithms, you can create an allocation sequence. After selecting the algorithms of the allocation sequence in the Manage Bank Statement Reprocessing Rules app, you can also change the order of the algorithms using a drag and drop mechanism as depicted in the figure. If a bank statement item is applicable to the conditions of a reprocessing rule that has an allocation sequence as the action type, the system proceeds to use the algorithms in the order defined in the sequence to find a matching open item. The system reads the sequence of algorithms from top to bottom. If at any point of the allocation sequence the system finds a matching open item, the system stops the sequence and does not use the rest of the algorithms.

Cash Concentration

Cash Pooling Service Providers

In general, there are two service provider options available when working with cash pools in the SAP S/4HANA Cloud system.

You can choose between the service provider enterprise where the cash pool is operated by your company or the provider bank in which case the external bank is operating the cash pool for you.

Depending on your requirements you map this information to the corresponding attributes in SAP S/4HANA Cloud.

Enterprise

This type of Cash Pool is operated by your company. You can initiate cash concentration manually or schedule jobs for cash concentration for this cash pool using the Manage Cash Concentration and Schedule Jobs for Cash Concentration apps.

In a multi-level cash pool structure, cash pools of this type can only be assigned as the top-level cash pool.

The key process flows covered include the creation and management of cash pool master data. From this master data setup, it is possible to run cash concentration.

Manage transactions with the Cash Pool Transfer Report to understand the movement of funds.

You can access the Manage Cash Pools app to maintain cash pool master data for a physical cash pool.

With this app, you can create, delete, and display cash pools with the assigned bank accounts. The master data can later be used in the cash pooling feature. As total cash balances are managed centrally rather than locally, it can then help your company to improve its liquidity management. You can also display the whole structure of cash pools, which is displayed in the Cash Flow Analyzer app.

The bank account closing balance is calculated based on the predefined Bank Account Balance Profile. With the self-service configuration app, Assign Planning Levels to Profiles, you can define the expected closing balance of bank accounts, which can then be used in the cash sweeping between the header account and sub accounts. Therefore, make sure that you have made the configuration setting of Assign Planning Levels to Profiles in the Manage Your Solution app.

This app uses the C_CashPoolMgmtTP CDS view.

After cash pools are defined in the Manage Cash Pools app, you can maintain bank account and other related information for the cash pools in the bank account master data.

In the Manage Bank Accounts app, open a bank account record, and then go to the Cash Pool section.

Specify if the bank account serves as the header account of a cash pool. Furthermore, define if the cash pool is a physical cash pool and specify the payment method. To do so, after you specify the Cash Pool Name field, press the Enter key to enable the Payment Method field for editing.

The bank account could also act as a sub-account of a cash pool. In this case, set the values accordingly for the sub-account area. The following values are only relevant when the cash pool is a physical cash pool:

  • Target balance
  • Minimum transfer amount
  • Payment method

In the Manage Cash Pools app, the service provider bank can be defined, which means that you can now define cash pools that are operated by banks in the app. You can not perform a cash concentration for cash pools of this type using the Manage Cash Concentration app as they are operated by banks.

To define a cash pool hierarchy with multi-level cash pools, you assign bank accounts as both the sub-account of a cash pool and the header account of another cash pool. This way, cash pools are associated in a hierarchical order. In a multi-level cash pool hierarchy, you can assign only cash pools of the type bank as child cash pools. For cash pools whose service provider is a bank, you must define the pool usage as Both Directions.

In the Cash Flow Analyzer app, you can view a cash concentration simulation for the selected cash pool.

For the cash pool structure especially, find the following fields from the simulation:

  • Balance Before Simulation
  • Balance After Simulation
  • Transfer Amount
  • Max Target Amount
  • Min Target Amount

This feature helps the cash manager to evaluate the cash pooling consequences and helps to further optimize the cash flow in the enterprise.

With the Perform Cash Concentration app, this simulation can be executed for the real transfer of funds.

You can simulate the cash concentration not only for the service provider Enterprise but also made by Banks by creating memo records.

To do so, you must first define a planning level for the cash pool. The planning level is used to generate memo records. The process of creating cash concentration is the same as that for cash pools with the Enterprise service provider. Instead of payment requests, memo records are generated to simulate the cash movements in the cash pool.

With the Manage Cash Concentration app, you can perform cash concentration for cash pools with the service provider Enterprise. You can make transfers between the header account and sub-accounts based on system proposals. The cash concentration feature allows your company to maintain cash balances centrally and thus improve the efficiency of cash management.

Key features of the Manage Cash Concentration app include the following:

  • Initiate an immediate cash concentration in a cash pool.
  • Simulate the amount of money to be transferred between the assigned header accounts and sub-accounts.

The calculation logic is based on the following figures:

Before Balance

The bank account closing balance that is the predefined Bank Account Balance Profile.

Minimum Transfer Amount

The amount that is assigned in the bank account in this cash pool, which is defined in the Manage Bank Accounts app.

Target Balance

The balance that is assigned in the bank account in this cash pool, which is defined in the Manage Bank Accounts app.

  • Display a list of cash concentration to check the concentration status and the bank account balance transfer details.
  • Filter cash concentration with specific selection criteria, such as the specified concentration date.
  • Navigate to the application log app by selecting the concentration ID link to check the details of the payment run status.

To create a cash concentration, choose the Create button at the initial screen. To specify a cash pool for cash concentration, choose the Specify a Cash Pool button.

In the dialog, select a cash pool that is still in use for the Cash Pool Name field. The cash pool must have the service provider as Enterprise. If needed, you can change the default exchange rate type. The exchange rate type is applied when there are different currencies involved in the cash concentration.

Specify a plan date for simulating the cash concentration. The Balance Before field then displays the balance for the plan date that you have specified. The date can be the current date or a future date.

The Use Sub-account PM indicator to set the payment method of the sub-account in order to generate payment requests, irrespective whether the transfer is from the sub-account or to the sub-account.

After you have entered the cash concentration parameters, the system displays the following:

The Bank Accounts section

This section gives you an overview of the header account and all the immediate sub-accounts of this cash pool. If a sub-account also serves as the header account of a child cash pool, the cash pool information is displayed.

The system proposes transfer amounts for each sub-account. You can decide whether to accept them or make adjustments according to your own needs. The transfer amount can be positive or negative. A positive amount suggests that the bank account receives money while a negative amount means that money is transferred from this account to the header account.

With the Clear Transfer Amount button, you can to clear in one go all transfer amounts proposed by the system.

Simulation Results Section

If there are child cash pools under this pool, you can see simulated cash transfer logs in this section. The simulation results explain how the Balance Before figures of the child cash pools are calculated.

Review the simulation results and adjust the transfer amounts and value dates for generating payment requests. By default, the value date is set as the plan date. You can change it to another date if needed. Having confirmed the results, the system creates payment requests accordingly and generates an ID for the cash concentration.

You can use the Plan Date field to simulate cash concentration for a future date, and the Value Date field to define the dates of generating payment requests for cash concentration.

  • Plan Date: Specify a date for simulating the cash concentration. The Balance Before field then displays the balance for the plan date that you have specified. By default, the date is set as the current date. You can specify a future date if needed.
  • Value Date: Specify a date for generating payment requests. By default, the current date is set as the plan date. You can change it to another date if needed. The value date can be the current date or a future date.

In the Manage Cash Concentration app, the concentration status does not necessarily indicate whether payment requests have been created. Instead, the indicator Payment Request Is Created is available to show whether any payment request has been created for a cash concentration.

The Concentration Status can now have the following statuses:

  • Error: No bank transfers are created successfully for this cash concentration.
  • Success: All bank transfers are created successfully for this cash concentration.
  • Partial Success: Some of the bank account transfers are not created successfully for this cash concentration.

If the status is Payment Request Created, make a note of the payment request numbers, and then create payments using the Automatic Payment Transactions for Payment Requests transaction (transaction code F111).

Bank

This type of Cash Pool is operated by the bank. The bank is responsible for the cash concentration and distribution activities so manual cash concentration is not supported for this type of cash pool.

For Cash Pools with the service provider bank there are two options available.

You can either create a cash pool with the service provider Bank (B) or with Bank – Time Dependent (T). The two service provider types will be processed by different apps in the SAP S/4HANA Cloud system.

Creating cash pools with the service provider Bank (B) in SAP S/4HANA Cloud is possible with the Fiori app Manage Cash Pools. The master data created there can later be used in the cash pooling feature.

Furthermore, you need to make sure that you have maintained a bank account balance profile for cash pools. The bank account balance profile define how bank account balances are calculated for bank accounts in a cash pool during the cash concentration process.

For cash pools of this type, you must define their Pool Usage as Both Directions.

Once the master data of the cash pool is created with service provider type Bank (B) you can assign the header account and subaccounts to the cash pool with the app Manage Bank Accounts. This is the same procedure as with the service provider Enterprise.

Cash pools that have the service provider Bank - Time Dependent are managed via the SAP Fiori app Manage Cash Pools (Version 2).

With the app you can define, display, change or delete cash pools for the service provider Bank – Time Dependent. Assign bank accounts to cash pools as the header account and subaccounts.

The account assignment is time-dependent. You can make different account assignments for different validity periods.

Cash pools with this category can be displayed in hierarchical order in the Display Cash Pool Hierarchies app. They can also be used in the Short-Term Cash Positioning app to simulate the cash pooling activities performed by banks.

Cash Pool Transfer Report

With the Cash Pool Transfer Report app, you can get a daily report of concentration amounts in a cash pool. You can then track the transfer of funds between header accounts and sub-accounts in a specified period. Dynamic dimensions are available for you to make adjustments.

You have performed cash concentration in the Manage Cash Concentration app. After payments have been made and confirmed by bank statement postings, you can see the cash pool transfers in this report.

Key features of this app include the view of the daily transfer amount by cash pools in a predefined dimension, with currency, header account, and sub-account. You can filter, sort, and explore data according to specific formats or extend the dimension of rows and columns in the Navigation Panel area.

Bank Transfer

Make Bank Transfer

With the Make Bank Transfer app, you can conduct bank-to-bank transfers of cash. You can view information about the bank account from which, or to which, you want to make the transfer. You can filter or search for bank accounts by several dimensions.

The Make Bank Transfer app shows you all the bank transfers according to your filter criteria. Filter your transfers with reference to the status (created, released, and so on), company code, or the payment method. In the table, you can also filer and sort the information depending on your requirements.

The Make Bank Transfer app enables you to create new bank transfers. To enter the needed general information of the transfer, the window is split. Mandatory information for the transfer, like paying bank account and target bank account, are maintained here.

In addition, you can maintain the paying company code, the paying house bank, and the paying house bank account. The same is available for the receiving side.

After saving the information, a payment request for the bank transfer is created in the background. To be able to save the request, all of the underlying configuration is needed, that is, the definition of the payment method, the bank account determination, and the payment request handling.

Payment instruction keys are available in the Make Bank Transfers and Make Bank Transfers - Create with Templates apps.

The instructions in the payment transactions are used to give the banks details on how to carry out the payment orders. Payment instruction keys are also required in payment regulatory reporting.

With the instruction key fields, cash managers can specify payment instruction information while creating bank transfers. The information will be contained in the payment medium and passed to the banks. These fields can be used in countries such as Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Spain, Norway, Finland, and Japan, as well as for the international SWIFT format MT100.

Furthermore, you can set the Single Payment indicator to create separate payment documents for your payment requests in Manage Cash Concentration, Make Bank Transfers, and Make Bank Transfers - Create with Template.

In the automatic payment transaction, payment requests can be grouped for payment. If you do not want your payment request to be combined with others, you can set the Single Payment indicator before you save the bank transfer or cash concentration. A separate payment document is created for a payment request with the Single Payment indicator set.

The Application Log tab provides information to track the history of bank transfers, for example, who has created the bank transfer, when was the payment request generated, when was the clearing process triggered, and what is the payment run ID and date.

There is also the possibility to adapt your filters, for example, when you specify a range of transfer dates, a list of bank transfers within this period are displayed.

Value Date Correction

The app Value Date Correction enables you to check the list of value dates to be corrected and correct the incorrect value dates and planning dates of the selected document items.

You can use this app to do the following:

  • Correct the value date manually via the Correct Dates function
  • Correct the value date automatically via the Automatic Correction function

Enter your selection criteria and run the report to receive a list of all items where the difference between Value Date and Posting date is higher than the value defined in the configuration.

In the configuration of SAP S/4HANA Cloud have to option to set a tolerance value for the value date adjustment. If the actual value date and posting date of the transaction exceeds this value, the item is shown on the list.

In the example above the tolerance was set to 20 days. The item in the first line has a value date of 2022/02/01 and a value date of 2022/03/01. This means the difference is 30 days and thereby exceeds the target of 20 days.

For the item the value date will be adjusted to 2022/03/01 with the correction. This correction could either be performed by:

  • Manual activity in Value Date Correction app via button Correct Dates
  • Automatic change in the Value Date Correction app on the selection screen via the Control area field Automatic Correction
  • Through the app Schedule Job for Value Date Correction

By selecting the Display Log function, you can display the application log.

Monitor Payments

The app Monitor Payments can display an overview of your payment batches. You can view the statuses of batches and individual payments at different processing stages.

Key Features

  • View the history of a payment batch, from creation to completion
  • Edit the due date for payment batches and the instruction keys for individual payments
  • Access the details for banks, accounts, and payments for which you have authorization
  • See contact information for all approvers of the batch
  • Navigate to the details of the payment medium file if it has been created

Unique End-to-End Transaction References

This app incorporates SWIFT's Unique End-to-End Transaction Reference (UETR). Unique references are assigned to cross-border payments. This reference can then be used to identify and track such payments in an external tracker hosted by SWIFT.

This app allows you to filter for the corresponding payment batch and identify the specific payment using this unique reference. You can also display the unique reference for all individual payments contained within a payment batch when you go to the batch details.

From the app Monitor Payments, you can get an overview of the current batches and their status. It is possible to view the items by the following categories:

  • All Batches
  • New
  • In Approval
  • Sent to Bank
  • Completed
  • Exceptions

Next to the above mentioned functionalities it is also possible to display remediations for common problems with payment batches. With this feature you can:

  • Correct mismatched statuses
  • Set payment batch status to Automatically Rejected
  • Mass reset and reverse payment documents within payment batch items

Additional filters can be applied to show exactly the information required by the user.

In addition, the result table can be adjusted to individual needs. Columns can be added or deleted.

Going to the details of a batch item will show the history of the payment (e.g., payment batch creator).

From the Payments section all the information on document numbers, status, suppliers or banks can be extracted.

There is a skill available to Monitor Payments in SAP S/4HANA Cloud.

This skill allows you to query payment batch information using SAP CoPilot. You can simply say or type your query to see information such as all payment batches for a company code, payment batches by house bank, payment run, bank country, or any other listed filter within the app.

Examples of Commands are:

  • Show me payment batches for company code XYZ
  • Show me payment batches with rule XYZ
  • Show me payment batches with payment run date last month
  • Show me payment batches for house bank XYZ
  • Show me payment batches

Use the boxes in light yellow below to learn more about situation templates for bank transfers.

Situation templates

Approve Transfer

The Approve Bank Transfer app enables you to approve or reject outgoing payments before payment orders are sent to the bank. This allows you to quickly process the payment information, to avoid delays in the process.

Key features of this app include the display of payment batches that need to be reviewed and those that have already been processed for the logged on user. You can sort the batches, payments, and invoices by selected criteria.

You can search batches by batch number, payment amount, payer company code, number of payments, payment status, and house bank. The app also facilitates the display of batch details, approval history, attachments, payment list, and invoices. Approvers have the choice to approve or reject single or multiple batches.

In the Approve Bank Transfer app, all of the bank transfers you are assigned to an approver display. From the overview, you easily get information about the status, if it is the final approval, or the house bank.

Selecting one of the items shows you the payment details. The assigned approver can choose to approve or reject the payment from here. It is also possible to edit the instruction key or to reset the status of the payment.

To keep track of the approval flow, future approval steps and their assigned users are shown (if applicable).

There is the option to attach documents to the payment item. This must increase transparency and can facilitate better auditing.

When the item is approved by the user, the payment switches over from the For Review tab to Reviewed on the left side. To send that payment item further on to the next approver, choose Submit Reviewed.

To discard, changes are needed if the approver is uncertain about the payment and wants to take back the approval.

You have the option to enable two-factor authentication using SAP Cloud Platform Identity Authentication (IAS) for the Approve Bank Payments app. If you enable two-factor authentication, the business user submitting payment batches for processing by the bank is asked to authenticate their identity before the batches can be submitted.

To use two-factor authentication with the Approve Bank Payments app, you must do the following:

  • Have an active account in SAP Cloud Platform Identity Authentication
  • Make settings in the Configure Your Solution app within Manage Your SolutionFinanceBank Communication ManagementSpecify Optional User Authentication.

Rejected Payments

The Manage Workflows – For Rejected Payments app enables you to manage the workflows for payment documents rejected in the approval process or by the bank. A workflow in this app determines what happens after a payment document is rejected, for example, whether a notification must be sent to an accounts payable accountant for processing the document.

In the Step Conditions for the application Manage Workflows for rejected payments, the action details can be set. If the payment was rejected by one of the planned signatories, you can perform the following tasks:

  • Cancel the workflow
  • Continue with the workflow
  • Repeat the approval step
  • Restart the workflow

This app enables you to reverse payment documents rejected in the approval process or by the bank. Possible actions for a rejected payment document include reversing it or keeping it rejected.

If you reverse a rejected payment document, it is reversed using the automatically specified reason for the reversal. The cleared items in the payment document is reopened. If the automatically specified payment block option confirms a block, the reopened items is blocked and can not be paid in other payment runs.

If you keep a payment document rejected, it is not paid. You can manually reverse it using the Reset Cleared Items app. If you want to then set payment blocks on the reopened items, use the Manage Payment Blocks app or the Manage Supplier Line Items app.

Bank Transfer Template

You can use the Define Bank Transfer Templates app to define templates for bank-to-bank transfers that are likely to occur in a recurring pattern. The templates help you save time and eliminate errors when creating frequent bank transfers.

You can use this app to define, edit, or delete bank transfer templates. The templates are used with the Make Bank Transfers - Create with Templates app to create multiple bank transfers in a batch, based on the templates.

The Make Bank Transfers - Create with Templates app enables you to create one or more bank transfers in a batch based on the defined templates. The app helps you to speed up your routine work for regular bank transfers.

You can create one or more transfers at a time. To do so, just find the relevant template, specify the amount and other attributes as necessary, and choose Save.

Note
With this app, payment requests are generated with the Created status. You can release and clear the payment requests using the Make Bank Transfers app.

Before you use this app, you must first define templates in the Define Bank Transfer Templates app. In addition, you need to have configured the required settings for making bank transfers.

Outgoing Payment Processing

Purchase to Pay Process

To bring the payment processing of the Basic Cash Operation into a broader context, the following figure shows the complete purchase-to-pay process.

The figure focuses on the integration between the Best Practice Scope items from several areas. With, for example, the item J45 - Procurement of Direct Materials the purchase process is started. A seamless integration is incorporated and ensures a stable and efficient process including all steps from the initial creation of a purchase requisition to the invoice creation and handling. That process is covered with J60 - Accounts Payable.

In the scope item BFB - Basic Cash Operations we have a closer look at the payments and payment integration. In SAP S/4HANA Cloud there are two scope items linked to the BFB - Cash Operations. This is Bank Integration with File Interface (1EG) and Bank Integration with SAP Multi-Bank Connectivity (16R).

Outgoing Payment Integration

Looking into more detail at the payment section of the overall process we can distinguish two forms for the outgoing payments.

1) There is the highly integrated and automated SAP Multi-Bank Connectivity. SAP Multi-Bank Connectivity is an on-demand solution that connects financial institutions and other financial service providers with their corporate customers on a secure network owned and managed by SAP.

SAP Multi-Bank Connectivity is based on integration services deployed in the SAP Cloud Platform that enables the integration of business processes spanning different departments, organizations, or companies.

2) On the other hand, there is file download option. Here you download the payment files for outgoing payments, which have been generated by SAP S/4HANA Cloud application to your computer. You can then upload these payment files to your banking portal or treasury workstation for payment processing.

These payment scenarios are not directly covered with the BFB - Basic Cash Operations scope item. The SAP Multi-Bank Connectivity (MBC) connectivity and the specific integration setup needed for that is covered with the item Bank Integration with SAP Multi-Bank Connectivity (16R). For more information on handling the file download, refer to the Bank Integration with File Interface (1EG) Best Practice Scope item.

SAP establishes connections with your banks to automatically send payment instructions, receive status notifications, receive bank statements, and receive lockbox messages with SAP Multi-Bank Connectivity (MBC). Leveraging the monitoring capabilities, you can supervise the status of all payment instructions and see which bank statements are received and which expected bank statements are still missing. The monitoring is only available in combination with Advanced Cash Operations (J78).

Connectivity between your financial system and banking institutions is essential for daily financial operations. However, when you deal with a multitude of banks using different standards to exchange information, establishing and maintaining proprietary connections becomes complex and time-consuming. With the SAP Multi-Bank Connectivity solution, featuring native integration to the SWIFT network, you have a single point of connection to all the banks you use.

The solution is comprised of two elements. The first is your digital core, SAP S/4HANA Cloud, where a payment is triggered. This is where you manage your bank account, manage your payment with approval workflows, monitor the payment end-to-end, and can detect fraud. Fully integrated to it, SAP Multi-Bank Connectivity provides additional messaging management and transaction routing capabilities using the highest security standards. The connection between the two is based on web services. Thanks to the global reach of the SWIFT network, using Alliance Lite connectivity, you can connect with over 11,000 financial institutions. And as onboarding new banks is simplified and accelerated, you can choose the banks that meet your changing needs, without being held back by lengthy integration processes.

For the bank integration with file interface, the following process steps is run through in principal at the outbound sector:

  1. Business partner payables or receivables are posted in the system.
  2. These payable or receivables items are cleared using the Manage Automatic Payments functionality in SAP Fiori. According to the payment method and the assigned Payment Medium Format, the Payment Medium Workbench is creating the Payment Medium file.
  3. This Payment Medium file can either be saved on the SAP file system or is directly downloaded to the local computer for further processing.
  4. The actual file transfer from the local computer to the external bank can be achieved through various means. This can be done using file transfer and online banking.
  5. The external bank is accepting the payment medium and is processing the payments contained.

Managing Payment Files

SAP offers three different apps made for payment file mapping, Data Medium Exchange Engine (DMEE) on older SAP ERP releases, DMEEX on SAP S/4HANA and Map Payment Format Data on SAP S/4HANA Cloud. The purpose of all those apps is to manage your payment formats.

SAP S/4HANA Cloud customers use Fiori Manage Payment Formats app. It is possible to perform the mapping of payment formats and its functionality has been enhanced to a level where you do not need to use programming in order to modify a format.

The app offers the functionality to import format mapping files created in transaction DMEE in the SAP backend systems. Also you can release format mappings for productive use without the need for manual activation. The Active status for format mappings is not available anymore. A format mapping can have only the statuses Maintenance or Released.

You can use the Map Payment Format Data app to define the rules the system uses to map data to outgoing payment file formats in accordance with the requirements of your financial institution. When you have created the payment format in the Create Payment Medium Formats configuration step, you use this information to define how the system fills payment data in the payment format to generate the final payment file that you send to the bank.

You can create new format mappings or copy from existing ones, display the details of your existing format mapping, as well as import, export, edit, check, delete, and release these mappings. The app supports both XML and flat file formats.

For more information, see the definition and setup of the payment formats in the J78 - Advanced Cash Operations Configuration description.

The format tree is the technical description of the output format that is send over to the external bank.

Based on a XML schema the included nodes, technical elements or segments describe how the information from the SAP S/4HANA Cloud system is filled in each of the tree fields.

The system is thereby able to map information from the invoice (for example, the amount) to the correct field of the format tree.

There is also the possibility to include technical fields and calculations or constant values in such a format tree.

The payment method is one of the most important values when creating a payment run. On the one hand, it is used to select open items at the business partner; on the other side, it determines the payment medium workbench format tree.

Each payment method has exactly one format tree assigned. Meaning that for example payment method "S" is always linked to the format tree SEPA_CT. The format tree itself can be used with different several banks, but to generate the SEPA format only payment method "S" can be used.

The payment processes all of the selected data for payments from business partners, as described previously through the selection of the payment method and the associated format tree a XML file is generated.

In the SAP standard functionality (without using SAP Bank Communication Management) a data medium is generated from the system.

This data medium can be stored on the SAP file system or can be downloaded for further (manual) processing by the Cash Specialist. The responsible person would upload this file to a banking software for further processing.

Advanced Reporting

Cash Flow Analyzer

The Cash Flow Analyzer app is the central entity to analyze cash flows over days, weeks, months, quarters, or years for all bank accounts and liquidity items.

With the Cash Flow Analyzer, you can monitor the cash position and liquidity forecast in your company, and analyze the details with the following functions:

  • Use various dimensions and filters.

  • View hierarchical structures for bank account groups and liquidity items, with amounts for a specific time period.

  • View currency comparisons between display currency and transaction currency (or account currency).

  • Integrate dynamic data sources from memo records, payment orders, payment requests, and some of the source applications that are stored in One Exposure from Operations.

  • Switch between the balance view and delta (cash flows only) view.

Finally, the Cash Flow Analyzer gives you a combination of cash position details, liquidity forecast details, and actual cash flow functions.

The Cash Flow Analyzer is integrated with several other apps. Cash pool structures defined in the system can be used for analysis with this app. If you have identified the need for funds transfer, you can also navigate to the Make Bank Transfer app directly from the Cash Flow Analyzer app.

Further integration points are available with the Check Cash Flow Items app. Here, you can drill down to the single items that make up the balance shown on the Cash Flow Analyzer.

Using the Cash Flow Analyzer app, you can branch out to several other apps to find more details or further processing options for cash items.

One of the options within the Cash Flow Analyzer app is to display the individual cash flow items for the aggregated sum displayed. Select the item you require further information for and choose Display Cash Flow Items to find more details on the amount.

When using the integration from the Cash Flow Analyzer to display cash flow items, the system navigates to another app that shows the single items making up the total sum shown in the Cash Flow Analyzer.

To drill down further and view more information on a single item, choose the Details button on the right of each item. This brings you to the Check Cash Flow Items app, where the filters are already populated to show the information required.

You can also use the Check Cash Flow Items app to analyze cash flow item details after you check the liquidity forecast and cash position reports. You can track and trace all the cash flow items from different source applications that are integrated with cash management.

You can also see line item details of the original documents, such as journal entries, banks and account assignments. This provides you with a comprehensive overview of the cash flow and liquidity status in your company.

Depending on the role to which you are assigned, you can perform the following tasks:

Overview

  • Display a list of the aggregated cash flows from various source applications, such as confirmed payments and bank statements, and so on.

  • Filter cash flow items by various filter dimensions, such as company code, bank account, grouping and summarization terms, and so on.

  • Monitor payment statuses of payment batches in Bank Communication Management (BCM).

Details

  • Check the original document information from source applications.

  • Navigate to the source applications of the original documents, such as bank statements, sales orders, scheduling agreements, and so on.

  • Manually adjust the account assignments, such as liquidity item, transaction amount, cost center, and so on.

  • Navigate from cash position and liquidity forecast to check the line item details.

  • Share payment details and other information by email.

Note

This function only works for cash flows from accounting documents (journal entries).

With this app Manage Liquidity Item Transfer, you can process life-cycles of liquidity item transfer documents like Create, Change, Copy, and Delete. You can directly create and transfer liquidity items in this app, or create the liquidity item transfer in the Cash Flow Analyzer app.

When the liquidity item transfer is created, all the items will generate actual One Exposure flows. During the liquidity item transfer, the original liquidity items will not necessarily be changed, and the shifts between liquidity items will be documented.

You can use this app to do the following:

  • Create new liquidity item transfer.

    Specify the necessary information on the transfer data and line item to create new liquidity item transfer. Company Code and Transfer Currency are mandatory header fields. You need to specify at least two line items with Liquidity Item, Amount, and Value Date. Total balance for the transfer must be zero. You can add more fields in the line item using the Settings function.

  • Copy existing liquidity item transfer
  • Edit liquidity item transfer

    Company Code and Transfer Currency cannot be edited

  • Delete liquidity item transfer

    Liquidity item transfer with the status Invalidated cannot be deleted

The Manage Liquidity Item Transfer app is integrated with the Blocked Date Range feature.

Another possibility to create a Liquidity Item Transfer is from the app Check Cash Flow Items. The app links allow you to create a transfer from the selected liquidity item.

After the saving of the entries during the liquidity item transfer, it could be viewed in the Cash Flow Analyzer and Check Cash Flow Items apps.

Another feature is to display the report in bank account groups hierarchy and liquidity item hierarchy. The bank account groups are defined in the Manage Bank Accounts app.

The result is displayed in the Cash Flow Analyzer according to the individual structure that was defined in the bank account group. In this way, the user can, for example, check their area of responsibility. They could also cluster the information in relation to countries or mirror the external structure of the bank accounts.

The data presented in the app can be used to give a high-level overview and detailed insight into the cash flow status to management. Using this flexible setup, the Cash Flow Analyzer only shows the required information without the need to manually calculate subtotals.

The Cash Flow Analyzer app comes with three predefined variants. As the Cash Flow Analyzer app provides functionality in terms of the cash position details, liquidity forecast, and the actual cash flow for all of these scenarios, a variant is shipped.

These variants in the Cash Flow Analyzer enable you to display the cash position, liquidity forecast, and actual cash flows with more organizational units, in addition to the company code. Additional organizational units are as follows:

  • Business Area

  • Segment

  • Profit Center

  • Trading Partner

Depending on which certainty level is set in the Cash Flow Analyzer app, a different set of information is presented.

The certainty level describes the reliability, and therefore, the likelihood of a flow in One Exposure. The certainty level ACTUAL is the most reliable one and is used to represent a fact, which means an event that has happened.

Good examples for actual cash flows that happened would be accounting line items from bank statements or accounting line items with G/L accounts representing cash.

If the Actual Cash Flows variant is picked, only this subset of information is considered for the output.

The Cash Position Details variant contains the certainty levels that make up the cash position of the day. These include actual cash flows, self-initiated cash in transit, or values from distributed cash management. When you choose the cash position variant, all of the required certainty levels are preset.

If the certainty level field is blank, this means that the liquidity forecast is output. All of the information from different sources, for example, finance, material management, or sales, is taken into account when calculating the liquidity forecast.

In SAP S/4HANA Cloud, cash management allows the end user to check cash flows with a historical version. For example, the user can check the cash position with a defined historical timestamp so that he or she can understand what have been forecasted in cash position at that point of time.

The Cash Flow Analyzer and Check Cash Flow Items apps in SAP Fiori allow the end user to select historical time stamps in SAP S/4HANA Cloud. For all other processes and apps, the system always gets the current version of cash flows from One Exposure.

The Snapshot function is only supported in Advanced Cash Management, and by default, it is switched off. You can switch it on at any point in time in the Manage Your Solution app. Go to Configure Your SolutionDefine Basic Settings.

However, after the system has created snapshot data, switch snapshot off again. You then need to follow the instructions to clean up snapshot data from all systems.

The following source applications can be integrated into One Exposure from Operations for real-time updates, and the transaction data can be used for the snapshot functionality:

  • Financial Accounting

  • Bank Statement

  • Treasury and Risk Management

  • Materials Management

  • Sales and Distribution

  • Contract Accounting

  • Lease and Contract Management

  • Promise to Pay

  • Payment Request

  • Payment Order

  • Parked Document (GL)

  • Manage Memo Records

In the Cash Flow Analyzer, in the Snapshot Time field, you can specify your desired snapshot time. On execution of the Cash Flow Analyzer report, it shows the information from that timestamp.

One Exposure always displays a new version when a change of cash flows is triggered by source applications.

In the example, a vendor invoice is logged to the FQM_Flow table at the time of creation. The invoice is then changed and a new entry is saved to the table.

When the payment run is performed, a new entry with the relevant timestamp is generated. In the last step, the bank statement, the information is updated once again.

You can also clean up or delete snapshot information from One Exposure if it is no longer required. For example, snapshot data that is one year and older. You can clean up the snapshot information with the Delete Data from One Exposure SAP Fiori app. Be aware that the data will be deleted physically and can not be rolled back.

Cash Flow Comparison

The Cash Flow Comparison - By Date Range and Cash Flow Comparison - By Timestamp SAP Fiori apps compare the actual cash flows with forecasted cash flows. With the snapshot functionality switched on, the apps can compare different versions of forecasted cash flows with actuals (this is especially helpful for the rolling forecast process). As a result, the cash manager can evaluate the quality of forecasted data.

You can select any two snapshot timestamps in the past and compare the forecasted cash flows, as well as compare the forecasted flows with the actual flows. It helps you to understand the accuracy of your past forecast records and allows you to improve your cash flow forecasts continuously.

The Cash Flow Comparison - By Date Range app allows you to compare actual cash flows with your past forecasts. It also allows you to compare different forecast records that were made on different snapshot dates. It helps you to understand the accuracy of your past forecast records and allows you to improve your cash flow forecasts continuously.

You can use the Cash Flow Comparison - By Date Range app to do the following:

  • Make actual-to-forecast comparison and forecast-to-forecast comparison for cash flows of the specified time range.

  • Use various dimensions and filters to personalize the report.

For example, you can display cash flow figures in date hierarchies, such as Week/Day, Year/Month/Day, or Year/Quarter/Month/Day using the Value Date (Hierarchy) filter. This way, cash flow figures are aggregated according to the defined hierarchy. You can then choose to expand the hierarchy for further details.

The Cash Flow Comparison - By Date Range app uses the C_CshFlwFcstComprnQ CDS view.

The Cash Flow Comparison - By Timestamp app allows you to select any two snapshot timestamps in the past and compare the forecasted cash flows. You can also compare the forecasted flows with the actual flows. It helps you to understand the accuracy of your past forecast records and allows you to improve your cash flow forecasts continuously.

You can use the Cash Flow Comparison - By Timestamp app to select any two snapshot timestamps to do the following:

  • Compare forecast records that were made on different snapshot timestamps.

  • Compare the forecast records with the actual cash flows.

Short-Term Cash Position

The Short-Term Cash Position app lets you view cash positions by several dimensions defined in the SAP S/4HANA Cloud system. The following prerequisites must be fulfilled:

  • Make sure that you have defined the cash position profiles that will be used to calculate cash position data in the Short-Term Cash Position app.
  • Make sure that you have defined the bank account settings in the Define Bank Account Settings - Bank Statements app.
  • Through the Manage Bank Account Balances app it is possible to define the upload schema of balance information to the SAP S/4HANA Cloud system.

In the Define Bank Account Settings - Bank Statements app, you can define what posting category a bank account should have. That could either be via default values set in the configuration of the SAP S/4HANA Cloud system or for individual bank accounts.

The resulting setting can also be viewed in the app Manage Bank Accounts on the tab Bank Relationship.

To generate cash position data based on bank account balances, you must set up how bank account balances are updated and consumed by the Short-Term Cash Position app. Depending on your business needs, you can choose one of the following ways to update your bank account balances:

Get bank account balances by importing electronic bank statements.

In this case, you define the transfer mode of the relevant bank accounts as Balance and Bank Statement Items.

Import bank account balances from spreadsheets or manually enter balances using the Manage Bank Account Balances app.

In this case, the transfer mode of the relevant bank accounts should be set as Bank Statement Items Only. You do not need to do anything as this is the default logic for all bank accounts, unless you specify a different option.

The transfer mode setting is defined using the Define Bank Account Settings - Bank Statements app.

The Posting Category field, which is maintained in the Define Bank Account Settings – Bank Statements and the Manage Bank Statements apps, determines whether or not bank statements get processed after having been imported into your system.

In the Manage Bank Statements app, every bank statement has the Posting Category field. If the value of the Posting Category field is Posting to Be Processed, the system is going to process the bank statement as usual

(for example, post the bank statement items). If the value of the Posting Category field of a bank statement is No Posting Processing, the system carries out the following actions:

  • The system simply saves the bank statement after importing it.
  • The system does not process the bank statement further (for example, it does not run any accounting-relevant checks like searching for applicable posting or reprocessing rules).
  • The system sets the posting status of the bank statement (as well as the bank statement items) to completed.

That means that bank statements with the No Posting Processing posting category are saved in the database and set to completed without having been posted. Using the No Posting Processing posting category can be useful

If you, for example, you do not want to post a bank statement, but you want your Cash Position app to get updated nonetheless. Or it can also be useful if you have not assigned a G/L account to the house bank account to which the bank statement belongs.

The second prerequisite to create the Short-Term Cash Positioning is the definition of a Cash Position Profile.

You can use the app Define Cash Position Profiles to define cash position profiles that will be used to calculate cash position data in the Short-Term Cash Positioning app.

The Cash Position Profile can be defined by a number of parameters. Examples of these parameters are as follows:

Hierarchy Source

  • Derived by Bank Account Master Data
  • Derived from Bank Account Hierarchy

Hierarchy Level

  • Company Code
  • Bank Country
  • Bank Currency
  • Company Code Country
  • Bank Risk Partner

Balance Category

  • Opening Balance
  • Closing Balance

View Category

  • Balance View
  • Delta View

Period Unit

A period can be classified by days, weeks, months, or years

Natural End, Show Overdue, Include Overdue

They can be True, False, or Unknown

When defining a cash position profile, you can define filters as per the following steps:

  1. Create a filter by choosing the New Entries button, and save the change.
  2. Select the new filter and choose the Define Filter Conditions button.
  3. Enter the filter conditions and choose the Execute button to save the condition.

After a filter is created and its filter conditions are defined, the filter can be assigned to a cash position profile.

With the Manage Bank Account Balances application, you can view bank account balances updated by imported end-of-day bank statements. You can also manually enter or import balances for bank accounts.

In addition to bank accounts managed in remote systems, now you can also use this app to manage bank account balances for bank accounts that are managed in your central system.

You can use this app to do the following:

  • View bank account balances updated by imported end-of-day bank statements.
  • The balances are stored by the bank statement dates contained in the bank statements. For each date, if there is already a balance entry updated by electronic bank statements, it is not allowed to update the balance using spreadsheet import or manual entry.
  • Manually enter balances for bank accounts.
  • Import bank account balances from spreadsheets.
  • Check balance history for bank accounts.

You can input bank account balances using one of the following ways:

  • Import electronic bank statements using the Manage Incoming Payment Files or the Manage Bank Statements app. You can view the imported balances in the Manage Bank Account Balances app with the Update Method of Electronic.
  • Import bank account balances from spreadsheets using the Manage Bank Account Balances app. You can view the imported balances in the Manage Bank Account Balances app with the Update Method of Spreadsheet.
  • Manually enter balances for bank accounts using the Manage Bank Account Balances app. You can view the manually entered balances in the Manage Bank Account Balances app with the Update Method of Manual.

Bank account balances received from imported bank statements are displayed with the Update Method of Electronic Bank Statements. The balances are stored by the bank statement dates contained in the bank statements. For each date, if there is already a balance entry updated by electronic bank statements, the balance is not allowed to be updated via spreadsheet import or manual entry.

To display bank account balances from imported bank statements, the bank accounts must be defined with one of the following transfer modes:

  • Balance Only
  • Balance and Bank Statement Items

Monitor whether bank account balances have been updated in time for your bank accounts with the application Monitor Bank Account Balances. Before you use this app, make sure you have defined the following attributes for the bank accounts you want to monitor on the Bank Relationship tab of the Manage Bank Accounts app:

  • Interval and Interval Unit: Together, the two attributes define the frequency of the expected bank account balance update, for example, one day or two weeks.
  • Factory Calendar ID (optional): You can specify a factory calendar if you want to take it into consideration.

To generate accurate cash position data, you must make sure that finally your bank account balances are updated correctly and timely. With the Monitor Bank Account Balances app, you can check whether bank account balances have been updated in time for your bank accounts.

The Short-Term Cash Position app allows you to view cash positions by location, company, and currency. The Cash position data is calculated based on the cash position profiles that are defined in the Define Cash Position Profiles app.

After all the prerequisites are fulfilled the Short-Term Cash Position can be displayed.

Through the app you can display the cash position by the following analytical parameters:

  • Planning Level
  • Overdue Amount
  • Future Amount
  • Account Number
  • Balance Category
  • Bank Country/Region
  • Bank Key
  • Business Partner
  • And more … …

In the Short-Term Cash Positioning app, the following features are supported:

  • In the Bank Account Hierarchy table of this app, the cash position overview of the root node is supported. In this app, you can calculate the opening balance based on the closing balance and future-dated flows.
  • Furthermore, it is possible to navigate to the Memo Records app, Make Bank Transfers app, and the Check Cash Flow Items app. In the Items table of the Cash Position Overview section, the row with negative balances are highlighted automatically.
  • Navigate to the Opening Balance at the top of the screen to see how the Opening Balance for the day was calculated (see next screen for details). You can also view the details of a specific cash position profile in a separate pop-up screen after you choose the cash profile.

From the Cash Position Details, you can branch out to the Bank Account Opening Balance Details screen. This provides the overview on how the actual opening balance was calculated.

In the example, we would look at the following numbers:

Closing Balance 2182,73 € plus/minus all the actual cash flows (-9,09 +9,09 + 32,73 – 32,73 – 18,18) = Opening Balance 2164,55 €.

(Check on the previous screen the opening balance of the Short-Term Cash Positioning for this value).

Bank Account Balance

The Bank Account Balance app provides a quick visual overview of the available bank account balance for a selected period of time. It displays the amounts of opening balance, cash flows, overdue cash flows, and overdraft limits in display currency and bank account currency for bank accounts. You can also customize your analysis with several filtering options in chart or table views. This allows cash specialists or cash managers to have a high-level overview and detailed insight to monitor the bank account balance.

You can use the Bank Account Balance app as follows:

Default View

  • View the cash position KPI in the visual filter view to see the available balance in display currency by company code, bank account currency, bank account, bank, and bank country.

  • Switch to the compact filter view from the visual filter view if you need to change your filter options.

  • Adapt your filters - for example, set the time period for the cash position.

In addition to displaying the cash position on the value date, you can also display the case position a number of days after the value date. To do so, enter the number of days in the Position in Days field. You can then decide how many days after the value date the cash position is displayed. While Value Date is used to calculate the overdue flows, Position in Days can help you to create a user-defined, Until date. You can then see the cash position for a period from the value date to the user-defined number of days.

Chart View

Use the chart view to display an overview of cash position details in your company. Select the View By drill-down box, and choose from the following dimensions:

  • Bank Account Currency

  • Bank

  • Bank Country

  • Company Code

Select a parameter in the chart and you can see the details of bank account currency, bank account, and available balance in the Details field. Display the chart in other chart types, such as line chart, bar chart, and so on.

Table View

  • Use the table view for more granular analysis.

  • View a list of bank accounts with available balance in display currency.

    The available balance is the closing balance plus the overdraft limit. The closing balance is the total amount of the net cash flows that are overdue before the value date, plus the opening balance on the value date, and the net cash flows from the value date to the until date, which you define with the Position in Days filter. Refer to the following calculation logic:

    Available Balance = Opening Balance + Overdue Inflows - Overdue Outflows + Cash Inflows - Cash Outflows + Overdraft Limits

  • Show details of the opening balance in bank account currency.

  • Choose to show all the items or items based on the chart selection.

Further Reports

One Exposure collects information from various source applications. It mainly collects information related to the future. The purpose of storing historic data (meaning flows with a certainty level of ACTUAL) is to have a basis for extrapolating the future. For this purpose, only data with coarse granularity from the last 1 - 2 years is needed.

The Aggregate Flows (FQM_AGGREGATE_FLOWS) app serves a data privacy protection purpose. To simplify the blocking and deletion of personal data, you can delete flows in One Exposure from Operations. You can delete flows with an ACTUAL certainty level in One Exposure and substitute them with aggregation flows that do not contain any person-related information. In addition, you can also physically delete all flows that are marked as deleted (FQM_FLOW-DELETED ='X'). As a result, the data volume in One Exposure is further reduced.

The system creates the aggregation flows for the transaction date given on the selection screen. They do not contain any person-related information, which means that the following fields are empty in the aggregation flows:

  • PARTNER

  • CUSTOMER

  • VENDOR

  • MATERIAL

  • PROJECT

  • PROFIT CENTER

The Schedule Cash Management Jobs app allows you to run health checks of the data consumed by cash management applications. You then get a list of logs that shows the validation result of the configuration data, master data, and transaction data.

The Schedule Cash Management Jobs (F3030) app can be used to schedule application jobs based on the job template. For cash management, the following check-points are enabled:

  • Check Point 1

    Planning level and group checks in configurations

  • Check Point 2

    Planning level and group checks in master data

  • Check Point 3

    Bank account checks in One Exposure

  • Check Point 4

    Bank account checks in G/L accounts

  • Check Point 5

    Bank account checks in bank statements

After running a health check in the system, you are provided with a detailed log outlining detected issues in your system. The following figures provide examples of issues that you might encounter.

To check planning levels, go to Self-Service Configuration FinanceCash and Liquidity ManagementDefine Planning Groups. Check which planning level was assigned to a planning group, but is not created.​

To verify planning levels against the list from the configuration task, go to FinanceCash and Liquidity ManagementDefine Planning Levels. Here, all planning levels are initially created and can be used for further assignment.

The house bank account is used in your account determination settings for the payment program table, but the house bank account does not exist in your system.​

You need to verify and adjust the definition of house bank and account ID. ​

To check the Customizing activity for bank determination in the Self-Service Configuration User Interface (SSCUI) activity, go to FinanceAccounts ReceivableSet Up Bank Determination for Payment Transactions.

Cash Management Analytics with SAP Analytics Cloud

SAP Analytics Cloud — Overview

The Cash Management stories for digital boardroom provide senior management members and cash management employees with a real-time view on major finance and cash management KPIs.

Data from the SAP S/4HANA Cloud application is used in real-time through CDS views in the SAP Analytics Cloud. You can now gain real-time insights into cash management key performance indicators (KPIs) such as cash position, liquidity forecast, and actual cash flows, in various charts and graphs.

To run this scenario, you have to set up the following elements in the Manage your Solution part of the SAP S/4HANA Cloud system:

  • Liquidity items
  • Planning levels
  • Planning level assignments to profiles

Cash Management KPIs

Cash Position shows you today's forecast closing balance on the group level.

The following chart views are available for cash position:

  • Cash Position by Region
  • Cash Position by Company Code
  • Cash Position by Bank Account Currency
  • Cash Position by Bank
  • Cash Position by Bank Account

The balance profile must be assigned for the cash position to define what cash flows are considered.

Liquidity Forecast shows you the forecasted balance and cash flows for the next 90 days. Cash flows can be broken down by liquidity item, which indicates the use and source of cash flows.

For the liquidity forecast, the balance profile must be defined so that the cash flows are considered.

Actual Cash Flows shows the bank confirmed cash flows for the past 90 days.

Cash flows can be broken down by liquidity item, which indicates use and source of cash flows.

How to Perform Advanced Cash Operations

Bank Statement Monitor

Select the Manage Your Solution app from your SAP Fiori launchpad to navigate to the Configuration screen.

Self-Service Configuration Tasks

For the Bank Statement Monitor, the definition of your company codes and their respective house banks and accounts is obligatory.

The combination of company code, house bank, and account ID must be enriched with the interval and interval unit on when bank statements are expected.

Together with the calendar ID, the system checks when to expect a bank statement and verifies if this sequence is adhered to.

The above interval units can be used. Factory calendars are set in the system and are ready to be used by the Bank Statement Monitor configuration.

Incoming and Outgoing Transfers

Self-Service-Configuration User Interface

Cash operations customizing for defining the incoming and outgoing clearing account is reached through the Manage Your Solution app.

Self-Service Configuration Tasks

For each company code and house bank, you define the account that is posted to for clearing incoming payments.

You do the same for outgoing payments. The definition can be per payment method and currency. If these are left blank, then the same account is used for all.

The number of days to value date configuration task helps you to adjust the value date of your bank postings split by the following characteristics:

  • Company Code

  • Payment Method

  • House Bank

  • Account ID

  • Amount limit

  • Currency

You define the rules the system uses to map data to outgoing payment file formats in accordance with the requirements of your financial institution. Under this new configuration step, you can find the renamed and enhanced version of the previous Manage Payment Formats app.

The app tile has been removed from the Accounting - Configuration (SAP_CA_BC_ACC_CONFIG_PC) business catalog, and the app is now available only from the Manage Your Solution app, under Configure Your Solution Payment Medium Formats.

Also a few User Interface changes were implemented alongside the overall change. Hamburger menu buttons are now present even on non-selected nodes for easier interaction. Input fields in a display mode were replaced just by text.

The SAP Fiori Map Payment Format Data app in SAP S/4HANA Cloud comes along with SAP-delivered and regularly updated payment formats, already configured to match country-specific bank requirements. If for some reason you would need to create a unique payment format, this was previously only possible by using empty formats into which the user would either copy a tree structure and modify it or map a new tree structure to meet his requirements.

With the app, Map Payment Format Data there is a possibility to create an entirely new payment format mapping, to copy existing mappings and to delete mappings.

You are able to create your own mappings with just one click. After clicking the 'Create' button in the top menu, a pop-up window opens where you can define the tree name, a description and an output tree format. 

You are now able to copy existing payment format mappings - either as a child or as a parent on the same level (this can be used to create hierarchy to distinguish for example country specific, bank specific an process specific mappings). Copying trees can be used if you for example want to modify SAP pre-delivered mappings. The relation can have several levels.

If for some reason you need to delete any custom mappings (the payment format has become obsolete, you created a new mapping for the format), there is an added 'Delete' button in the top menu, which upon clicking will delete the custom version of the payment format mapping and if present, an unsaved draft.

To release a format mapping for productive use, it must be activated. You release format mappings on the list display screen of the app. Search or filter for your desired active format mapping, select it in the list, then click the Release button. The format mapping is added to a transport request for use in the productive environment. To ensure that the format mapping can be released to the productive environment, you must have created a new project for your changes or assigned the changes to an existing project before you edited the payment format mapping.

After you have released the format mapping, you must also use the standard Proceed to Deploy Phase function to ensure that all the changes assigned to the project are transported to the production system.

Log in to track your progress & complete quizzes