Managing a Bank Integration with File (1EG)

For the bank integration with file interface, the following process steps will be executed at the outbound sector:

1. Business partner payables or receivables are posted in the system.
2. These payable or receivable 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 creates the payment medium file.
3. This payment medium file can now either be saved on the SAP file system or 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 could be done using file transfer, online banking, and other means.
5. The bank accepts the payment medium and processes the payment orders.

In a simplified overview, the enterprise receives bank statements from its external bank, imports them to the SAP system, and posts the transactions to the G/L and subledgers.

1. If the transaction is recorded on the actual bank account, the bank sends a cash management message back to the customer (for example on the following day). These messages, when using the SWIFT standard for bank statements, are MT940 for all entries booked on the account or MT942 for intraday information. If the enterprise is located in the United States, the statement information is likely provided in the BAI2 format.

2. The bank statement is automatically or manually uploaded to the SAP system depending on the process implemented.

3. From the external information of the bank statement (especially via the Business Transaction Code), the internal posting logic is derived as it was configured.

4. Finally, the items of the bank statement get posted in accordance to the configuration to the G/L or subledger where open items are cleared.

The payment formats are used for collecting incoming and outgoing payment data into a predefined format. The figure gives an overview of the country specific payment formats available in the SAP S/4HANA Cloud System.

The formats shown are only an excerpt of the full list. Several other formats are available for many other countries such as France, Australia, China, and South Africa.

To create the payment media, SAP S/4HANA uses the Payment Medium Workbench (PMW). This payment program was developed for the international payment transactions between suppliers and customers. The program can be used for both incoming and outgoing payments.

When you execute the payment run, business transactions that balance the open items are posted directly according to the document selection parameters. It is more commonly used for outgoing payments.

With the Manage Payment Media app, you can transfer the data required for electronic payment transactions to banks via a data medium. A payment medium is created with each successful payment run.

Key features of the app include the ability to view existing payment media and the processing status of each, the option to download or delete payment media, and the functionality to display and analyze payment summary information that corresponds to data media.

In accordance with the payment medium format (for example, SEPA, MT, ACH, and so on), a file is created and ready for download with the reference number which corresponds to your payment run.

Select the checkbox of the payment medium file, and choose Download. Afterwards, you can modify the file name and suffix, for example, change the suffix from .xml to .txt for a flat file.

If the file is downloaded to the local PC there are various methods to exchange this data with the external bank. This is normally a semi-automatic process and could involve the following:

• An FTP server connection where the payment file is placed on a FTP server and from here a connection to the external bank is feasible. A script probably helps with the exchange of the information.
• Online banking services where you would upload the payment file to an online banking portal provided by the bank.
• A link to the international SWIFT network could be archived through FileAct or SWIFTNet which then manage a connection to the banks.

With the Bank Statement Monitor app, you can monitor the import status of bank statements for all the bank accounts that are set to be monitored. 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.

At the top right corner, the overall success rate of the bank statement import is shown at this tile. Thereby the Cash Manager gets a good idea of the bank statement upload status.

The success rate of bank statement imports is calculated by dividing the number of bank accounts whose bank statements are successfully imported and posted by the total number of bank accounts that are set to be monitored.

Depending on the role to which you are assigned, you can check the overall success rate of bank statement imports and filter the bank accounts displayed using various filters such as bank, contact person, house bank, and so on. You can check the import status for bank accounts using various dimensions like country, company code, or bank and company.

Before you use this app, make sure that you have defined the bank accounts to be monitored and the time interval for importing bank statements in the Bank Statement Monitor configuration app. You must also specify the import method, import channel, and bank statement check time in the Manage Bank Accounts app under the Bank Statement Data section.

The Bank Statement Monitor app also offers additional drill-down functionalities, such as an overview of banks and bank accounts, and cash position details.

This drill-down functionality brings you directly to the Bank Account Master Data or the Cash Position Details to verify further details in that area.

You can filter for specific bank keys, company codes, bank country, account numbers, and several other criteria to only show the needed information, and you can also toggle between the Chart and Tabular views.

The Manage Bank Statements app provides an overview of the imported bank statements. Several filter criteria are available to find the data you need.

You can get an overview of all bank statements for all house bank accounts, create, edit, and post manual bank statements, search for bank statements using various search criteria, and view details for individual bank statements.

You can also use standard filter criteria from the bank statement directly, such as statement date, format, opening balance or posting date. You can also select criteria from the bank account data by currency, IBAN, or account holder.

When selecting a specific item from the selected overview, you can see the specific items that are, for example, not completed. From the data shown, a link to the Reprocess Bank Statement Items tile is available. Here, the selected item can be worked on.

The task, Configure Your Solution in the Manage Your Solution app, enables you to maintain the bank determination for bank accounts and the ranking order, as well as set the clearing accounts for outgoing transfers.

To make automatic payments for open items, you must set up the relevant banking information. For each house bank that you want to use for payments, you can specify the G/L account to which you want to post the payments.

To complete the setup for the relevant banking information, you also need to use the Bank Determination: Ranking Order app.

To make automatic payments for open items, you must set up the relevant banking information. You can specify the company codes that you want to use for payments. For each paying company code, you can specify the house bank that you want to use according to the required payment method and currency for a payment. You can also specify multiple house banks for the same combination of paying company code, payment method, and currency and define the order in which the system determines which house bank to use.

You can start configuration with either the Bank Determination: Ranking Order app or the Bank Determination: Bank Accounts app for configuration. The logical sequence is to first specify the house banks that you want to use for payments using the Bank Determination: Ranking Order app. Then, specify the corresponding G/L accounts using the Bank Determination: Bank Accounts app.

Clearing accounts track open transactions that require additional transactions to form a complete business process. When you transfer money from one house bank account to another, the system does not directly post a credit to the sending house bank account. Instead, it temporarily posts a credit to clearing account assigned to the sending house bank account. The offsetting debit entry is posted to another clearing account that has been predefined in your chart of accounts.

When the outgoing amount from the sending house bank account appears on the bank statement, the bank statement processing finally posts a credit to the sending house bank account and a debit to the clearing account. This posting completes the transfer on the sending side.

You can specify the clearing accounts for outgoing bank transfers based on company code, house bank, payment method, currency, and house bank account. If you do not specify a currency, the clearing account is used for all currencies.

You must have already defined the banks that provide banking services for your company, such as account management or lockbox. These banks are referred to as house banks. You define the bank accounts at your house banks as house bank accounts. These definitions contain all control information required for processing payment-relevant processes. Finally, in the general ledger, you create the clearing accounts for outgoing money transfers.