Creating Field Status Groups

When you enter accounting documents, SAP S/4HANA displays several fields. The fields displayed depend on the application and the accounts that you are using. For example, when you post expenses, you must specify the cost center and tax data. In contrast, you do not need to specify this information when you post cash. The field status controls the information to be entered and displayed for each general ledger account when an accounting document is processed.

Each G/L account field must be set to one of the 3 available statuses, which are:

• SUPPRESS/HIDE

• REQUIRED ENTRY

• OPTIONAL ENTRY

Some additional rules apply that are dependent on the configuration: for example, entries in the tax field are only possible if the general ledger account is relevant for tax, or the activation of document splitting might make the input of the profit center and segment details mandatory.

The field status is mainly customized at the general ledger account level, specifically in the company code segment. This allows several company codes using the same G/L account to specify different, specific, field statuses that match their individual needs.

However, the customization of the field status can also be determined at the posting key level. This becomes particularly relevant when considering subledger accounts (AR-AP…), which lack a field status group. In this situation, distinctions in postings are achieved through different posting keys, which is why there's a considerable number of posting keys available for subledger accounts.

When it comes to postings to general ledger accounts, these distinctions are made possible by the different field status groups. Consequently, only two posting keys (40—Debit and 50—Credit) are available for general ledger account postings.

It results then, that the customization of the field status group can be determined in several places within the system.

As with the field statuses defined for fields in the master data of G/L accounts, the field status with the higher priority is applied by the system.

These are the priorities:

• SUPPRESS/HIDE (highest priority)

• REQUIRED ENTRY

• OPTIONAL ENTRY (lowest priority)

For each general ledger account group, such as cash or expenses accounts, it's required to clearly define the status of every document entry field.

For instance, when inputting documents for these general ledger accounts, a clear choice must be made to determine whether the text field is required, optional, or suppressed/hidden. Similarly, decisions around the requirements for the cost center field - whether it should be mandatory, optional or hidden - need to be made when the accountant enters the documents for general ledger accounts.

SAP S/4HANA simplifies this complex process by dividing information into field status ‘groups’ for each general ledger account group. These field status groups are assigned to their respective general ledger accounts in the general ledger accounts' master records.

To avoid errors, the field status groups are combined to form one field status variant. This variant is then assigned to your company code. One company can only use one field status variant, but the same field status variant can be shared by multiple companies. No postings can be made until this field status variant has been fully defined. Usually, the same field status variant is assigned in all company codes, ensuring a uniform field status across different company codes and facilitating system maintenance.

The system comes preloaded with various field status groups. It's advisable to copy these standard groups and modify them according to your requirements. Bear in mind that if a document is posted to a subledger account, the field status group from the reconciliation account will be used. This seemingly simple yet structurally complex process is a foundational aspect of managing journal entries in SAP S/4HANA.