Managing Accounts Receivable

The aim of this lesson is to describe the structure and basic tasks of accounts receivable accounting. Because the basic structures of Accounts Receivable are similar to those of Accounts Payable, we can build on this knowledge.

The entire integration of Accounts Receivable with Sales is presented in detail in the Unit Lead to Cash.

The current process step is highlighted in the overview below:

Accounts Receivable in Financial Accounting (FI) records and manages the accounting data of each customer.

Because it is highly integrated with SAP S/4HANA Sales, customer invoices and credit notes from SAP S/4HANA Sales are automatically posted in Accounts Receivable.

Because many postings in Accounts Receivable Accounting are made automatically, the integration tests take place as part of the Lead-to-Cash processes. Regardless of this, it is interesting, to know how master data and open item management works.

The master data of customers in Accounts Payable is also administered by the Business Partner in SAP S/4HANA.

Its structure can easily be transferred from Accounts Payable.

If you want to create a business partner for Accounts Receivable, you must assign the Business Partner role FI Customer for this purpose. You can then create general master data and Financial Accounting data at company code level.

Because the general data is maintained at client level, it is automatically available to all company codes (and other SAP solutions). Therefore, there is no need to define that data separately in each company code.

Financial Account data for Accounts Receivable that is specific to each company code is maintain in the company code views. This includes the following data:

• Reconciliation Account
• Payment Terms
• Dunning Terms

If a Business Partner already exists in the SAP system, you can assign the Business Partner Role FI Customer and maintain the master data that is required.

The following interaction shows a business partner that is created as both a vendor and a customer in FI. Select the FI Vendor or FI Customer role, to learn more about role-related data. Do not forget to check the general business partner data, by selecting the corresponding area in the interaction. Please note that the general data has to be provided for each business partner role. Further roles will be unlocked in the course of the training.

Let’s see what you’ve learned so far. Andy has prepared a question for your self-assessment.

• Customer Master Data | SAP Help Portal
• Accounts Receivable Accounting | SAP Help Portal