Managing Accounts Payable Operations

Objective

After completing this lesson, you will be able to realize the key functions of accounts payable, create an incoming invoice and post outgoing payment

Accounts Payable

Equipped with his new knowledge, Trent is now set to join Axel in managing accounts payable again.

Accounts Payable Accounting (FI-AP) records all business transactions related to relationships with suppliers. In practice, Accounts Payable Accounting has a close connection with Materials Management (LO-MM).

Supplier information can be logged into Financial Accounting using logistical transactions such as purchase orders, goods receipts, and invoice receipts. General Ledger Accounting (G/L) typically includes collective postings. In these scenarios, data can be recorded variably in subledgers, which then transmit their condensed data to G/L Accounting.

If vendor invoices are not created from within the materials management part of the SAP S/4HANA system, they can be created directly in FI.

Business Partners

The master data of vendors is administered by the business partner in SAP S/4HANA. Axel offers Trent a brief overview of what business partners are about.

To help Trent comprehend what a business partner appears like within the system, Axel has crafted a visual aid. Please take a moment to digest the information presented in the graphic below before proceeding with the training.

The image shows an example of a business partner. You maintain accounting and logistics information in the general data as well as financial accounting information, for example bank data.

Payments within Accounts Payable

Payments are usually triggered and posted during the automatic payment run, but it is also possible to post manual payments. Independent of a manual or automatic posting, either the user or the system must determine:

The payment method
Which bank should be used
The items for payment
Which amount is to be paid

After all of the above has been decided, the payment document is posted, and the payment medium is printed.

Work with Accounts Payable

Axel is showing Trent two examples:

First, he received an invoice for a service without a purchase order. For this, he will directly generate the invoice in FI-Accounting.

Second, Axel is using the SAP Fiori app Post Outgoing Payments to post the payment for the original invoice posted from within material management.

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Understand the Impact of Accounts Payable on Balance Sheet / Income Statement

After Axel has posted the outgoing payments, he wants Trent to understand the integration of invoices and purchase orders within SAP S/4HANA and the impact of Accounts Payable on the Balance Sheet/Income Statement.

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