Describing General Ledger Segment Reporting

Objective

After completing this lesson, you will be able to explain segment reporting in the general ledger

General Ledger Segment Reporting

A diagram explaining Segment which is a standard account assignment object in FI-GL to create evaluations for entities below the company code level. The objective is to give a detailed look at the various business activities (markets or products or activity areas) of a broad-based enterprise. Keyword: Segment Reporting. Alternative account assignments are still available such as Profit Center, Business Area, Profitability Segment, User-defined Field.

Segment reporting meets the requirements of international accounting principles, such as:

  • International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)
  • United States General Accepted Accounting Principles (US-GAAP)

According to IFRS, a segment is an area of a company that has the following characteristics:

  • It carries out business activities that generate revenue, for which expenses can be incurred (including transactions with other areas of the same company).

  • Its operating profits are regularly inspected by the main decision-maker with regard to the allocation of resources to this segment and the evaluation of its profitability.

  • It has no corresponding financial information.

Displaying the profit and loss statement by profit center, business area, or segment is never problematic because the positions that have an effect are always provided with unique corresponding objects by the original controlling object.

However, if a balance sheet is to be created for one of these objects, the problem is that the line items in FI-GL like receivables and taxes cannot be split accordingly.

In classic FI-GL, the additional closing activity Financial Statement Adjustment breaks the receivables, payables, and taxes down into the additional account assignments Business Area and Profit Center, which are stored in the general ledger account items.

In the new FI-GL, the Document Splitting action replaces the financial statement adjustment. Document splitting is only relevant if you want to enter a further characteristic, such as a segment on the balance sheet in addition to the company code.

In terms of compatibility of FI-CA with the FI-GL document splitting scenario, the following general statements apply:

  • A customer who uses FI-CA and splits documents in FI-GL must ensure that the required characteristics can be added in FI-CA. Segments are derived according to FI-CA-specific rules whose splitting logic differs in FI-GL.
  • For reconciliation reasons, FI characteristics cannot be added to FI documents from FI-CA because reconciliation in FI-CA takes place at account assignment level (business area, segment, profit center).
The image shows the inheritance process from a receivable document to payment entry and payment general ledger views, detailing individual segments of account, profit center, and amount.

Three sections describe segment derivations: Subsequent Posting (Payment of Invoice) which is a segment derivation from the original document, Non-Subsequent Posting (Payment on Account) which is a segment derivation from posting area 0301 for BP Items, and Non-Subsequent Posting (Tax Account and Bank Account) which is a segment derivation from posting area 0300 for GL Items.

The segment of a FI-CA document for subsequent postings (payment of invoice) is derived automatically from the source document.

The segment of a FI-CA document for nonsubsequent postings (payment on account) is derived as follows:

  • Manual postings: you can enter the segment directly.
  • Automatic postings: the segment is derived from contract or profit center (if used).
  • Automatic postings: you can use posting area 0301 to derive the segment for BP items.
  • Automatic postings: you can use posting area 0300 to derive the segment for GL items.
Flowchart depicting a decision process from manual entry to segmentation with checks for contracts, profit centers, and posting areas (0301 and 0300). Steps include industry-specific solutions and decisions marked by Y/N diamonds at each stage.

How to Add the Segment Account Assignment on Document Level

DemoStart Demo

Steps

  1. Post a receivable with multiple segment account assignments.

    1. On the SAP Easy Access menu, choose Accounting → Financial Accounting → Contract Accounts Receivable and Payable → Document → Post (FPE1).

    2. Use the following data to enter the document:

      FieldValue
      Document DateToday’s date
      Posting DateToday’s date
      Reconcil. KeyGR00
      CurrencyEUR (proposed by parameter)
      Company Code1010 (proposed by parameter)
      TaxesCalculate automatically

    3. Enter additional data by choosing the New business partner item button.

    4. Confirm the dialog box Checking reconciliation key with Yes.

    5. Choose Enter to close the Information window.

    6. Enter the following data:

      FieldValue
      Business Partn.AC240-##A
      Contract AcctAC240-##A
      Transac6000 / 0010
      Segment1000_A

    7. Enter 200.00 in the Amount field.

    8. Select Enter.

      Result

      The reconciliation G/L Account 12100006 is displayed in the Account Assignment screen area.

    9. Enter additional data by choosing the New business partner item button.

    10. Enter the following data:

      FieldValue
      Segment1000_B

    11. Enter 800.00 in the Amount field.

    12. Choose the Propose G/L item button.

    13. Confirm the Information window with Enter.

      Result

      The revenue G/L Account 41000000 and the tax amount are displayed.

    14. Post your document by choosing Document → Post from the menu bar.

    15. Choose Back twice to display the SAP Easy Access Menu.

  2. Close the reconciliation key GR00 and transfer the document to general ledger accounting. Display the accounting document afterward.

    1. On the SAP Easy Access menu, choose Accounting → Financial Accounting → Contract Accounts Receivable and Payable → Document → Reconciliation Key → Close (FPF2).

    2. Enter the reconciliation key GR00.

    3. Choose Enter to display the Status of the reconciliation key.

    4. Choose the Close icon.

    5. Confirm the Close reconciliation key window with Yes.

    6. Choose Back twice.

    7. On the SAP Easy Access menu, choose Accounting → Financial Accounting → Contract Accounts Receivable and Payable → Periodic Processing → Forward Postings → Execution → Transfer to General Ledger (FPG1).

    8. Enter the following data:

      FieldValue
      Reconciliation KeyGR00
      Test RunDeselect
      List of Documents CreatedSelect

    9. Choose Execute.

    10. Choose the Refresh icon until the Status is "Reconciliation key GR00 company code 1010 transferred successfully".

    11. Select the Accounting... button to display the List of Documents in Accounting window.

    12. Double-click on the accounting document to display its details.

    13. Select the Choose Layout icon in the line items screen area, and select the /AC_1 layout from the list.

      Result

      The Segment and the Profit Center account assignments are displayed.

  3. In Customizing, demonstrate the derivation options in the posting areas 0301 and 0300.

    1. Enter the transaction code FQC0 in the command field, and select Enter.

    2. Enter the posting area 0300, and choose the Display button.

    3. Enter the chart of accounts YCOA.

    4. Select Enter to display the account determination for company code 1010.

    5. Choose Back.

    6. Enter the posting area 0301, and choose the Display button to display the account determination for company code 1010 and division "blank".

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