Explaining How to Change a Posted Document

Accounting principles require that accounting journal entry modifications are kept to a minimum once an FI document has been posted in SAP S/4HANA. In any case, all accounting related information, like posting keys, account numbers, posting date, amounts, and so on, can never be modified under any circumstance as this data has already led to an update of account balances.

Additionally, it is possible to customize SAP to apply certain rules so that the changes to the aforementioned fields are only allowed under certain conditions. For example, the changes are accepted only if the posting period is open or if the line item has not been reconciled yet. The reason for this is to prevent undesired modifications of data that would make reconciliation impossible or could jeopardize the auditability of the data.

Let's take a look at the change concept in SAP.

The changes to an individual journal entry in SAP, if authorized, can be performed with the Manage Journal Entries app. The Edit button will then provide access to the document header and line items where only selected fields will be available for modification, depending on the settings of each company. Once the changes are made, the document must be saved as usual. It will retain its original document number.

SAP S/4HANA logs all changes made to the journal entries. These modifications to the journal entries can also be followed with the Manage Journal Entries app. From there, you can also access the change history.

To use this app, enter the filter settings, and select the journal entry that you are interested in. If you also want to display the line item that was modified, use the Settings button, to add the Table Key column: the line item is displayed in the Table Key column.

Jill is going to now have a look to this video showing how to proceed with journal entry modifications: