Managing Incoming Payment Files

In this lesson we go over examples of the bank statement formats and also a detailed overview of the XML and SWIFT formats. We talk about the bank statement import options, such as using SAP Multi-Bank Connectivity, file upload and import, and manually creating a bank statement. Finally, we describe the Manage Bank Statements and Bank Statements Monitor apps, which also play a special role in the Post-processing Electronic Bank Statements process.

Your company's house bank provides electronic bank statements on a regular basis. As a cash manager, you have the task of managing and uploading these incoming payment files. You have received an electronic bank statement from your German bank and uploaded it to the system. Now you want to check if all transaction line items are matched to the corresponding open items automatically or if rework is required.

In this lesson, we discuss the following:

• Bank statement formats with some examples (such as CAMT and MT bank statements).
• Import options for the bank statements.
• Monitoring bank statements in the Statement Monitor.
• Reprocessing bank statements.

Now let's take a look at what import options we have when I want to process a bank statement. And there are a whole range of opportunities that SAP provides us with in this context. We have defined formats, and in the next step, we go into the options when we receive the bank statements as to how they can be imported.

For banks with a Multi-Bank Connectivity connection, bank statements are handled by Multi-Bank Connectivity. Multi-Bank Connectivity maps from the local bank statement format to an ISO CAMT.053 format, and SAP S/4HANA pulls the ISO CAMT.053 bank statement from Multi-Bank Connectivity and then imports it automatically. The SAP S/4HANA system schedules a background job, for example, every 10 minutes to retrieve the bank statement file from Multi-Bank Connectivity, and the file is automatically imported into the SAP S/4HANA system.

After the CAMT.053 bank statement is pulled from Multi-Bank Connectivity, the postings in bank accounting and subledger accounting are performed. When importing bank statements to the SAP S/4HANA system, several programs are used to read out statement information, to interpret this information, and finally come to a conclusion on how to post the interpreted data.

At the point of time the electronic bank statement reaches the SAP S/4HANA system, the note to payee information is analyzed. Here, the customer would normally provide some kind of reference information about, for example, the invoice or customer number. In the system configuration, the interpretation algorithm is defined. Based on that, the system uses a standard algorithm or, for example, the document number, to assign the note to payee information to internal business partner related transactions. If the system is able to find a match, for example based on the document number provided in the bank statement, it will perform the subledger accounting posting and, thereby, clear the open item of the business partner. If there is no match possible, the reprocessing of items is needed.

If there is no connection to SAP Multi-Bank Connectivity, you can manually import this electronic bank statement file into the SAP S/4HANA system after receiving the bank statement file from the bank. This procedure can be used for different files formats, such as the BAI formats in the United States or the more general CAMT.053 format. In the case of the manual upload of electronic bank statements to the SAP S/4HANA system, several programs are used to read out statement information, to interpret this information, and finally come to a conclusion on how to post the interpreted data.

The Manage Incoming Payment Files app facilitates the manual upload of electronic bank statements. Here again the note to payee information plays a vital role in the matching of bank statement items to transactions in the system. The customer would normally provide some kind of reference information about, for example, the invoice or customer number. In the system configuration, the interpretation algorithm is defined per external transaction type. Based on that, the system uses a standard algorithm or, for example, the document number to assign the note to payee information to internal business partner related transactions. If the system is able to find a match, for example based on the document number provided in the bank statement, it will perform the subledger accounting posting and, thereby, clear the open item of the business partner. If there is no match possible, the reprocessing of items is needed.

The Manage Bank Statements app offers two possibilities on how to enter data from the statement. Either with Payment Transaction Type Group or without, as a manual transaction. If the Payment Transaction Type Group is used and the external transaction types indicate which logical business transaction is associated with the entered item, the system behavior is pretty much the same as with the upload of the electronic bank statement. Again, the note to payee information plays a vital role in the matching of bank statement items to transactions in the system. The next steps are then the same as for the two previous import options.

There are basically two apps available that you can use to manage and monitor the bank statements for the end-of-day process. In Manage Bank Statements, all the statements uploaded to the system are listed with their line item details. There is also the Monitor Bank Statements app, which provides a more comprehensive view of the current bank statements in the SAP S/4HANA system.

New bank statements can be created in the Manage Bank Statements app. Information such as house bank account, house bank, company code, bank statement number, bank statement date, opening balance, closing balance, and the individual bank statement items are needed for the creation of bank statements. In addition to creating new bank statements, all existing bank statements are displayed on the overview page of the app. Important information, such as company code, house bank account, bank statement date, opening balance, closing balance, and statement status are displayed. A bank statement can have ten different status options listed on the slide. If required, you can also use Customizing settings to define additional fields, such as Display "Account Holder", "Currency", or "Account Holder" on the overview page of the bank statement. In addition, existing bank statements can be deleted or reversed in the app.

The Bank Statement Monitor app visualizes the existing bank statements. The bank statements are selected based on various filter options, for example: Key Date, Is Warning as Error, or other information, such as bank name or account number. You can also choose to display the data as a table view or a chart view. If the chart view is selected, there are up to 30 different chart options here, for example: Column Chart, Bar Chart, Donut Chart, and so on. You can also specify sort options for the corresponding display options. The sorting options can be, for example, by company, by company and bank, or by country.

When the electronic bank statement is imported, the system runs through several programs to read the data of the bank statement and assign it to the correct posting rules. Furthermore, the system checks for clearing information that could be used for the automatic clearing of customer open items. If a clear match is found, the open item on the customer account is cleared and the corresponding posting on the bank, bank sub-account, and customer account is performed. If the system cannot match the bank statement item to any information in the system, it leads to an exception and the item must be post-processed.

You can use the Reprocess Bank Statement Items app to reprocess statement information that was not processed automatically. In this app, you can reprocess a bank statement item, mark it as reprocessed, and can enter a reason for reprocessing. You can also add attachments to bank statement items. Key features of this app include: Assign payments to customer/supplier accounts or general ledger accounts and clear open items; post payments to customer/supplier accounts or general ledger accounts and confirm company-initiated payments, such as checks or bank transfers.

There are several ways to post-process the given information of the statement. In the Details section there is the possibility to search for different account types, for example, customers or vendors. In addition, you can use the Analyze As action to use a specific condition and choose which interpretation algorithm should be performed on the memo line that is provided. There are several ways of dealing with a statement items that could not automatically be assigned.

As a processor you can: Post against an AP/AR item, Post on Account, Post against a G/L item, or Post to a G/L account. When working with, for example, AP/AR items, there is furthermore the feature that you are either look up customer specific items or all customer or vendor items. This way, it is possible to find the item that matches the incoming payment for clearing. Once the items for clearing are identified, they are transferred to the right section of the screen. This will also change the open balance of the statement information.

Accounts Receivable Accounting