Central Finance allows you to replicate the clearing relevant data of documents. This will let you monitor the clearing state of documents from various source systems all in your Central Finance systems. It is also a prerequisite for activating Central Payment. By activating the function, the following data will be replicated:

AUGDT: Clearing Date
AUGCP: Clearing Entry Date
AUGBL: Document Number of the Clearing Document
AUGGJ: Clearing Fiscal Year

System behaviour before and after activation

Without clearing transfer activation, all open and cleared items are replicated as cleared by ALE-Extern.

After activation, during initial load, the system can transfer only the information whether an open item is cleared or not. The corresponding clearing information is then set to ALE-extern for items that were cleared prior to the start of Initial Load Extraction. The clearing process itself is not supported by the initial load. It is important to note here, that even cleared documents are extracted as open item package if the clearing document falls within the document period.

Real time replication transfers the same clearing data as in source system.

Activation of the clearing transfer

Clearing transfer can be activated from the Central Finance system for a logical sender system. It is also a prerequisite that note 2633841 is implemented in the source system. Once it has been activated, it cannot be deactivated.

For releases S4HANA 1809 and higher, you need to execute IMG Activity “Activate Clearing Transfer for Source Systems”:

For lower releases, you need to execute the initial load first. In this case, all documents will be posted as cleared by ALE-Extern. Afterwards you need to run report FINS_MIG_CJ3 in Central Finance system, which will reopen the items still open, and activate the clearing transfer. After the Clearing transfer was activated for one logical sender system, it will be also active for all subsequent initial loads from that system.

For all releases, if the initial load was executed before the activation, you will also need to run IMG Activity “Reopen Technically Cleared Items”

The activation will also create an entry in table FINS_CFIN_CTRL for the logical source system, with SETTING_KEY = DISABLE_TECH_CLEARING_OF_OPEN_ITEMS and VALUE = X. In the IMG activity “Maintain RFC Assignments and Settings for Source Systems” you will also see a mark in column “Clearing Transfer” for the system.

Restrictions

Some restrictions apply for the clearing transfer. The most important ones are listed below. For a full list, and for further information, please check the relevant SAP Help Portal page.

Currency Configurations

The currency settings of the company codes and ledgers in the Central Finance system need to be set up identically to those of the corresponding company codes and ledgers in the source systems. This includes the Control Data settings for G/L accounts.

For a clearing posting transferred to Central Finance, the amounts of additional currencies are always translated with the exchange rate of the current translation date. An open item, however, has to be cleared with the exchange rate of the translation date when the open item was originally posted.

So, in the current scope of the functionality, the clearing would not balance to zero for each currency and differences would not be posted as an exchange rate difference in case of additional or different local currencies in the Central Finance system.

Example

Open items and clearings are transferred from company code A in the sender system to company code B in the target system.

Company code A in the sender system has only one local currency.

Company code B in the target system has the same local currency as company code A and an additional second local currency.

If the exchange rate of the second local currency is changed between when the invoice is posted and when the corresponding clearing document is posted, the line item containing the resulting exchange rate difference for the second local currency will be missing in the clearing document in the target system.

Note

If you create a company code in Central Finance (as of release S/4HANA 1610), by default the controlling area currency type is created as a local currency in FI. If your source system does not use the controlling area currency type as a local currency in FI you must also remove this setting in the Central Finance system.

To check or change the setting, see the fields 1st FI currency, 2nd FI currency and 3rd FI currency in the transaction FINSC_LEDGER for the company code in question.

You define the currency type for the controlling area currency in transaction OX06.

Document splitting

The settings of document splitting need to be set up the same way in the source and Central Finance systems. Replication into Central Finance with document splitting active from systems where document splitting is inactive is not an out-of-the-box feature of the product.

For follow-up costs (such as cash discount, exchange rate differences, or penalty interests) or closing activities in FI (for example, revaluation of open items, Balance Sheet Supplement, Open Item Analysis) splitting characteristics are derived by the clearing transaction or the closing transactions in the source system. If the splitting configuration is set up differently in the source system, characteristics might be missing, and the posting might be denied.

Settlements of Advance Payment Transfer Postings in Real Estate Management

Clearings that result from settlements of advance payment transfer postings in Real Estate Management (especially SAP transactions: RESCSE, RESCBC, RESRSE, RESRBCSINGLE, RESCSECO, RESCSETN) do not clear in the Central Finance system. The postings are transferred but the clearing is not executed.

Clearing of Open Items Transferred by the Initial Load

Clearing of open items which have been transferred by initial load: only open items which have been transferred after implementation of SAP note 2210341 Information published on SAP site (source system) can be cleared successfully. If this note was not applied before transfer by the initial load, the resulting open items will not contain a reference to their predecessor in their line items (BUZEI_SENDER) which makes a clearing processing impossible in the target system.

Open-Item Managed G/L Accounts

Clearing transfer can only work properly if open item-managed G/L accounts from the source system are mapped to G/L accounts in the Central Finance system which are also open-item managed. Otherwise, the replicated clearing transactions run into error.

Conclusion

Activating the clearing transfer is a useful tool to monitor clearing state of documents from various source systems. A next step in Central Finance integration can be the activation of Central Payment, which allows you to do centralized payments and clearing processes. If you are interested in it, there is a blog post available here.

Brought to you by the S/4HANA RIG

Gábor Jakab
Support Engineer
SAP Central Finance