The purpose of this blog post is to give you a high-level overview of the steps involved in lockbox processing in SAP S/4 HANA.
Let’s first understand the business process
In this blog post, we will see the whole process using the BAI2 format. Please check the following link to get a sample file for testing purposes.
https://support.sap.com/content/dam/SAAP/Sol_Pack/Library/Others/Steps_To_Create_BAI2_File.docx
LOCKBOXDES – is your SAP S/4HANA bank account number. Enter the number into your configuration when you receive it from the bank. For unit test purposes, don’t change it in the file.
LOCKBOXORI – is your SAP S/4HANA bank routing number. Enter the number into your configuration when you receive it from the bank. For unit test purposes, don’t change it in the file.
Note – The two (Bank Key and Bank Account) numbers, together, form your business partner’s Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) number and is transmitted by the bank
Lockbox processing steps:
Now our lockbox file is ready, let’s try to upload it and see all the processing steps. We will discuss 3 scenarios here.
Scenario 1: The system can identify the open item based on the information present in the lockbox file.
Please follow the following steps:
Step 1: Go to the Fiori launchpad and open the “Upload Lockbox Files” App. Import the lockbox file and click on Execute
Since the system was able to identify the open invoice, we can see the status is “Applied”
Step 2: Open “Manage Lockbox Batches” App in Fiori Launchpad
Here, we can see the status is “Completed”. And you will see there are two documents posted. One for Bank accounting and the other for A/R posting.
As depicted in the screenshots, we have the following accounting entries:
- Bank Posting
Bank (Lockbox) Incoming A/c Dr
To Lockbox clearing A/c
2. A/R Posting
Since the system could identify the open item based on the information present in the lockbox file, it would clear the open item and the following accounting entries are posted.
Lockbox clearing A/c Dr
To Customer A/c
Scenario 2: The system cannot identify the exact open item but is able to identify the customer.
In this case, there would be an “On-Account” posting and later user can manually clear the customer’s open item using the reprocessing functionality.
Step 1: Open the “Upload lockbox files” App and import the file
Here we can see the status is “Posted on account”
Step 2: Open the “Manage Lockbox Batches” App in Fiori Launchpad. Here you can see the status is “On Account”
In this case, we have two accounting documents posted. One for Bank accounting same as Scenario 1 and the second one for “On-account” Posting.
Step 3: Open “Reprocess Lockbox Items” App
Here system proposes the open items available for this customer and the user can manually choose open items to clear with the “On-account” posting.
Scenario 3: The system cannot identify the open item or the customer. In this case, there is only bank posting, there won’t be any “On-Account” posting.
Users can manually create A/R posting using reprocessing functionality.
Step 1: Import the lockbox file via “Upload Lockbox files” App
The status is “Unprocessed”
Step 2: Open the “Manage Lockbox Batches” App in Fiori Launchpad. Here you can see the status is “Not Completed”
There is only a bank accounting document. There is no A/R posting.
Step 3: Open Reprocess Lockbox Items App
Here, the user can manually choose a customer and then can select open items for that customer to clear with this amount or can post it on the account.
In this blog post, we discussed 3 scenarios for lockbox processing.
In the upcoming post, we will discuss a few more scenarios like Partial payment and bank reconciliation.
