Concept between FI-CA, FI-AR, and FI-AP

[Former Member]

Dear FI-CA gurus

Please help me to understand the concept of relationship

between FI-CA, FI-AR, and FI-AP.

Our customer is in utility industry.

They have both of corporate customer and personal customer.

So, in this case, all customers and suppliers of corporate or personal customer should be managed by FI-CA only?

Or, should I use FI-CA for personal customer, and FI-AR for corporate

Customer, and FI-AP for suppliers?

Y.Kaneko

[christiane_grammlich · Accepted solution]

Dear Kaneko,

please read the sap documentation under following link:

http://help.sap.com/saphelp_erp60_sp/helpdata/en/15/5e1d4280965533e10000000a155106/frameset.htm

The FI-CA is a subledger accounting for processing large document volumes and realizes the typical

accounts receivable functions. Therefore you should/must use it, if you use the component IS-U for billing and invoicing.

The system groups the documents from Contract Accounts Receivable and Payable (FI-CA) automatically and records posting totals for each group. You have to transfer these totals to the postings in the general ledger (FI-GL) later. Each group is uniquely identified by a reconciliation key.

FI-AR and FI-AP you should use for "customer", how suppliers, for which you don't use IS-U (Billing and Invoicing).

Best regards.

Christiane

[Former Member]

Dear Christiane

Thanks for your feedback.

So, normally, if company uses FI-CA, FI-AR/AP will not be used?

Instead, all customers including all vendors should be registered as business partner?

I'm wondering it seems there is no automatic payment program such as F110 in FI-CA.

FPY1 will be sustitution of F110?

BR

Y.Kaneko

[Former Member]

HI,

F110 is payment run in FI whereas FPY1 in FICA.

you are correct

[AmlanBanerjee]

Hi Yoshitada,

The basic difference between the three is -FI-AR and FI-AP forms part of the SAP R/3, where as FI-CA is industry specific.

FI-CA is used in all those sectors where the customer base and subesequently the transactions processing\day is huge.

Say for example-A Utilities Industry operating over a region\state can have milliion customers to supply with electricity\gas.

Hence it is an obvious choice for industries like Insurance, Media, Utilites etc.

FI-AR and FI-AP are not designed to handle such huge customer base.

So all types of customers irrespective of the fact whether they are residential or corporate can be easily handled through FI-CA.

But for the suppliers (Vendors), you cannot use FI-CA, as it is not designed to deal with accounts payable.

You need to use FI-AP for the Vendors.

However, you can link the two systems such that all the transactions happening in FI-CA is updated in SAP R/3 on a daily basis through the transfer of reconciliation keys (Summarized relevant financial data) from FI-CA to FI-GL.

Hope it solves your query......

Thanks,

Amlan

[Former Member]

Dear Amlan

Thanks for your feedback.

>You need to use FI-AP for the Vendors.

If A/R and A/P are used just like normal case,

when F110 is run, A/P and A/R can be balanced off

in case that customer and vendor are same.

($30 Receivable, $100 Payable, so $70 will be paid)

My wondering is that if FI-CA and A/P are used,

when F110 is run, Receivable on FI-CA and A/P CANNOT be

balanced off even though the customer and vendor are same.

I misunderstand?

Y.Kaneko

[AmlanBanerjee]

Hi,

The customer set up in FI-CA (IS)and FI-AP(R/3) are mutually exclusive.There is no relationship between them.

In FI-CA, you need to set up the customer as a business partner and assign a contarct account and subsqeuntly a contract to notify them by generating invoices of their outstanding.

There is no F110 in FI-CA. Payment either gets posted through payment lots or direct debit (DD) facility.

If the customer is in DD, then a payment run (FPY1), similar to F110, runs and posts a payment document against the account.

A payment medium generates a flat file or IDocs containing the relevant information depending on the requirement and is send directly to the bank to deduct the amount from the customer's bank account.

However, in FI-AP(R/3) you have the flexibility to set up the customer as "Vendor Accounts".

You can consider FI-CA and FI-AP as two seperate boxes.However, a link can be established b/w them so that transactions processed in FI-CA updates the FI-GL.

Hope it helps...

Thanks,

Amlan

[Former Member]

Dear Amlan

Thanks for your feedback.

>However, a link can be established b/w them so that transactions processed in FI-CA updates the FI-GL.

Could you give me more detail process about this?

If I post FI-CA document to FI-GL, accounts receivable will be counted as G/L account,

not controlling account.

So, I cannot imagine how to write-off between this Accounts Receivable on G/L account on FI-GL

and Accounts Payable on controlling account on FI-AP,

because Accounts Receivable is not controlling account.

Y.Kaneko

[AmlanBanerjee]

Hi Yoshitada,

Firstly to clear your confusion, FI-CA documents are not posted to FI-GL.

In FI-CA, all relevant financial postings and transactions with customers are recorded in the sub-ledger. After which, all these detailed financial transactions are then transferred to the general ledger (FI-GL) in the financial accounting system. The relevant financial data are summarized in the general ledger through a reconciliation keys.

When you are performing a non-statistical transaction in FI-CA(say, posting a misc dr\cr), the system by defaults records the transaction in a reconciliation key.When the daily transaction processing is completed, all non-statistical financial transactions through reconciliation keys are transferred to FI-GL. Thus, this activity ensures that FI-CA transactions updates FI-GL.

Hence only the GL account balance gets updated.

The activities involved in creating and closing of reconciliation keys and the subsequent transfer from FI-CA to FI-GLnormally happens through the batch run in IS-U.

Some useful t.codes-

FPF1-Creation of reconciliation key

FPF2-Close of reconciliation key

FPG4-Mass closing of reconciliation keys

FPG1-Transfer of reconciliation keys to FI-GL.

Hope it solves your query

Thanks,

Amlan

[Former Member]

Dear amlan

Thanks.

I could make clear my understanding.

Kaneko

[former_member215295]

Hi Kaneko,

FI-CA is subledger like FI-AR and FI-AP.

FI-CA is widely used in utilities, media, telecommunication industries because the volume of transactions processed every day will be huge and FI-CA is designed to meet those requirements.

Generally speaking all the customers ( Residentail, business , commercial , corporate) will be managed through FI-CA .

Check this link if you need to understand the concepts of FI-CA

http://help.sap.com/saphelp_utilities472/helpdata/en/28/16983538ee425ee10000009b38f889/frameset.htm

thanks

VR