SAP S/4HANA Finance - New Asset Accounting overview

SAP S/4HANA Finance (formerly SAP Simple Finance) comes with a lot of features, such as the
universal journal, streamlined design, and real-time analytics. The new SAP Asset Accounting(FI-
AA) module is one example of a financial module that has been redesigned in the S/4HANA
suite to increase process efficiencies across the life cycle of an asset. Additional advantages of
migrating to new FI-AA in SAP S/4 HANA are listed below:

Due to the streamlined model, depreciation postings and runs complete a lot faster.
Data redundancy has been reduced and you have to use fewer FI-AA tables. Actuals are
stored in the universal journal (ACDOCA) instead of in a variety of tables (including
ANEP, ANEK, ANLC, ANLP, and ANEA). Plan and statistical data are stored in individual
tables.
You can choose between the accounts and the ledger approach for asset postings. In the
accounts approach, different valuations on different accounts are reflected in the same
ledger. In comparison, if you use the ledger approach, different valuations or different
accounting principles are reflected in relevant separate ledgers. The two approaches
have many similarities, such as separate documents are created for each accounting
principle or valuation and for each valuation, there is only one depreciation area that
posts to the G/L in real time, and valuation is based on one or more depreciation areas.
Since the posting of actual values of the leading valuation and values of the parallel
valuation occur in an instantaneous manner, delta depreciation areas are no longer
needed.
In classic FI-AA, it was necessary to restrict postings related to valuations by mapping
appropriate transaction types to depreciation areas. This is not required in the new FI-
AA. Why? Because you can now specify in a transaction to which depreciation area or
accounting principle (ledger or accounts) you are posting. This means that you do not
need to go through the hassle of maintaining transaction types as an intermediate step.
Since the concept of transaction types for depreciation areas is made redundant, the
maintenance overhead for these transaction types is eliminated. Note that transaction
 types in standard or traditional FI-AA identify the type of asset transaction such as
depreciation or down payments.
Due to the improved design and tighter integration among the various FI components,
you are now able to post to FI-AA directly from other modules such as a production
order or a goods receipt or an invoice directly to an asset. Consider this example.
In Figure 1, I am in the process of posting a purchase order (PO) to an asset.

An SAP purchase order assigned to an asset.

After I post this document, I create a goods receipt with reference to this PO. The goods receipt
document generates two accounting documents in table ACDOCA (Figure 2). As you might
know, the value of RMWE in the BTTYPE field is the activity indicator for the original goods
receipt.
Goods receipt postings in table ACDOCA

Preparing for Migrating to New Asset Accounting

To use the new FI-AA module, you must have the SAP General Ledger activated and running in
your SAP system. Other than the activation, no configuration is necessary because all the SAP
General Ledger scenarios are active by default. The only exceptions are document splitting or
adding a ledger. Also, you do not need to make any changes to your master data. Master data
from your classic FI-AA is leveraged per se by the new FI-AA.

I mention this as there is a perception in the industry that you can jump from the classic
General Ledger directly to SAP S/4HANA Finance. I have also encountered the perception that
migration involves making changes to your asset master data or that the master data is affected
in some way. These are incorrect perceptions.

Figure 3 displays the list of activities you need to carry out to prepare for and migrate to new
FI-AA. The activities at a high-level are:

1. Preparation activities
2. Migration activities including charts of depreciation migration, execution of additional
manual activities as applicable, and checking prerequisites for activating the new FI-AA
3. Activating the new FI-AA
4. Adjustments activities
Activities in the IMG for migrating to the new FI-AA.

Before you start your preparation for migration, you first need to check the global settings (step
1), make the appropriate changes if needed such as the creation of the necessary ledgers and
ledger groups, and then carry out the preparation and migration activities (step 2). This is
shown in Figure 4.

Sequencing your FI-AA migration activities

If you are migrating from classic FI-AA to the new FI-AA, you need to execute the migration
activities that are relevant to your enterprise. I recommend that you read the documentation in
the Prepare for New Asset Accounting step in the IMG as shown in Figure 4. The document
lists in detail all the steps that are needed to be carried out prior to starting your migration into
the new FI-AA. I also recommend that you carefully read the documentation for Perform
Additional Manual Activities. Depending on your particular situation, some of these manual
activities could be relevant to your enterprise.

What actually happens after you migrate? Your FI-AA transaction data is moved to the universal
journal ledger (ACDOCA) from the existing FI-AA tables. As you start posting into the new FI-AA,
documents post directly to ACDOCA and no postings are made to certain existing FI-AA tables
(as mentioned earlier). You can identify these documents by checking for the posting key
(technical field name BSCHL). Debit postings to an asset account have a value of 70, and a credit
posting has a value of 75. Figure 5 displays a few relevant asset documents from table ACDOCA.

Asset postings in table ACDOCA

Note
There is a useful feature in IMG activity menu called Overview for Experts. You can see this
in Figure 4. If you are an experienced FI-AA configuration person, you will find it convenient to
navigate to this node and check important FI-AA configuration activities such as depreciation
areas, asset classes, and account assignments. These activities are already available under
relevant individual nodes elsewhere, but for the configuration experts, this is the place to go to
for ensuring whether these key activities have been carried out and if not, you can execute
directly from this activity.