New Reconciliation Account in S/4HANA 2020

With S/4HANA 2020, SAP has introduced a new type of reconciliation account as a part of its innovations.

One of the most common discussions I encounter in many projects—especially global ones—is the management of bank accounts. It seems that we may need to revise our smart coding structure slightly. Perhaps it’s time to shelve our account plan Excel templates included in our documentation. In countries like Turkey, where the banking sector is highly competitive, companies having multiple accounts in various banks is a common situation. This could be one of the reasons for the development of this new structure.

How Was It Before?

In the previous structure, it was beneficial to focus on primary banks and bank accounts, setting bank data aside for the moment. Generally, the process involved defining a unique primary account for each IBAN (or bank account). But what is the downside of this? Let’s consider that as well.

In projects where bank accounting is involved, we typically defined sub-accounts in parallel with the main bank accounts. In addition to this, credit card sub-accounts, check bank sub-accounts, and promissory note bank sub-accounts were also created. As a result, it was possible to open 5–6 mirror accounts for each primary bank account. While this was manageable in projects with minimal account planning or a limited number of banks, it became much more challenging to manage in larger-scale companies.

What Has Changed?

In the new structure, managing bank accounts under a single primary account also enables payment transaction tracking, which has now shifted toward a form of customer account tracking.

Furthermore, a new account type has been introduced for managing this process. Cash accounts are now a required structure to create the primary bank reconciliation account.

Of course, simply creating a single account does not complete these processes. Due to the nature of these accounts, which require balance tracking, certain process changes are also necessary. To perform a banking transaction, you need two accounts:

1. The bank reconciliation account
2. The clearing sub-account.

The aspect of the new method I find most appealing is its integration into the master data. When creating a primary bank, you can specify whether the bank will be used with a bank reconciliation account or with the balance sheet method.

The value and usability of this new structure will likely depend on the design choices made. It’s worth keeping in mind that not every new design is necessarily a good one. For this reason, reviewing SAP’s official publications before beginning the design process would be beneficial. For more detailed information, you can visit SAP’s help site.