SAP Bank Accounting - EBS Compilation by Techlorean.pdf

2020
SAP Bank Accounting
Notes Compilation
(Version 1.0)
Compilation byTechlorean as ofMarch 19, 2020.
Website:https://techlorean.com
Contact: techlorean@gmail.com

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Table of Contents
About................................................................................................................................................2
Other Links.........................................................................................................................................2
SAP Electronic Bank Statement: Basic Process and Overview.................................................................3
SAP Electronic Bank Statements(Belgium: Conversion of CODA to Multicash) Part A..............................9
SAP Electronic Bank Statements(Belgium: CODA to Multicash Program and Config) Part B...................19
SAP Electronic Bank Statements(Interpretation Algorithm) ................................................................26
Blog Post Links..................................................................................................................................27

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About
Techlorean aims to educate readers on SAP, Career Journey, Technology, Life in Tech, and
more. It aims to help fellow SAP / IT Consultants and even those who are interested to pursue
this career path. Together, let us create a community that thrives on continuous learning.
This is a compilation of Techlorean articles related to SAP FI Bank Accounting.
Other Links
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 About
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 Disclaimer

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SAP Electronic Bank Statement: Basic Process and Overview
Electronic Bank Statement
Think of Electronic Bank Statements (EBS) as documents that are sent by the bank from one
system to another. These documents contain the bank transaction details of the indicated account
holder.
How does it relate to SAP?
In a corporate and accounting perspective, companies need to record and keep track of all
incoming and outgoing payments. These are usually posted in SAP as accounting documents.
Electronic Bank Statements can be sent and/or uploaded to SAP. Depending on the SAP
configurations, the uploaded EBS or bank statement can be posted and automatically reconciled.
If there are issues with the posting, the concerned business process users can still check on the
statements and do some manual postings if necessary. Moreover, if there are cases wherein the
bank is unable to provide an electronic statement, the statement can be manually entered in SAP.
Basic Process Overview
1. Receive the EBS from the Bank (formats can vary)
2. EBS is uploaded in SAP (FF.5)
3. View Bank Statement and GL Balances (FF67, FEBA, FEBAN, FBL3N)
For 1 and 2, note that this was written for basic overview purposes, but you can expect that there
can be established interfaces and dedicated secured repositories between the bank and SAP.
FF.5 Import / Upload Electronic Bank Statement
Bank statement format can be selected from the drop down.

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FF67 Process Manual Bank Statements / View Bank Statements
Click on Overviewfor faster overview.
You should see this screen. Double click on the entries below Bank Account to further drill down.
FEBA View Bank Statements
Click on the overview button to do a quick overview.

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FEBAN View Bank Statements (more “user friendly”)
Ensure to enter details to narrow down the search.
Click on Other Display to arrive at this kind of view.
FBL3N View GL Account Balances
Enter the corresponding company code and concerned GL Accounts (for bank clearing etc.)

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Review of TCodes
TCode Task
FF.5 Import Bank Statement
FF67 Process Manual Bank Statements / View Bank Statements
FEBA/FEBAN View Bank Statements
FBL3N View GL Account Balances
Electronic Bank Statement Formats
There are many EBS formats but the most commonly used would be MT940 and BAI2. These
formats are structured differently but they usually have the same type of information such as:
 Account identifier
 Custom coding structures
 Reference data
 Opening balance
 Transaction type
 Transaction date
 Transaction amount
 Closing balance
MT940
Usually used in Europe. Developed by The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial
Telecommunication (SWIFT), it is a Customer Statement Message that provides an end of day
account statement. It should be noted that there are some countries in Europe that utilize different
formatting.
For example, Belgium has their own format called “CODA” or The Coded Statement of Account
which serves as their own national banking standard. In this case, the process of uploading the
EBS differs in such a way that the CODA or .cod file needs to be converted to MultiCash format
in SAP. They have their own dedicated TCode (FEBC) for the conversion of CODA files to
MultiCash. You can read more about it in this blog post.

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There is also a format called MT942 which can provide intra-day account statements at a specified
period of time. It is not to be confused with MT940 which provides an end of day account
statement.
Description
MT940 SWIFT Message MT940 Customer Statement Message
MT942 SWIFT Message MT942 Interim Transaction Report
Other format examples include ETEBAC for France, DTAUS for Germany, CSB43 for Spain, etc.
BAI2
Usually used in USA. Developed by that Bank Administration Institute, it is a format for cash
management balance reporting. It should be noted that BAI and BAI2 are not the same. BAI2 is
the latest version and they ultimately differ in their level of information and reporting detail. As far
as BAI is concerned, it was announced that BAI is no longer formally supported.
Format Summary *most commonly used
Additional Information
What is SWIFT?
It was mentioned briefly that MT940 was developed by The Society for Worldwide Interbank
Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT). You can think of SWIFT as a communications network
used by banks and financial institutions to securely communicate financial related information
such as money transfers etc.

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Why do CODAfiles need to be converted to Multicash in SAP?
Conversion needs to be done so SAP can process the bank statement and proceed with the bank
statement posting.
Other Info.
 You can view some other financial services file formats and document standards here
 Supported SAP EBS Formats
 SAP Help Electronic Bank Statement (FI-BL)
 This blog post has a YouTube version! Click here to see the video.
Feel free to use the sample .cod file included in the kit.

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SAP Electronic Bank Statements (Belgium: Conversion of CODA to
Multicash) Part A
I first encountered CODAwhen I had to analyze a .COD file that was being imported to SAP. The
concept was to check on the amount and sign (+-) it was triggering prior to conversion to
Multicash. Naturally, Google was my best option to decode (real talk). Unfortunately, I was not
able to find a step by step tutorial at the time. As such, here some notes. Maybe in the future I
could find time to write more on bank related topics.
Disclaimer: My notes below are specific to Belgium on the conversion of CODA file to Multicash.
The same“concept” applies when I say the file is “consumed”and “interpreted” in SAPfor financial
posting. The formats accepted in the SAP payment engine can vary per country but you can find
more information on the differences here: SAP Help Portal Link.
CODAFiles
Designed by the Belgian Bankers Association, CODA is a coded statement of account and it is
considered as a national banking standard for Belgium. This file is in .COD file format. It allows
automatic processing of electronic bank statements which we will be discussing shortly.
Electronic Banking
Life is made easier with electronic banking because this allows the exchange of bank related data
electronically. One example is though Isabel. Isabel stands for Interbanks Standards Association
Belgium (https://www.isabel.eu/en/ebanking/banks.html). Based on their website, Isabel provides
access to more than 25 banks and payment institutions. The concept is straightforward: No need
to access several other programs to do your banking online. Just do it through Isabel.
How does Isabel relate to CODAfiles?
Basically, Isabel can provide CODA files when needed. Digital bank statements (such as CODA,
MT940, CAMT) can be received in the Isabel environment. This should give you an overview of
all the movements across the concerned bank accounts. In this case, we will cover CODA.
CODAand SAP
When CODA files are generated, they are usually imported into the company accounting system
(like SAP) for the purpose of recording and reconciliation. In a direct explanation, the flow happens
like this:

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1. FEBC – Import CODA file and convert to Multicash so it can be interpreted and understood
by SAP
2. FEBAN – Monitor / check the processed bank statements
 Documents posted accurately? Great!
 Documents with errors? Manual intervention and/or assistance with IT
Analysis on an IT perspective comes to the picture when documents are posted erroneously or
when documents are not posted at all. There are many approaches or perspectives to resolve
these types of issues, but some analysis options can be the following:
1. Understand the CODAfile to assure yourself of what the CODAfile wants to tell the system
2. Analyze if SAP interpreting the file correctly: SAP Program and Configuration
 This can be through an SAP program (some can even have custom programs to
interpret) or
 SAP Configurations
This blog post will focus first on Part A: Understanding the CODA file.
Part A – Understand / Interpreting CODA
For this scenario it is assumed that the business is familiar with what was wrongly auto-posted in
SAP and that the corresponding accounting document is viewable. You need the CODA (.cod)
file and Notepad++ to view it. I personally find Notepad++ a bit more readable compared to the
regular Notepad application. I also find myself switching between Notepad++ and MS Word
(where I can use different colored highlights to ‘sort out’ the data).
Back when it was my first-time encountering CODA, I needed to find the entry in the file to confirm
if the details being pushed to SAP is correct.
1. Analyze FEBAN, the corresponding accounting document posting, and what is pointed out
as incorrect. Gather details from FEBAN and/or the accounting document such as the date,
amount, transaction code, and behavior.
2. View the .cod file in Notepad ++ and immediately isolate the block by doing (ctrl+f)
 Search for some details found from FEBAN or the accounting document
 Interpret the CODA file by using the Febelfin CODA document
(https://www.febelfin.be/sites/default/files/2019-04/standard-coda-2.6-en.pdf)

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 You can also find other versions here
(https://www.isabel.eu/knowledge_base_ibs6/en/03_client_solutions/04_ebanking/02_tr
ansactions/01_creating_transactions/isabel-6-supported-banking-file-formats.html)
It can be difficult to understand at first but below is a simple example of me locating the specific
amount, the sign it triggers, and interpreting other details along the way. It helps to treat it as a
puzzle and make sure that the piece fits. Ensure that you can match bits of information from
FEBAN / posted document to the coda segments you are isolating.
Goal: Locate amount 150,00 EUR under Business Partner “Company ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOP”
and confirm the sign (+ or -) encoded on the file. For the file sample provided, note that details
have been “generalized” or modified for confidentiality purposes.
Sample .cod file in Notepad ++
Copy pasting and formatting in MS Word
For MS Word settings, I used Calibri (Body) Size 9 Narrow Margin Single Paragraph spaces. Just
manipulate or change to ensure all lines are in one line. It will look something like the image below.

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In page 4 of the .pdf we see that there are “record” indicators such as 0, 1, 2, 3, 8, 4, and 9. Keep
a lookout for these numbers on the left-hand side of the file. In the CODAexample above, we see
0, 1, 2, 3, 8, and 9.
Febelfin PDF
Record MSWord highlight Notepad ++ Row #’s Febelfin CODAGuide
0 Yellow 1 Header record
1 Light green 2 Old balance
2 Light blue 3-11 13-15 Movement
3 Blue 12 16-19 Additional information
8 Light grey 20 New balance
9 Grey 21 Trailer record

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Now if we are to interpret the sample file correctly using the Febelfin coda guide and highlight the
corresponding record indicators, we will get this output:
Zoomed in Version
After you isolate the “records” you can now interpret EACH record. You can also read the whole
Febelfin file or go directly to Annex I (page 14) to start.

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Febelfin PDF
We start from top to bottom starting with the header.
Header record 0 – Page 14
This record indicator starts with 0. Start counting from this number following the Febelfin file. On
my end, I have highlighted some of the key details I might need. You can try counting and cross
referencing.

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Febelfin PDF
Old balance 1 – Page 15,16
referencing.
Movement 2, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3 – Page 17,18,19,20,21
This record indicator starts with 2. The movement can start as 21, 22, 23. Start counting from this
number following the Febelfin file. On my end, I have highlighted some of the key details I might
need. You can try counting and cross referencing.
Notice that it is with record indicator 2 that I have found the amount and sign that is being passed.
In this example, look at the red 0 as it indicates a positive (+) amount. The text highlighted in red
is the amount 150,00. We know it is EUR because from record indicator 1, it gave us the account
number and corresponding currency.

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Notice also that green colored text “005556210” that denotes the Transaction Code. This is not
to be confused with the TCode in SAP. This is the unique transaction code provided by the bank
to differentiate and understand what type of movement is happening i.e. Wire Transfer, Cheque,
etc.
Look at how the grey highlighted text all denote “0001”. All entries with this are related to one
another. The next digit series following the grey highlighted text showus “0000, 0001, 0002, 0003”
which you can think of as extra movement info. Look at the white colored and red highlighted text.
They show us “63000, 57000, 30000” which sum up to 150,000.
Rememberthat the amount makes up 12 positions and 3 decimals.So, the red highlighted 150000
actually means 150,000 where the “000” are 3 decimal points.
Additional information 3,3.1,3.2 – Page 22,23,24,25
This record indicator starts with 3. The additional information can start as 31, 32. Start counting
from this number following the Febelfin file. On my end, I have highlighted some of the key details
I might need. You can try counting and cross referencing.
New balance 8 – Page 26
referencing.

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Notice if you can recall the pink highlighted text “999” from record indicator 1 as the sequence
number statement of account on paper.
Trailer record 9 – Page 28
referencing.
Notice how the debit and credit movement both sum up as 150000 in this example. For the bold
and underlined 2, this signifies the last file.
Overview of the Highlights
Overall, we can see that there are some repetitive texts in the CODA file such as the dates,
references, sample IBAN/BIC, Bank Account information, Company information and so on. On a
higher-level perspective, you can actually see which details belong together. When uploaded to
SAP, the statement balance would be 0 since we have both a positive and negative amount
movement of 150,00 euros.

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As supplementary information, we can look at the 2nd
series of record indicator 2 and 3. Notice
how this denotes the opposite sign (-) and gives the same amount 150000. There are more
“additional info” record indicators here and we can see that the sample Transaction Code is
“001556210”.
More Info (Thank you Google Translate):
Overschrijving in euro (SEPA) Van means “Transfer in euros (SEPA) From”
Mededeling means “Statement”
For the next blog post, I will talk about the SAP configurations involved that you can further check.
Feel free to use the sample .cod file included in the kit.
This blog post has a YouTube version! Click here to see the video.

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SAP Electronic Bank Statements (Belgium: CODA to Multicash Program
and Config) Part B
This blog post will focus on “Part B – Is SAP interpreting the file correctly” (Program and
Configurations)
Part B – Is SAP interpreting the file correctly? (Program and Configurations)
The standard SAP program for interpretation and conversion to Multicash is RFEBBE00 (TCode
FEBC). Some companies may create custom programs in to slightly modify or add on top of the
functionalities provided by RFEBBE00. Usually if it is custom it will pattern the standard program
and you will find additional code.
If FEBC is successful, I go to FEBAN and narrow down the results to whatever is in the CODA
file I’m analyzing. I usually enter the statement date to limit the search results.
Once generated, I click on Other Display to get a more “user friendly” look to the results.

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I personally find it easier to have a certain set of columns available in the view. To do this, you
can right click on any column header (I right-clicked on MR no) then click show.
From the right side, select the columns you want to be displayed and just click on the arrow left
to move the selected fields to the displayed columns side.
The screen should now show the selected columns.
My Top 11 Fields for analyzing FEBAN statement items are:
Bank Account, Statement Date, Amount, Business Partner, Beg. Balance, Posting Rule,
Document No., Bank Key, AcctID, House Bank, and External Transaction.

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It gives me a clearer overview of the banking configurations I need to check. You can set an
objective for your search by organizing what you know about the accurate/incorrect posting
(ensuring that they fall in the same scenario). From there you can compare and analyze how the
system behaves accurate posting vs incorrect posting.
Accurate Status Doc Amount Business Partner
1 Pass Incoming Incoming 123456780 1.000,00 BUSINESS PARTNER 1
2 Pass Outgoing Outgoing 123456781 12,30- BUSINESS PARTNER 2
3 Fail Incoming Outgoing 123456782 150,00 TRADECOR CONSULTATION
In the table above we see 3 scenarios. 2 accurate posting behaviors (row 1,2) and 1 incorrect
posting behavior (row 3). From observation, positive (+) amounts correspond to incoming
transactions while negative (-) amounts correspond to outgoing transactions. The failed/incorrect
transaction shows a positive amount of 150,00 euros but it registered in SAP as an outgoing
transaction instead of incoming.
If you recall from our previous post on interpreting CODA files, we can confidently say that the
amount and sign triggered by the file is correct. The .cod file gave us 150,00 or
“0000000000150000”. That gives us a good notion that SAP interpreted the CODA file (amount)
accurately.
Checking the SAP Program RFEBBE00 and/or corresponding Custom Program
If the opposite thing happened (even if not amount related) and SAP interpreted the amount as
150,00- then that is the time that you need to debug or read the program. I would also expect that
the standard SAP program would behave okay and that there is a custom program that needs to
be checked.
Note that the amount is just a basic example. There are other mismatch possibilities that can
require the checking of both the standard and custom program (if any). It is possible that maybe
some formatting changed on the bank side and SAP needs to adjust etc.

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You can simply go to Tcode SE38 to explore the code or proceed with debugging. Be reminded
that this program is for Belgium. Ensure that you find the right SAP program for the country you
are concerned with.
Checking SAP Configurations
Since we ruled out the need to check the program, we can proceed to check on the SAP
Configuration. Our scenario now focuses on how the amount/transaction is posted rather than
how it is being interpreted. As suchwe will now check on the Posting Rules setup in TCode OT83.
OT83
SAP looks for the posting rules configured in OT83 when interpreting the CODAfile. Take note of
the following details from the .cod file we tackled previously:
 Bank Account BE12312312312312
 Transaction Code / Types (not TCode) 005556210
 Amount Sign (+ or -) 0000000000150000 0 meaning positive
Viewing OT83, you can traverse the configuration (tables included) but here is a high-level
summary of each purpose:

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1. Create Account Symbols (T033I) – This is defined freely so you can organize it. It depends
on the business agreement / purpose as well. An example would be creating Account Symbol
for international bank accounts “INTL BNK”.
2. Assign Accounts to Account Symbols (T033G) – Link account symbolto GL Accounts.Here
you can link “INTL BNK” to GL Account X…X1, the related currency (EUR, USD, +, or blank),
and perhaps an account modification (this controls acct determination for bank sub-accounts).
3. Create Keys for Posting Rules (T028D) – Create posting rule keys just to categorize or link
the rules later on. The posting key is created to establish some rules when posting in the
general ledger and subledger. An example would be creating Posting Rule key “PKA0” to stand
as Posting Key A0 for a specific bank (Bank ABC) customer payment with debit clearing.
4. Define PostingRules (T033F) – Define / specify the actual posting rules and link it to a posting
key. This will make up the financial accounting doc posting. The basic fields and settings
include:
 Posting Area (Bank accounting/ Sub-ledger accounting)
 Posting Key Debit
 Special GL Indicator (if applicable)
 Debit Account Symbol
 Posting Key Credit
 Special GL Indicator (if applicable)
 Credit Account Symbol
 Type (Payment clearing, Customer payment, etc.)
 Posting Type (post to GL account, post to subledger debit account, etc.)
5. Create Transaction Type (T028V) – You need to group together bank accounts that contain
the same Transaction Codes/ External Transactions in one Transaction Type. So, if we are
dealing with CODA for Belgium Bank ABC, we can create Transaction Type BBABC as an
example.
6. Assign External Transaction Types to Posting Rules (T028G) – Specify all Transaction
Codes for Belgium Bank ABC and link it to your Posting Rule so SAP knows how to post the
transaction. Further explanation for the fields will be done later.
 External Transaction: 005556210
 + or – : +
 Posting Rule: PKA0
 Interpretation Algorithm: No Interpretation
 Planning Type / Transaction: None
 Processing Type: Dummy Entry not assignable
7. Assign Bank Accounts to Transaction Types (T028B) – Here the bank accounts are
assigned to the transaction types. You can refer to the bank maintenance in FBZP. The fields
for basic configuration include:
 Bank Key: 123
 Bank Account: BE12312312312312
 Trans. Type: BBABC

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For this example, we will focus on “Assign External Transaction Types to Posting Rules” since
our concern is on how SAP is posting the transaction.
It should have the following columns below for your checking and analysis. Recall that in our
example, Trans. type will be “BBABC” and the Name as “CODA for Belgium Bank ABC”.
If this view is difficult you can go to Table T028G instead. From the FEBAN posting, you can try
and match the details to see what kind of posting rule is being triggered.
 External Transaction – SAP needs this to determine or identify the business transaction. This
is what we found in our CODA file as “005556210”.
 + or – this is the sign of the amount being passed. Since our example registered a positive
amount, it will be +
 Posting Rule Key – Remember that this determines the kind of financial posting the
transaction will trigger. For this basic example, this will be “PKA0” and the system will check on
the linked posting rules.
 Interpretation Algorithm – This enables you to find separate outgoing payments using the
reference information returned by the bank. For this basic example, this will just be set as “No
Interpretation”.

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 Planning Type – This will allow the generation of cash management payment advices for
transactions reported by the bank. For this basic example, this will just be blank.
 Processing Type – As far as I am concerned, this one is usually utilized by England or Brazil
so for this basic example, it will be left blank.
Summary / Bottom Line
If you have located the posting rule that is being triggered, you may have the ff. approaches to
consider:
 Option A: Link the External Transaction/Transaction Code to the proper posting rule
 Option B: Update the Linked GL Account
 Option C or more: Create a new posting rule etc.
There is no 1 (or single) solution since it will depend on the scenario you are encountering. For
the basic example shown, it can be done through Option A. If that is the case then we just need
to find the proper posting rule that will denote the proper posting and just update the assignment
of “PKA0” to “PKA1” to External Transaction “005556210”.
Note that this will depend on the business input and feedback on how the transaction needs to be
posted. In any case, you can play around with the setup (at least in Dev or QA) to get a
visualization of the posting outcome.
Consider that some other errors can involve the incorrect maintenance of the customer/vendor
master record or even FBZP (screenshot below) etc.

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SAP Electronic Bank Statements (Interpretation Algorithm)
Interpretation Algorithm can be found in OT83 or in the “Assign External Transaction Types to
Posting Rules” configuration.
Interpretation Algorithm is assigned to an External Transaction under a specific Trans. Type.
Basic Use
You can think of Interpretation Algorithm as a standard SAP functionality that helps facilitate auto-
clearing. Basically, you are telling the system to look for a certain criterion in the concerned
electronic bank statement (based on what you set in the Interpretation Algorithm) and that the
system then needs to follow the assigned posting rule for auto clearing. It is like setting the
conditions / criteria in the Interpretation Algorithm field.
If this is not needed and in scenarios where the business users prefer to do this manually, you
can always select 000 (No interpretation). The same selection applies if you will be doing
functional enhancements / user exits.
Available Options
The available options are listed in this SAP Help document and additional reference is provided
in SAP Note 114713. In case the requirement you need is not listed in the available options, you
are free to do some functional enhancement / customization / user exits.

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Blog Post Links
SAP Electronic Bank Statement: Basic Process and Overview
SAP Electronic Bank Statements (Belgium: Conversion of CODA to Multicash) Part A
SAP Electronic Bank Statements (Belgium: CODA to Multicash Program and Config) Part B
SAP Electronic Bank Statements (Interpretation Algorithm)

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