1. Chapter 1 Overview of the FI Module
The SAP Financial Accounting (FI) module provides integrated, on-line, real-time functionality for processing, recording and maintaining the financial accounting transactions of the business for external reporting purposes.
Chapter Objectives
Provide a general overview of the Financial Accounting module and its sub- modules.
Highlight the various integration points among the FinanciaI Accounting sub-modules and other SAP modules.

2. SAP R/3 Applications
SAP organizes the system applications into three broad categories:
Logistics
Accounting
Human Resources
Within the Accounting category, you will find the three core applications covered in the PwC SAP Training Program:
Financial Accounting (FI)
Treasury (TR)
Controlling (CO)
In this overview, we will present the core applications within the FI module (G/L, A/R, A/P, Asset Accounting, and Special Purpose Ledger). We will also briefly mention the differences between the main areas within the Treasury module (Cash Management and Treasury Management).
The CO module applications will be discussed later in the course.

3. Sub-Modules of FI General Ledger Accounts Receivable Accounts Payable
Fixed Assets (Asset Accounting)
Legal Consolidation
Special Purpose Ledger
Funds Management
Travel Management
General Ledger: (FI-GL) is the sub-module in which all of the financial accounting data for the legal entity is recorded either manually or automatically through integrated processes.
Accounts Receivable: (FI-AR) is the sub-module in which the financial accounting transactions involving customers are recorded and administered.
Accounts Payable: (FI-AP) is the sub-module in which the financial accounting transactions involving vendors are recorded and administered.
Fixed Assets (Asset Accounting): (FI-AA) is the sub-module in which fixed (physical) assets are created and monitored.
Legal Consolidations: (FI-LC) is the sub-module with the central task of combining the financial operating results of the companies within a group to provide overall results for the group.
Special Purpose Ledger: (FI-SL) (also known as Special Ledger and previously known as the Extended Ledger) provides summary information from multiple applications at a level of detail that the user defines.
Funds Management: (FI-FM) is the sub-module that supports financial checking and control using budgeting techniques.
Travel Management (FI-TM): processes business trip and expense data. It may be integrated with HR (Personnel Data and Payroll).

4. General Ledger (FI-GL)
Integrated with other application modules and FI sub- modules
Financial Data Entry
User-defined balance sheet / profit and loss statement versions
Multiple Currencies
Flexible Report Generator
Business transactions with a financial accounting impact are posted to the FI-GL sub-module on a real-time basis either directly or through integration from other SAP modules and FI sub-modules.
Reporting in the General Ledger is available on-line with a range of sorting and presentation options.

5. Accounts Receivable (FI-AR)
Real-time integration with the General Ledger
Integration with Sales and Distribution (SD) and Materials Management (MM) as a part of the Sales Cycle
Integration with Treasury
Credit Management
Incoming Payment Processing
Automatic Dunning Function
All postings in FI-AR are also recorded simultaneously in FI-GL.
The components of FI-AR are closely integrated with components of SD and MM which, when properly configured, support an automated Sales Cycle.
The FI-AR sub-module contains the following features:
A component to control customer credit exposure (Credit Management)
A reporting function to monitor customer activity
Incoming Payment processing (electronic or manual)
A component to monitor past due customer invoices (Dunning)

6. Accounts Payable (FI-AP)
Real-time integration with General Ledger
Integration with Materials Management as a part of the Procurement Cycle
Integration with Treasury
Outgoing Payment Program
Vendor Correspondence
All postings in FI-AP are also recorded simultaneously in FI-GL.
The components of FI-AP are closely integrated with components of MM which, when properly configured, support an automated Procurement Cycle.
The sub-module contains the following features:
A reporting function to monitor vendor activity
An Outgoing Payment program, which supports all of the standard Payment Methods (including checks and wire transfers) in printed form as well as in electronic form (data medium exchange on diskette and data transmission)
Balance confirmations, account statements and other forms of correspondence with vendors to support business requirements

7. Fixed Asset Accounting (FI-AA)
Real-time integration with the General Ledger.
Batch processing and posting of depreciation expense, interest and replacement values.
Integration with:
Material Management (MM)
Production Planning (PP)
Accounts Receivable (FI-AR)
Accounts Payable (FI-AP)
Cost Accounting (CO)
Plant Maintenance (PM)
All postings such as asset acquisitions, transfers and retirements are also recorded simultaneously in FI-GL. Depreciation expense, interest and replacement values are posted using a batch.
FI-AA supports accounting of traditional assets, assets under construction (AuC), leased assets and real estate assets.
As a result of the integration in the R/3 System, FI-AA transfers data directly to and from other systems.
The Materials Management (MM) or Production Planning (PP) components can post directly to FI-AA. When an asset is purchased or produced in-house, you can directly post the invoice receipt, goods receipt, and/or the withdrawal from the warehouse to FI-AA.
FI-AA or FI-AR can post directly to an asset and a customer account if an asset is sold.
FI-AA or FI-AP can post directly to an asset and a vendor account if the vendor invoice is not posted using Material Management (MM).
You can pass on depreciation and interest to Cost Accounting (CO) in order to track expenses by cost center and profit center. Internal orders, within CO, can also be used to collect and control capital expenditures.
The Plant Maintenance (PM) component can settle maintenance activities that require capitalization to assets.

8. Special Purpose Ledger (FI-SL)
Provides summary information from multiple SAP applications at a user defined level
Flexible Reporting Tool
FI-SL provides enhanced tools to manage financial data to support legal and managerial reports.
Special Purpose Ledgers are defined to meet specific business requirements through the ability to combine, summarize, allocate, and plan data that originate from other SAP modules and external systems.

9. Treasury
The Treasury module consists of Cash Management, Cash Budget Management, Treasury Management, Loans, Market Risk and Information Systems.
Cash Management is utilized as a planning tool for cash control and up-to-date liquidity analysis of a company.
Treasury management has become a standard part of SAP since version 4.0. Its main objective is to ensure liquidity, minimize financing costs, optimize investment returns, and hedge against fluctuations in revenues and expenses.
Loans used to be a part of Treasury Management; however, as of version 4.6, it is a separate sub-module of Treasury. This sub-module is responsible for processing and administering loans and mortgages.
Market Risk also was a part of Treasury Management prior to version Like Loans, it is now a separate sub-module of Treasury. Market Risk concerns the management and hedging of currency and interest rates. TR

10. SAP and Integration Technical Accounting Logistics Information Flow
The technical integration of the logistics, accounting, and information flow features is one of SAP’s greatest benefits.
The features of Integration are:
Common organizational structure throughout the system
Seamless processing of common data between applications
Comprehensive support and reference tools
Object and application linking and overall system communication
Integration of application data
Each time an application module changes, the R/3 System automatically updates the data in the other application modules that are affected.
The data entered is updated in the database used by the applications. All application modules have the same architecture and user interface.
Interactive processing
The R/3 System interactively processes the user’s input and checks to ensure that the data is consistent.
Integration of several languages
Several users can work in an application using different languages because the R/3 System updates the data that was entered in different languages at runtime.
Integration

11. Benefits of Integration
Timely access to common information
Flexible and adaptable to growth
Elimination of duplicate entries
Increased visibility of business results across functional boundaries
Minimization of system interfaces and maintenance requirements while maintaining portability
Immediate reflection of financial impacts
Capture of decisions at the source for better control and accuracy.
Data is available to anyone who needs it, anywhere, anytime.
Processes can run concurrently rather than consecutively, which reduces processing time.
Data moves across business applications automatically, avoiding duplication of effort and minimizing missing and erroneous data.

12. Overview of the FI Module - Chapter Summary
Key Terms:
SAP Financial Accounting Module
FI-GL
FI-AR
FI-AP
FI- AA
FI-LC
FI-SL
FI-FM
TR-CM
Integration
SAP Financial Accounting module - The Financial Information/Accounting System that collects all accounting data within an organization. This system enables the user to evaluate general ledger, accounts receivable, and accounts payable information.
General Ledger sub-module (FI-GL) - Records all of the financial accounting data for the legal entity either manually or automatically through integrated processes.
Accounts Receivable sub-module (FI-AR) - Records and administers the accounting data for all customers. In addition, it is an integral part of the sales system, which includes deliveries and orders for each customer.
Accounts Payable sub-module (FI-AP) - Records and administers the accounting data for all vendors. In addition, it is an integral part of the purchasing system, which includes receipts and invoices for each vendor.
Asset Accounting ( FI-AA) - Records transactions impacting an asset from purchase order through retirement. The system can automatically calculate the values for depreciation, interest, and insurance.
Legal Consolidation (FI-LC) is the sub-module responsible for combining the financial operating results of the companies within a group to provide overall results for the group.

13. Overview of the FI Module -Chapter Summary
Key Terms:
SAP Financial Accounting Module
FI-GL
FI-AR
FI-AP
FI- AA
FI-LC
FI-SL
FI-FM
TR-CM
Integration
Special Purpose Ledger (FI-SL) - Collects data and provides summary information from multiple applications at a level of detail that the user defines.
Funds Management (FI-FM) - Supports financial checking and control using budgeting techniques.
Cash Management (TR-CM) - Ensures an optimum amount of liquidity to meet required payments as they come due. TR-CM also monitors cash inflows and outflows.
Integration - The process by which data entered in one module is used by or updates other modules.