Accrual Closing Frequency - SAP Community

The Accrual Engine enables a generic distinction between the last and current fiscal year for utilization and release postings. For instance, when accruals are utilized through a posting of actual costs, such as a supplier invoice, it may be necessary to differentiate whether the utilized accruals were created in the previous or the current fiscal year.

If accruals were created in the previous fiscal year, it means they were posted by the Accrual Engine with an Accrual Value Date that falls within the former fiscal year. Note that when posting accruals, the accrual value date typically matches the posting date.

Background: Accruals posted at the end of the last fiscal year reduce the company's profit. Consequently, the company typically pays lower taxes. To demonstrate to an auditor that the accruals from the previous year were indeed necessary, it is essential to show in reporting:

The portion of last year's accruals utilized in the subsequent fiscal year, and
The portion of last year's accruals that had to be released due to non-use in the next fiscal year.

The Accrual Engine can be configured to use different transaction types (UP and UL) for posting utilizations of accruals from the last fiscal year and the current fiscal year. This allows for the distinction of corresponding journal entry line items in reporting. This capability is not limited to the utilization of accruals; it also applies to the manual release (RP and RL) and automatic release (FP and FL) of accruals.

For example, the release of accruals from the last fiscal year can be posted with a different transaction type compared to the release of accruals from the current fiscal year. Technically, these different transaction types correspond to different posting schemas (SAP_ACE_UP, SAP_ACE_UL, SAP_ACE_FP, SAP_ACE_FL). These posting schemas result in different values for the field “Subledger-Specific Line Item Type” (field SLALITTYPE in database table ACDOCA) in the line items of the journal entries.

When postings are not made online but through the periodic accrual posting run, different journal entry types (field BLART) in the header of the corresponding journal entries can be used.

The journal entry type is defined in the IMG activity “Assign Accrual Item Types to Journal Entry Types and Posting Schemas.” These fields can be used for evaluation in reporting.

The Accrual Engine supports not only distinguishing between the former and current fiscal year for accrual utilization and release postings but also accommodates other frequencies such as quarters or even fiscal periods. This frequency is referred to as the Accruals Closing Frequency.

Consequently, the accruals closing frequency defines Accrual Closing Periods:

If “Annually” is entered as the accruals closing frequency, each fiscal year represents an accrual closing period.
If “Quarterly” is entered as the accruals closing frequency, each quarter represents an accrual closing period.

The accruals closing frequency is configured in the IMG activity “Define Accrual Item Types” (see screenshot for reference).

Since the accrual closing frequency is not limited to the fiscal year, the transaction types have “generic” names. Transaction types that represent the utilization or release of accruals from a previous accrual closing period include the word “Late” in their names. They do not use terms like “Former Fiscal Year” because the accrual closing frequency can be annual, quarterly, or another period.

Accruals utilization postings use the following transaction types:

UP (Utilization Posting): If the posting utilizes accruals from the current fiscal year.
UL (Late Utilization Posting): If the posting utilizes accruals from a previous accrual closing period.

Accruals release postings use the following transaction types:

FP (Automatic Release Posting, also called Closing Posting or Final Posting): If the posting releases accruals from the current fiscal year.
FL (Late Automatic Release Posting): If the posting releases accruals from a previous accrual closing period.
RP (Manual Release Posting): If the posting releases accruals from the current fiscal year.
RL (Late Manual Release Posting): If the posting releases accruals from a previous accrual closing period.

The accrual value date is populated only in journal entry line items created by the Accrual Engine. By default, the accrual value date is the same as the posting date. However, there are exceptions for Late Utilization (UL) and Late Release (RL, FL) postings.

In these exceptional cases, to indicate the accrual closing period from which accruals are utilized or released, the Accrual Engine sets the accrual value date to the last day of that accrual closing period.

Accruals Closing Frequency is Optional

If you do not need to differentiate between utilization or release postings for accruals from the previous or current year, you can leave the accrual closing frequency field blank in the IMG activity “Define Accrual Item Types.”

When not using an accruals closing frequency, you also do not need to assign the transaction types UL, RL, and FL to posting schemas in the IMG activity “Assign Accrual Item Types to Journal Entry Types and Posting Schemas.”

However, if you are using an accruals closing frequency, you must assign the transaction types UL, RL, and FL to posting schemas in the IMG activity “Assign Accrual Item Types to Journal Entry Types and Posting Schemas.”

In the Plan minus Actual approach, three accrual item types are relevant:

PLNCST for planned costs
ACTCST for actual costs (invoices or goods receipts)
ACCRL_PMA for accruals, calculated as planned costs minus actual costs

You can only specify an accrual closing frequency in the accrual item type for accruals (ACCRL_PMA). It is neither supported nor allowed to specify an accrual closing frequency in the other two accrual item types for actual and planned costs (PLNCST and ACTCST).

This rule also applies to other utilization scenarios (ACCRL_PER, ACCRL_STD):