Defining
Chart of Account in SAP
A chart of accounts (COA) is a
financial organizational tool that provides a complete listing of every account
in an accounting system. An account is a unique record for each type of asset,
liability, equity, revenue and expense.
A COA, which lists the names of
the accounts that a company has identified and made available for recording
transactions in its general ledger, establishes the level of detail tracked in
a record-keeping system. Typically, a COA contains the accounts’ names, brief
descriptions and identification codes.
In practice, the COA serves as
the foundation for a company’s financial record keeping system. It provides a
logical structure that facilitates the addition of new accounts and deletion of
old accounts.
Within the COA, accounts will be
typically listed in order of their appearance in the financial statements.
Typically, Balance sheet accounts are listed first followed by the income
statement accounts.
Definition
This is a list of all G/L
accounts used by one or several company codes.
For each G/L account, the chart
of accounts contains the account number, account name, and the information that
controls how an account functions and how a G/L account is created in a company
code.
Use
You have to assign a chart of
accounts to each company code. This chart of accounts is the operating chart of
accounts and is used for the daily postings in this company code.
You have the following options
when using multiple company codes:
You can use the same chart of
accounts for all company codes
If the company codes all have the
same requirements for the chart of accounts set up, assign all of the
individual company codes to the same chart of accounts. This could be the case
if all company codes are in the same country.
In addition to the operating
chart of accounts, you can use two additional charts of accounts
If the individual company codes
need different charts of accounts, you can assign up to two charts of accounts
in addition to the operating chart of accounts. This could be the case if company
codes lie in multiple countries.
Note
The use of different charts of
accounts has no effect on the balance sheet and
profit and loss statement. When
creating the balance sheet or the profit and loss statement, you can choose
whether to balance the company codes which use different charts of accounts
together or separately.
Structure
Charts of accounts can have three
different functions in the system:
Operating chart of accounts
The operating chart of accounts
contains the G/L accounts that you use for posting in your company code during
daily activities. Financial Accounting and Controlling both use this chart of
accounts.
You have to assign an operating
chart of accounts to a company code.
Group chart of accounts
The group chart of accounts
contains the G/L accounts that are used by the entire corporate group. This
allows the company to provide reports for the entire corporate group.
The assigning of an corporate
group chart of accounts to a company code is optional.
Country-specific chart of accounts
The country-specific chart of
accounts contains the G/L accounts needed to meet the country's legal
requirements. This allows you to provide statements for the country's legal
requirements.
The assigning of an
country-specific chart of accounts to a company code is optional.
Integration
The operating chart of accounts
is shared by Financial Accounting as well as Controlling. The accounts in a
chart of accounts can be both expense or revenue accounts in Financial
Accounting and cost or revenue elements in cost/revenue accounting. You can
find additional information on this subject under
