SAP Posting Key Configuration

Within SAP Financial Accounting, general ledger accounts are posted to using SAP Posting Keys. Each line item requires an SAP posting key which controls various aspects of how the particular line item will post. This tutorial will take a look at posting keys, examine SAP posting key configuration, and review a sample posting to point out how they are used within the system.

SAP Posting Key Definition

SAP Posting keys are required for each line item within a FI document posting (table BSEG, field BSCHL). This is a two-digits alphanumeric value that controls the account type (asset, customer, vendor, material, or general ledger account), whether the line item is a debit or a credit posting, and the layout of the line item on entry screens. SAP delivers standard posting keys that will meet most organizations’ needs, however if required, it is possible to create custom keys. The generally accepted best practice when creating custom keys is to find a key that most closely resembles what you will need, copy it to a new value, and modify it as required.

SAP Posting Key Configuration

To review the configuration of posting keys, use transaction code OB41 or follow menu path:

SPRO > SAP Reference IMG > Financial Accounting (New) > Financial Accounting Global Settings (New) > Document > Define Posting Keys

You will come to a screen that appears as follows, which lists all configured posting keys within the system. To review configuration, double click on the line item entry for posting key 40 (posting key 40, debit to a GL account, and posting key 50, credit to a G/L account, are probably the most widely used).

The next screen you will see appears as follows.

This screen has three sections as well as an important button at the top for maintaining field status.

The first box is for debit or credit indicator of the posting key. A key can be one or the other, but not both, so this is a radio button selection. This field will drive the BSEG-SHKZG field to be H for credit and S for debit.

The second box is for choosing the account type the posting key will use. Your choices here are Customer, Vendor, G/L account, Assets, or Material. Again, this can only be one or another, so this is a radio button selection. This will dictate what type of master record you will be required to enter on the line item when using the post key. If this is Customer, you’ll put in a customer master, if it is Vendor, you will enter a vendor master, and so forth. Keep in mind that when using a vendor, customer, asset, or material, the applicable sub ledger reconciliation account will be posted to.

The last box is for other attributes you can assign to the posting key. There are three checkboxes and an entry field for the reversal posting key. The reversal posting key is typically entered if the posting key is for G/L accounts and will be automatically used to post an offset entry to the line item when processing reversals. The Sales Related field is used typically with customer related keys and indicates it will be used in sales calculations by the system. The special G/L check box indicates if you will be posting special G/L entries using the key. If so, you will also specify a special G/L indicator when making the line item posting during document creation. Finally, the Payment transaction checkbox will be chosen if the key will be used for outgoing payments, such as within AP vendor payments.

After reviewing the available SAP posting key settings in the Detail Configuration screen, click on the Maintain Field Status button in the upper left to come to the Maintain Field Status Group: Overview screen. The screen will appear as follows.

Each group under the Select Group listing contains fields that can be used within a line item financial posting. For a quick look at what fields are within each group, you can place your cursor on one of the groups and click on the Subgroup list button at the top. If you do this, you will see a listing such as the following (example using the General data).

This does not have much use other than for quick display purposes, so instead, either drill on one of the groups or place your cursor on a group and click on the Choose button (to the left of Subgroup list). You will come to a screen such as the following, where you can choose field options of each field within the group.

You must make a selection for each field listed. The choices here for each field within the group are:

• Suppress – the field will not be visible within the line item.
• Required – the field will appear and you must enter a value within the line item.
• Optional – the field will appear and you have the choice to enter a value or leave the field empty.

One thing to be keenly aware of at this point regarding field status groups is that they work in conjunction with the field status defined within the account group assigned to the G/L account master record. The order of priority for field status is Suppressed, Display (not applicable in post key configuration), Required, Optional. This order will be followed when dictating which status group – on the post key or on the account group – to follow.

Example

Review the FI document below to see the posting key (data entry document view). Item 1 uses posting key 01, which is defined as a customer posting, so the account is a customer master record, and as a debit entry, which you can see in the amount field.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we defined what a posting key is and how it is used. We reviewed the configuration of existing SAP posting keys and looked at an example within an FI document posting.

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