Configure financials
Chart of accounts and posting logic
G/L account types determine behavior: Posting accounts receive entries and need Direct Posting for journal lines, while Heading, Total, Begin-Total and End-Total accounts only structure reports and cannot be posted to. Account categories and subcategories drive financial reporting layouts.
Posting resolution is the most tested idea. Customer posting groups map to the A/R control account and vendor posting groups to A/P. The combination of General Business Posting Group (who) and General Product Posting Group (what) selects accounts in General Posting Setup for income, COGS, inventory adjustment and VAT/tax product posting. Inventory Posting Setup (Location x Inventory Posting Group) selects inventory and WIP accounts. Tax works as Tax Area Code (geography) plus Tax Group Code (product type); the calculation appears on the line and Tax Jurisdictions drive reporting.
Periods, currency and reports
General Ledger Setup holds Allow Posting From/To (a global limit that user setup can narrow further), additional reporting currency and budget defaults. Accounting Periods define the fiscal year; closing the income statement moves the result to the retained earnings account. Account schedules build financial statements from row and column definitions, and currencies need exchange rates, including relational adjustment rates.
Traps
- 'Posting setup does not exist' means a missing business/product posting group combination, not a missing account.
- A blocked account, or Direct Posting turned off, blocks journal entries.
- Dimension requirements on an account can stop a posting that otherwise looks valid.
Worked example: a domestic customer (Cust. Posting Group DOMESTIC -> A/R 11000) buys a service (Gen. Prod. Posting Group SERVICES) under Gen. Bus. Posting Group DOMESTIC, so income comes from the SERVICES x DOMESTIC row in General Posting Setup. Both accounts may exist, yet posting fails if that row is missing.