General Ledger
G/L account master data has two segments: the chart of accounts segment (account number, account group, short text, balance sheet/P&L, tax category) and the company code segment (currency, reconciliation flag, line item display, open item management, field status group, sort key, posting without tax code). The account group controls the number range and the field status at chart-of-accounts level; the field status group controls which fields appear on the line items of that account.
Key flags and their rules:
- Line item display – if off, no line items are stored for the account.
- Open item management – requires line item display, and cannot be switched off once open items exist.
- Reconciliation account – set for subledger accounts; direct manual postings are rejected and open item management is managed by the subledger.
- Sort key – supplies the default value for the assignment field, which drives line item sorting and clearing.
In S/4HANA the G/L is always the new G/L: all postings land in the universal journal (ACDOCA), ledgers and extension ledgers provide parallel valuation, document splitting can populate segment and profit center, and balances/line items are read from the same table (FAGLB03/FS10N, FAGLL03/FBL3N). Transactions: FS00 create, FB50/FB01 post, FB08 reverse.
Traps to expect
- Field status hierarchy: suppress beats required, required beats optional.
- Changing open item management fails when open items exist.
- Posting directly to a reconciliation account is not possible – the system blocks it.
- Setting line item display to off after postings does not delete existing items.
Worked example: a bank clearing account where users must key an assignment. Create it in FS00 with line item display and open item management, then in its field status group set Assignment to required entry and suppress the fields that do not apply.