SAP FI Interview Questions

SAP FI Interview Questions & Answers

Q1. What is SAP FI and its importance?

SAP FI (Financial Accounting) is a core SAP module that manages a company’s financial transactions in real time. It enables accurate reporting, compliance with statutory requirements, and integration with other modules for a unified financial view.

Q2. Main sub-modules in SAP FI

• General Ledger (G/L) Accounting
• Accounts Receivable (AR)
• Accounts Payable (AP)
• Asset Accounting (AA)
• Bank Accounting
• Travel Management

Q3. Organizational structure in SAP FI

Includes Company, Company Code, Chart of Accounts, Business Area, and Functional Area. Defines the legal and reporting structure for financial processing.

Q4. Company Code vs Company

Company Code – Smallest organizational unit for which financial statements can be prepared. Company – Represents a group of company codes for consolidated reporting.

Q5. Chart of Accounts (CoA)

A structured list of G/L accounts used by one or more company codes. Can be operational, group, or country-specific.

Q6. General Ledger (G/L) accounting

Central repository for all accounting transactions. Supports parallel accounting and segment reporting in New G/L.

Q7. Open item management

Ensures that open items (unpaid invoices, pending credits) are cleared against corresponding entries, enabling accurate balances.

Q8. Account types in SAP FI

• Customer
• Vendor
• Asset
• G/L Account

Q9. Document types

Control the type of postings allowed (e.g., SA for G/L, KR for vendor invoice, DR for customer invoice).

Q10. Posting keys

Two-digit numeric codes controlling debit/credit indicator and account type for postings.

Q11. Document splitting

Automatically allocates revenues/expenses to segments, profit centers, or business areas for detailed reporting.

Q12. Parallel accounting

Maintains multiple ledgers for different accounting principles (e.g., IFRS, local GAAP).

Q13. Fiscal year variant

Defines how the fiscal year is divided into posting periods and special periods.

Q14. Posting period variant

Controls which posting periods are open or closed for transactions.

Q15. Field status groups

Define which fields are optional, mandatory, or suppressed during postings to G/L accounts.

Q16. SAP FI integration with CO

FI provides actual financial data to CO for internal management reporting and cost control.

Q17. Special G/L transactions

Include down payments, bills of exchange, guarantees, which are managed separately from normal transactions.

Q18. Dunning process

Automates sending payment reminders to customers with overdue invoices.

Q19. Payment program (F110)

Automates outgoing payments to vendors and incoming payments from customers.

Q20. Asset accounting overview

Manages acquisition, depreciation, transfer, and retirement of fixed assets.

Q21. Depreciation areas

Allow parallel valuation of assets for different accounting principles.

Q22. Foreign currency valuation

Revalues open foreign currency items at period-end to reflect current exchange rates.

Q23. Exchange rate types

Define how exchange rates are maintained (e.g., M – average rate, B – bank buying rate).

Q24. Tax configuration in SAP FI

Manages tax codes, tax calculation procedures, and integration with local tax laws.

Q25. Withholding tax

Deducted at the source from payments to vendors, configured as classic or extended withholding tax.

Q26. Automatic account determination

Maps transactions from other modules to the correct G/L accounts.

Q27. GR/IR clearing account

Reconciles goods receipt and invoice receipt to match purchase orders.

Q28. Reconciliation accounts

Link sub-ledger accounts (e.g., customer/vendor) to the G/L.

Q29. Parked vs held documents

Parked – Requires completion before posting. Held – Temporary save for incomplete entries.

Q30. Reversal methods in SAP FI

Reversal (FB08) or negative posting to correct incorrect entries.

Q31. Real-time integration between FI and MM/SD

MM postings (GR/IR) and SD billing automatically create FI entries via account determination.

Q32. SAP FI reports

• Financial Statements
• Trial Balance
• Vendor/Customer Line Items
• Asset Reports

Q33. New G/L accounting

Introduced parallel ledgers, document splitting, and real-time integration with CO.

Q34. Ledger types in new G/L

Leading Ledger (0L) and Non-Leading Ledgers for parallel accounting.

Q35. Segment reporting

Reports financial results by business segments for compliance with IFRS.

Q36. Bank accounting in SAP FI

Manages house banks, bank accounts, and transactions like EBS and lockbox.

Q37. Lockbox process

Automates processing of incoming payments from banks.

Q38. Electronic bank statement (EBS)

Imports and processes bank transactions electronically to reconcile accounts.

Q39. SAP FI month-end activities

Includes foreign currency valuation, accruals, deferrals, and reconciliations.

Q40. Year-end closing in SAP FI

Finalizes books, posts depreciation, runs asset year-end, and generates statements.

Q41. Accounts receivable (AR) process

Manages customer invoices, incoming payments, and credit memos.

Q42. Accounts payable (AP) process

Manages vendor invoices, outgoing payments, and vendor credit memos.

Q43. Credit management

Controls credit exposure for customers to reduce risk.

Q44. Cash journal

Handles petty cash transactions and short-term cash flows.

Q45. Real-time postings in controlling

Ensures cost objects in CO are updated immediately upon FI postings.

Q46. IDoc processing in SAP FI

Supports electronic data interchange for FI-related transactions.

Q47. Integration of FI with asset management

Asset acquisitions, retirements, and depreciation flow automatically into FI ledgers.

Q48. SAP FI tables

• BKPF – Document Header
• BSEG – Document Line Items
• BSID – Customer Open Items
• BSIK – Vendor Open Items
• ANLA – Asset Master Record

Q49. Common challenges in SAP FI implementation

• Incorrect master data setup
• Poor integration with other modules
• Compliance with multiple GAAP standards
• User training gaps

Q50. Best practices for SAP FI configuration

• Align with accounting principles
• Use proper naming conventions for G/L accounts
• Ensure integration testing with MM/SD/CO
• Document configuration for audit readiness