SAP Finance Consultant — Interview Questions Booklet (50 Q&A)
S/4HANA Universal Journal • G/L • AP/AR • Asset Accounting • Bank & Cash • CO Integration • Tax & Controls • Period Close • Real Scenarios
1) What is the scope of SAP FI in S/4HANA?
Answer: SAP FI covers external financial accounting (G/L, AP, AR, AA, Bank). In S/4HANA, FI runs on the Universal Journal (table ACDOCA), unifying FI and CO line items for real-time reporting and reconciliation.
2) How do Company, Company Code, and Controlling Area differ?
Answer: Company is a consolidation unit; Company Code is a legal entity producing statutory FS; Controlling Area groups company codes for internal controlling. In S/4HANA, one controlling area per universal journal scenario is common for real-time CO.
3) What is a Chart of Accounts and how is it assigned?
Answer: The CoA is the structured list of G/L accounts. It is defined once and assigned to one or more company codes; each company code may also use country-specific alternate accounts for local reporting.
4) What master data objects are central to FI?
Answer: G/L accounts, Business Partner (BP) roles for customers/vendors, asset masters, house banks, cost objects (cost centers, internal orders), and profit centers/segments for reporting dimensions.
5) Why did SAP move to Business Partner (BP) in S/4HANA?
Answer: BP provides a single point of truth for customers and vendors (roles: FI Customer, FI Vendor, Sales/Purchasing). It reduces redundancy and enables harmonized master data and governance.
6) What is the Universal Journal and why is it important?
Answer: The Universal Journal (ACDOCA) stores FI, CO, ML, and AA line items in one table. It eliminates totals/reconciliation tables, enabling real-time analytics and reconciled FI-CO reporting.
7) How do leading and non-leading ledgers support parallel accounting?
Answer: The leading ledger holds primary GAAP. Non-leading ledgers capture alternate principles (e.g., IFRS vs Local GAAP) using different depreciation, valuation, or posting logic for parallel reporting.
8) What is document splitting and when is it required?
Answer: Document splitting allocates document lines to dimensions (e.g., segment/profit center) to ensure balanced financial statements per dimension—mandatory for segment reporting under IFRS 8.
9) How do posting keys, document types, and number ranges work together?
Answer: Posting keys define debit/credit and account type; document types classify transactions and control posting rules; number ranges ensure unique, auditable document IDs by type/company code.
10) What is account determination in FI and where is it used?
Answer: Account determination maps business events to G/L accounts (e.g., MM inventory/GR-IR, SD revenue, AA APC/depreciation). It is configured via valuation classes, account keys, and automatic postings.
11) How is vendor master data structured in S/4HANA?
Answer: Vendors are BPs with roles: FLVN00/FLVN01 (general/company code), FLVN00-Purchasing for procurement, holding payment terms, reconciliation account, dunning, and withholding tax data.
12) What is a reconciliation account for vendors and why block direct posting?
Answer: The vendor recon account aggregates subledger postings in G/L. Direct G/L posting is blocked to preserve subledger integrity and ensure auditability.
13) How do you configure and run the Automatic Payment Program (F110)?
Answer: Define paying company codes/house banks, payment methods, forms, and tolerance groups; run proposal, review exceptions, then execute to post payments and generate bank files (e.g., ISO20022).
14) How are vendor down payments handled?
Answer: Use special G/L indicators to post advances (F-48), clear them with invoices (F-54) or via MIRO, ensuring correct tax timing and liability presentation.
15) What controls help prevent duplicate or fraudulent vendor payments?
Answer: Vendor change workflows, bank account four-eyes principle, duplicate invoice checks, tolerance groups, payment blocks/release, and segregation of duties (SoD) in roles.
16) How is customer master modeled with BP and sales data?
Answer: Customers are BPs with roles FLCU00/FLCU01 (general/company code) and Sales Area data (pricing, shipping, billing). FI holds terms/recon; SD holds order-to-cash parameters.
17) How does Dunning work and what are key configuration points?
Answer: Create dunning procedures, levels, charges, and texts; assign to customers. Run dunning to issue reminders based on oldest overdue items, with escalating severity and fees.
18) How are incoming payments applied and cleared?
Answer: Post manually (F-28) or automatically via EBS/Lockbox. Clearing uses document numbers, reference/assignment fields, or rules for residual/partial payment handling.
19) What changed with Credit Management in S/4HANA?
Answer: Classic credit mgmt is replaced by SAP FSCM Credit Management with BPs, risk classes, scoring, exposure calculation, and real-time checks at order/delivery/billing.
20) How do you support revenue recognition in FI/SD?
Answer: Use SD billing integration with FI and (where applicable) RAR/ACR for IFRS 15/ASC 606. Accrual/deferral and transfer posting ensure correct period matching.
21) What is New Asset Accounting in S/4HANA?
Answer: New FI-AA is fully integrated with the Universal Journal (no ANLC totals). It supports multiple depreciation areas/ledgers, real-time postings, and simplified period close.
22) How do asset classes and account determination work?
Answer: Asset class controls defaults and assigns account determination that maps APC, accumulated depreciation, depreciation expense, retirement, and clearing accounts.
23) What are depreciation areas and keys?
Answer: Areas represent valuation principles (book, tax, IFRS). Depreciation keys define method, period control, and useful life; they drive AFAB/AFABN postings to G/L.
24) How do you manage AUC (Assets Under Construction)?
Answer: Capture costs on AUC via internal orders/WBS. On capitalization, settle AUC to a final asset so depreciation starts in the appropriate area/ledger.
25) How are asset retirements and transfers posted?
Answer: Retirements post gain/loss based on NBV vs proceeds; intra-company or intercompany transfers adjust APC and accumulated depreciation with correct clearing.
26) What setup is required for house banks and bank accounts?
Answer: Define house banks, bank accounts (account IDs, currencies), assign G/L accounts, and enable bank account management controls (signatories, approvals, workflows).
27) How does Electronic Bank Statement (EBS) automate clearing?
Answer: EBS imports bank files (e.g., MT940, CAMT.053), applies posting rules/interpretation algorithms, and posts/clears bank and subledger items automatically.
28) What is Lockbox and when do you use it?
Answer: Lockbox (primarily US) processes remittances sent by banks, automatically applying cash to AR open items using MICR and invoice references.
29) How do you design payment media outputs?
Answer: Use the Payment Medium Workbench/DMEE trees to build formats (SEPA/ISO20022); align with bank specs, sign via BCM, and integrate with treasury if used.
30) What’s Advanced Cash Management in S/4HANA?
Answer: It provides centralized bank account management, cash positions, liquidity forecasts, and workflows—integrated with FI/SD/MM and EBS for real-time visibility.
31) How are input/output taxes configured and posted?
Answer: Create tax procedures/codes with rates and account keys; assign tax accounts. Posting keys and condition techniques determine whether input/output tax is posted.
32) How does withholding tax (WHT) work in FI?
Answer: Configure WHT types/codes (base/rate), assign to BP/vendor. At posting/payment, system calculates, posts to WHT accounts, and produces statutory certificates.
33) What are Validations and Substitutions used for?
Answer: Validations enforce business rules (errors/warnings). Substitutions auto-fill/replace fields (e.g., profit center derivation). Both support user exits/BAdIs.
34) How is parallel accounting achieved in S/4HANA?
Answer: Via parallel ledgers or parallel accounts. Ledgers are preferred in S/4HANA to reflect different valuation principles without duplicating accounts.
35) What compliance features support audit and SoD?
Answer: Change documents, document logs, dual control for master data/bank changes, workflow approvals, GRC Access Control, and auditable closing with Closing Cockpit.
36) How does FI integrate with CO in S/4HANA?
Answer: FI postings create CO documents in ACDOCA for cost centers, internal orders, WBS, or profitability segments—eliminating reconciliation gaps.
37) What’s the role of primary and secondary cost elements now?
Answer: All G/L accounts are cost elements by type; primary originate from FI, secondary support internal allocations (assessments/distributions) posted into ACDOCA.
38) How do MM and FI interact at GR/IR and invoice?
Answer: Goods receipt posts to inventory and GR/IR; invoice receipt clears GR/IR and recognizes vendor liability/tax. Price differences go to designated G/L accounts.
39) How does SD billing post to FI and COPA/Profitability?
Answer: Billing creates FI AR/revenue postings via account determination and can post to profitability segments (account-based COPA) for margin analysis.
40) What is Material Ledger’s impact on FI?
Answer: In S/4HANA, Material Ledger actual costing is mandatory for inventory valuation in some scenarios, posting price differences to FI and enabling multi-currency valuation.
41) What are key period-end close steps in FI?
Answer: Foreign currency valuation, GR/IR clearing, accruals/deferrals, depreciation run, AUC settlement, intercompany reconciliations, and FSV-based financial statements.
42) How is foreign currency valuation performed?
Answer: Revalue open items and balances at period end using exchange rate types; post unrealized gains/losses to separate G/L accounts by account type/valuation area.
43) What is the Financial Statement Version (FSV)?
Answer: FSV defines the hierarchy mapping of G/L accounts to balance sheet and P&L nodes, enabling statutory/management reporting and segment/prctr views with document splitting.
44) How does the Closing Cockpit streamline period close?
Answer: It orchestrates templates, task dependencies, logs, and job scheduling (including AFAB, KSV5, valuations) to standardize and monitor close activities.
45) What reporting options exist in S/4HANA for FI?
Answer: Fiori analytical apps, embedded SAC/Analytics, classic reports (FAGLL03, FBL1N/3N), and custom CDS views for real-time dashboards on ACDOCA.
46) GR/IR is not clearing despite invoice posting — what do you check?
Answer: Verify quantity/price variances, PO history, and GR/IR account assignment. Run GR/IR clearing reports; post adjustments or return/correct goods receipt as needed.
47) APP paid from the wrong bank account — how to correct safely?
Answer: Reverse payment documents, reopen items, fix house bank/payment method in parameters, re-run proposal, and reinforce BCM approvals to prevent recurrence.
48) Segment financials do not balance — common root causes?
Answer: Missing document splitting rules, manual journal without dimensions, or postings via legacy transactions. Adjust splitting rules and reclassify via corrections.
49) Vendor invoices are duplicating — what controls do you implement?
Answer: Activate duplicate invoice checks (reference/date/amount), enforce mandatory reference fields, use workflow approvals, and monitor exceptions in Fiori apps.
50) How do you present close performance and control health to leadership?
Answer: Report DSO/DPO, on-time close %, open exceptions, aged GR/IR, FX valuation impact, and audit findings; include trend dashboards and remediation plans with owners/dates.