SAP S/4HANA Finance: Understanding the Extension Ledger System and its Benefits

SAP remains the ideal platform for putting together all of the financial transactions of any business and deriving value from the same. The recently introduced extension ledger functionality in SAP S/4HANA Finance has gone a step further in simplifying things for the tech-savvy accountant(s). The prime focus of this article is to understand the ins and outs of this concept along with the underlying benefit that it offers us.

S/4HANA Finance is an ERP solution developed exclusively for supporting the financial planning and accounting processes in commercial establishments. It can be deployed either on-premise or on the cloud. With unmatched flexibility, it provides users with an extensive overview of all financial and operational data.

Before we move on to discuss the crux of this article – the extension ledger – let’s briefly discuss the key benefits offered by this platform:

• Optimize processes while focussing on the exceptions, and change them according to the current business model.
• Unify all business-related data while getting rid of the data replications, reconciliations and redundancies.
• Gain leverage from cross-company self-learning data that can be accessed by everyone.

Also, I am listing down some of the important definitions related to the world of finance and accounting. It will give you clarity on the concept of extension ledgers.

Ledger

It maintains a complete record of all the financial transactions (credit + debit) that is done on a daily basis in any business.

If we are talking from the context of SAP, there are two types of ledgers – leading and non-leading.

Leading ledger is the primary ledger from which all the non-leading ledgers derive their value. All documents posted in leading ledgers automatically flow to the non-leading ledger but not the other way around.

Non-leading ledger, on the other hand, is dependent on the leading ledger as a secondary ledger. These are parallel ledgers based on local accounting principles. They find applications in reporting like International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and taxation.

Extension Ledger – An Overview

Extension Ledger is a functionality that enables users to create a layer on the top of an underlying ledger. So, all postings from the underlying ledger will also apply to this extension ledger.

Records created in the leading Ledger in ACDOCA are not copied into Extension Ledgers in table ACDOCA. The system implicitly assumes that records written for Leading Ledger are part of Extension Ledger.

The ACDOCA is an addon in SAP HANA which is based on the Universal Journal line items, containing all of the financial fields, as well as a lot of information from other modules.

Below is a screenshot of what an ACDOCA table looks like –

In this table, 0L stands for the primary ledger, XL for extension ledger and 2L for secondary ledger.

Extension Ledger and Secondary Ledger can be come across as one and the same at times but there are some striking differences between them. They are as follows:

1. Extension Ledgers cannot be applied to another Extension Ledger.
2. Custom Ledger Group cannot be defined for Extension Ledger but it is possible with Non-Leading Ledger.
3. The Fiscal Year Variant on an Extension Ledger is inherited from its underlying Ledger. However, different Fiscal Year Variants can be assigned to a Secondary Ledger.
4. All postings to Non-Leading Ledgers create entries in table ACDOCA. However, with Extension Ledger, the postings in the underlying Ledger are inherited by the Extension Ledger. Thus, redundant data is eliminated from the system.

Why the Hype Around Extension Ledger?

The current approach followed by SAP is the Ledger approach (also known as the General Ledger i.e. G/L). Prior to that, an Accounts approach was used to accommodate multiple books of accounts. This resulted in an increase in the G/L list and therefore it was not a good option in the longer run.

With SAP ERP (New G/L accounting) the concepts of Leading and Non-Leading Ledgers were conceived. Several Ledgers could now be used in parallel. The Leading Ledger must be used compulsorily whereas the usage of Non-Leading Ledgers is at the discretion of the business.

SAP S/4HANA Finance brought to the fore the concept of Extension Ledgers. It helps you to save space in the database. The duplication of journal entries can be avoided in case many business transactions are valid for the Extension Ledger and for the Secondary Ledger, which is pre-existing as a part of the SAP General Ledger. Also, the Ledgers can be validated for a given time duration and can be deactivated if you don’t require them for all the fiscal years.

Applications of Extension Ledger

We will consider a simple example for the sake of this article.

If we want to post into closed periods for the purpose of restatements, an Extension Ledger 1 can be created. Another Extension Ledger 2 can be used while making adjustments in data consolidation.

SAP solutions provide tools to post and view data using different views. With Extension Ledger, the amount of overlapping and redundant data can be kept in check.

SAP New General Ledger allows users to post only to a specific Ledger by using the transaction code FB50L. So, duplication and unnecessary postings are avoided altogether within the database.

Extension Ledgers – A Smart Approach to Financial Management

SAP S/4HANA Finance is a part of the new S/4HANA Enterprise Management platform and has delivered quite promising results. The in-memory computing capabilities of SAP HANA is an added advantage when you think of adopting this platform.

The Extension Ledgers complement the efficiency of HANA Finance by eliminating almost every type of data errors.

With time, business culture is evolving at a rapid pace and leaders are gearing up for a radical shift in working methodologies. The concept of ‘Central Finance’ is also taking wings as businesses are moving steadily towards embracing cloud-based ERP solutions like the one listed over here.

If you want to adopt a smart approach to financial management then get in touch with an SAP Consultancy firm. They’ll guide you through the entire process with simplicity.