Purpose

The purpose of this page is to explain why there may exist some small (0,01 to 0,99 cent) differences between the balance of an account when compared to the sum of line items for the same account after a currency conversion has taken place.

Overview

This article contains information to explain why after a currency conversion, such as Euro Conversion for example, there are noticeable small amount differences (typically in the order of 0,01 to 0,99 cent for example) when you compare the balance of the account to the sum of open items. Please note that only Line Item Managed accounts are involved in this scenario. Accounts which are Open Item Managed are processed differently.

Step 1:

Verify the date of currency conversion in transaction EWSH:

 ....then press 'Active Package' or F5 and on the following screen you can see when the currency conversion was run.

Step 2:

Check the account balance of the open item managed account in question either in FS10N if you are using classic GL, or in FAGLB03 if you are using the New General Ledger for any cumulative balance after the currency conversion.

Take note of the balance.

Step 3:

Now check the sum of line items for the same account. This can be done in FS10N by double clicking or drilling down on the balance total or by running transaction FBL3N and selecting 'All Items' at a key date the same as the cumulative balance by entering the range of dates for the posted line items.

You then notice that there is a small difference between the sum of open items and the balance total for this specific line item managed account - in this example it is a 0,03 EUR difference. This seems like an inconsistency but it is not as explained in the next section.

Explanation

The Currency Conversion process does not perform any reconciliation between the total of the line items and the balance carried forward. Therefore for all similar line item managed accounts there may be differences between the account totals and the sum of line items. 

When processing a line item account for currency conversion, the process takes place in two steps:

1. All line items posted before the conversion date are converted individually to the new currency.
2. Balances for the opening balance of the New Fiscal year where the new currency has just come into operationare calculated based on the closing balance of the previous fiscal year and are then converted individually account by account.

There is no reconciliation between the new opening balance of the account and the sum of line items from previous fiscal years. Therefore it is the case that small rounding differences can appear.

This is also explained in detail in note 107530 .

Conclusion

 This is expected behaviour. The small rounding differences are expected as a result of the Currency Conversion process and should generally not be corrected.

Balance carryforward:

As a result of the currency conversion process, it is not possible to carry out a balance carryforward from the old fiscal year before the changeover to the new fiscal year. The reason for this is because the currency conversion process calculates the new opening balance for the new fiscal year after the conversion date and this calculation cannot be redone afterwards using the standard carryforward tools. Note 193065  gives further details on this.

Activating Open Item Management:

In order to activate Open Item Management for any account if is first necessary to reconcile the balance of account to the sum of line items. But as explained, after the currency conversion there may be a mismatch. In this case it is advised to create a new account as per note 403744 . The use of report RFSEPA02 is not permitted/possible after the currency conversion as is also explained in the note.

Related Content

Related Documents: 

Related Notes:

SAP Note 107530: - Currency Conversion: Balance Display and Line Item difference

SAP Note 193065: - Critical reports after euro changeover that can no longer be used

SAP Note 921984: - FAQ: Euro changeover methods and euro differences in Financials

SAP Note 403744:  - Activating open item management after local currency changeover