Top SAP FICO Consultant Interview Questions and Answers

1. What do you understand by the term SAP FICO?

SAP stands for Systems, Applications & Products in Data Processing. The FI in FICO stands for (Financial Accounting) and CO stands for (Control). So, SAP FICO is a combination of SAP FI and SAP CO. While SAP FI handles accounting, tax calculations, and financial reporting, SAP CO handles internal orders, inventory sheets, cost sheets, cost allocation, and more.

2. What is the posting key? What purpose does it serve? 

A two-digit number used to control and identify the type of transaction recorded in this section is called the authentication key. This helps identify the following:

• Account types
• Types of posting: debit or credit
• Field status of a transaction

3. What is the main usage of SAP FICO?

SAP FICO is software used to store and calculate data. This allows you to restore results according to the latest marketing scenario. It prevents data loss and is responsible for data reporting and verification. Its modules enable businesses to manage financial tasks within an international framework of currencies and languages.

4. What are the other modules into which ‘Financial Accounting’ of SAP FICO is integrated?

The other modules to which ‘Financial Accounting’ of SAP FICO is integrated are:

• Sales and Distribution
• Production Planning
• Material Management
• Human Resource
• Controlling financial transaction

5. State the most important organizational elements in SAP FI.

The important organizational elements in SAP FI are as follows:

• Functional Area
• Business Area
• Company Code
• Chart of Account

6. What is the best way to manage transactions from different business lines within a company?

The best way is to create business zones. You can also create different companies for each line of business to manage transactions from different lines of business within one company.

7. What are the options for fiscal years in SAP FICO?

The fiscal year is a way of maintaining financial data in the system. In SAP FICO, there are 12 accounting periods and 4 special periods. You must indicate each company’s fiscal year version. Additionally, when creating a control area, you will need to specify a fiscal year variant.

8. What is the role of credit control? 

Credit control helps protect a business from overusing its financial assets. Typically, a credit limit is set for SAP customers when payment is made after the product is sold. This method allows you to limit the amount a customer has to pay before initiating a new purchase.

It is suitable for credit management in application components:

• Account Receivable (AR)
• Sales and Distribution

Join to learn SAP FICO from the Experts! Click for the demo class!

9. What is the function of the company code in SAP FICO?

The company code is responsible for generating financial statements like Profit and Loss Statements, Balance sheets, and others.

10. How many Chart of Accounts can a company code have?

There can be only one Chart of Accounts for an assigned company code.

11. How many currencies can you configure for a Company Code?

You can configure three currencies for a Company Code, consisting of

• One local currency
• Two parallel currencies

12. What is the role of the Chart of Accounts in SAP FICO?

An accounting plan helps meet the company’s daily needs and the country’s legal requirements.
Its two types are:

• Chart of Accounts (COA): A record with all the general ledger accounts assigned to the company.
• Country chart of accounts (COA): List of general ledger accounts needed to meet the country’s legal requirements.

13. What do you understand about the field status group and field status variant?

The zone status group contains zone state variations. General Ledger accounts have field status groups. These status groups allow you to define fields while posting to the general ledger.

14. What is the year shift in the SAP calendar?

The SAP system only understands the calendar year. He does not recognize a broken budget exercise.
Suppose for a company, the fiscal year is not a calendar year but a combination of different months of two different calendar years. Then, one of the calendar years will be classified as the fiscal year and the months falling in the other year will be adjusted in the fiscal year by shifting the year with a -1 or +1 sign.
This change is called the change of year.

15. State the types of modules into which FI is integrated.

The different types of modules are:

• Production Planning
• Material Management
• Human Resource
• Sales and Distribution

16. How are output and input taxes managed in SAP FICO?

SAP FICO has tax codes in each country’s tax procedures. You have the option of spending the tax dollars or capitalizing them into shares.

17. What are validations and substitutions in SAP FICO?

Authentication in the FI and CO modules helps ensure data integrity when performing online or bulk transactions. Replacement in the FI/CO/EC module helps retrieve or correct values ​​passed through the integration process or sent to the FI/CO module.

18. Which application areas use validation and substitutions?

Validation and substitution are used by the following application areas in SAP:

• FI- Financial Accounting
• CO- Cost accounting
• GL- Special purpose ledger
• AM- Asset accounting
• PS- Project system
• PC- Profit center accounting
• CS- Consolidation
• RE- Real estate

Join to learn SAP FICO from the Experts! Click for the demo class!

19. What is a year-dependent fiscal year variant?

When the number of days in a month does not correspond to the calendar month then it is an exercise variation that depends on the year. For example, when January ends on the 30th and February ends on the 27th.

20. What steps are involved in G/L posting?

Once payroll processing is complete, the results will be added to the general account. GL accounting includes the following steps:

• Synthesize relevant information from payroll results.
• Create summary document.
• Make necessary entries in the appropriate cost center and general accounts.

21. What are the different methods for making vendor payments?

The two methods are:

• Manual Payment: Done without a medium such as cheques.
• Automatic Payment: Done through DME (Data Medium Exchange) like wire transfer or cheque.

22. What is the use of FSV (Financial Statement Version) in SAP FICO?

FSV is a reporting tool. It allows you to extract final accounts from SAP, such as balance sheet and profit and loss account. By using multiple FSVs, you can generate results from various external agencies such as banks and other statutory bodies.

23. At what level the Customer and Vendor codes are stored in SAP?

Customer and supplier codes are stored at the customer level. A company can use supplier and customer codes by expanding the company view.

24. What is the significance of financial statements within a business in SAP FICO?

Financial reports help manage a business’s financial assets. Creating and managing financial reports and records allows you to generate data that you can later use to make further plans or investment decisions for your business.

25. State the common G/L reports in SAP FI.

The most common G/L reports in SAP FI are as follows:

• G/L Chart of Accounts List
• G/L Account List
• G/L Account Balances
• G/L Account Totals and Balances

26. What is the purpose of “Document type” in SAP FICO?

The main purpose of “Document Type” is as follows:

• It allows you to define the document quantity range.
• It allows control of published account types, such as suppliers, assets, customers, regular GL accounts, etc.
• It is used to reverse the entry.

27. What is meant by company and company code in SAP FICO?

A company is an organizational unit. It is used in the legal consolidation module to consolidate financial statements of different companies. In contrast, a corporation is the smallest organizational unit. You can set up a completely independent set of accounts for reporting purposes outside the company.

28. What are accounting period variants and posting period variants in SAP FICO?

• Accounting period variants: They allow you to manage which accounting periods are opened for validation and all closed periods are deleted. They are suitable for the opening and closing periods of the financial year for booking purposes.
• Accounting period variations: The accounting period in a financial year is the period during which transaction figures are updated. Accounting period variations are responsible for controlling the accounting period open for posting. It ensures balanced closing times.

29. What is the use of Account Receivables?

Accounts Receivable components lets you to record and manage all customers’ accounting data. All postings in Accounts Receivable are directly recorded in General Ledger.

30. What are the perks of using Business areas in a company?

Within a company, business areas can be used when other companies also need similar areas. They are used more in management control than in financial accounting. The advantages of using the business area are:

• Easy configuration. You will need to attach it to the company code and other details will attach themselves.
• By using business areas in controlling, preparing balance sheets, profit and loss statements, etc.
  will become easier.

31. What problems might occur when we configure the business area?

Splitting account balances is the main problem encountered when establishing a business area. This is more suitable for taxable accounts.

Join to learn SAP FICO from the Experts! Click for the demo class!

32. Explain the relationship between company code and the controlling area in SAP FICO.

A controlling area in SAP can contain one or more companies. These companies use the same chart of account activities as the controlling area. Only one company can be assigned to a control area, while a control area can contain multiple company missions.

33. What is FI-GL Accounting? Why is it used?

FI-GL is the abbreviation for Financial General Ledger. It provides an overview of accounting and external accounts. It keeps all business transactions including all other areas of operations in one software system, ensuring accounting data is always accurate and complete.

34. What is parallel and the local currency in SAP FICO?

Local currency: Currency entered when establishing the company.

Parallel Currencies: The remaining two additional currencies can be used in foreign trade or international transactions. GROUP CURRENCY and HARD CURRENCY are two examples of parallel currencies.

35. What are the customizing prerequisites for document clearing?

Customize prerequisites including controlling deleted and unreconciled items through open item management. The open items management process allows you to manage accounts payable and accounts receivable. That is to say unpaid accounts. For example, an unpaid invoice item is considered an open account until paid.

36. What are the one-time vendors in SAP FICO?

For businesses that handle large cash transactions, it is impractical to create a new master record for each supplier’s trading partner. Therefore, one-time suppliers solve the problem because they allow the use of fake supplier codes when entering invoices while the information is normally stored in the supplier record.

37. What is the significance of the GR/IR clearing account in SAP FICO?

GR/IR is the abbreviation for Good Receipt/Invoice Received. The GR/IR clearing account is a temporary account. The supply is made if the goods are received according to the old system and not by invoice. It goes through Accounting debiting Inventory and crediting GR/IR account.

Similarly, when an invoice is received, the supplier account will be credited and the GR/IR account will be debited. Therefore, GR/IR is a non-compensable item until the invoice is not received.

38. What is the default exchange rate type picked up for all SAP transactions?

The default exchange rate type is M or Average Rate for all SAP transactions.

39. What are the different accounting groups that can be created in Account Receivable in SAP FI?

The following accounting groups can be created in Account Receivable:

• X001- Domestic Customers
• X002- Export Customers
• X003- One-Time Customers

40. Is it possible to calculate depreciation to the day? How can you do that?

Yes it can. The daily depreciation function becomes active for an asset as soon as the asset has a corresponding depreciation key and is capitalized (included). Therefore, you cannot permanently disable this function, even if you change the deprecation key.

41. What are the internal orders in SAP FICO? Where can you use them?

Internal orders are used to plan, collect and finalize costs for internal tasks and jobs. They can also be used to track expenses. They are in for a short period of time.

42. What is the use of Account payable? How is it related to G/L?

Accounts payable is used to manage and record accounting data for all vendors. It is related to G/L as follows:

• All invoices are managed according to supplier requirements. Debts managed under a payment plan.
• Payment can be made by check or electronic transfer.
• All entries in Accounts Payable are updated simultaneously in the General Ledger.

43. What ‘blocks’ can be applied to a vendor account in SAP FI?

The following blocks can be applied to vendor accounts:

• Posting block for all companies and certain companies.
• Block purchases for all or certain purchasing organizations. It is only used when you have purchased/installed the purchase application component.

44. What is blocking a customer in SAP FI?

Blocking occurs when posts are no longer made on an account. You must block a customer account before marking a customer profile for deletion.

For example, you would block a customer that you are using as an alternate reminder recipient. So no one can send the wrong post to this customer. The following blocks can be defined for customers in the Sales and Distribution (SD) application component:

• Posting block
• Delivery block
• Order block
• Invoicing block

45.  What is the chart of depreciation in Asset Accounting?

The chart of depreciation is the highest node assigned to the company node. It stores all the depreciation calculations.

46. How can you manage the relationship between two currencies in SAP FI?

With exchange rates, you can determine and manage the relationship between two currencies or convert an amount to another currency. Exchange rates are determined for the following purposes:

• Posting and Clearing
• Exchange Rate Differences
• Foreign Currency Valuation

47. What is the field status group used to control?

The field status group is configured in FSV to maintain field status for General Ledger accounts.

Join to learn SAP FICO from the Experts! Click for the demo class!

48. How would you create a Credit Control Area in SAP FI?

You can use transaction code OB45 or a path to create a credit control area. The steps to create a credit control area are as follows:

SPRO > enterprise structure > maintain structure > definition > financial accounting > maintain credit control area

Next, you will have to enter the following description:

• Update
• Name of the credit-control area in SAP
• Currency
• Description
• Credit Limit
• Risk Category
• Fiscal Variant
• Rep Group

49. What are some most important tables in SAP FICO?

Tables in SAP FICO helps in storing the data on a screen. Some important tables of SAP FICO are given below:

Enterprise structure SAP Tables

• T001: SAP Company-Code
• TCURC: SAP Currency-codes
• T005: Countries in SAP
• TCURT: Currency name in SAP
• TCURR: Exch-rate in SAP
• T009: Fiscal year variants in SAP
• T077S: G/L Account-group
• T880: Global-company-data in SAP
• T004: SAP Chart of accounts (COA)
• T014: Credit-control-area SAP
• T012: House banks in SAP
• T010O: SAP Posting-period-variant (PPV)
• T001B: Permitted posting periods in SAP
• T010P: Posting period variant names in SAP
• T003: Document types in SAP

SAP FI G/L Tables

• BNKA: Bank master record SAP
• SKA1: Chart of accounts segment GL master data
• BNKA: Bank master record in SAP
• SKB1: Company code segment G/l master data
• BKPF: SAP Accounting documents header
• BKPF: Accounting documents header in SAP

Accounts Receivable Table

• KNBK: Bank details
• KNVH: Customer hierarchy
• KNVK: Contact persons
• KNVI: Customer master tax indicator
• KNA1: Customer master-General data
• KNB1: Customer master-Company code data
• KNVV: Customer master-Sales data
• KNVS: Shipment data for customer
• KNVP: Customer partners

SAP FI Accounts payable tables

• LFA1: Vendor master-General data
• LFBK: Bank details
• LFM1: Purchasing organization data
• LFM2: Purchasing data
• LFB5: Vendor dunning data
• LFB1: Vendor master-Company code data

Assets Accounting Tables

• ANEK: Document header asset posting
• ANKB: Asset classes: Depreciation area
• ANKA: Asset classes: General data
• ANKT: Asset classes: Description
• ANEP: Asset line items
• ANLU: Asset master record user fields
• ANLZ: Time-dependent asset allocation

SAP CO Tables

• CSKS: Cost center master data
• CRCO: Assignment of work center to cost center
• CSKT: Cost center texts
• COSP: Cost totals for external postings
• COBK: Document header
• COEP: Line items (by period)
• COST: Price totals

Profit center Accounting tables

• CEPC: Profit center master data table
• GLPCA: Actual line items – Profit center
• GLPCP: Plan line items – Profit center
• GLPCO: Object table for the account – Profit center
• GLPCC: Transaction attributes – Profit center
• CEPCT: Texts for profit center master data

50. What is the use of an account group?

Account groups define GL accounts and supplier and customer files. It is used to control what data must be entered when creating a master record.

51. How would you define the tolerances for invoice verification?

Tolerance in SAP specifies whether the payable places match or tax hold on the invoice. Following instances of tolerance can be defined for logistics invoice verification:

• Small differences
• Quantity variances
• Moving average price variances
• Price variances

52. What is meant by the short-end fiscal year?

Short-term drills are when you switch from regular drills to non-civilian drills or vice versa. This often happens when a company becomes part of a new collaborative group.

53. What is APP in SAP FICO?

APP stands for Automated Payment Program. This is a tool provided to businesses to pay their customers and suppliers. This helps avoid errors when publishing manually. Payment via APP is more feasible when the company has more employees.