Flow Builder to Integrate FI and MM in New Cash Management – Overview

Overview

The Flow Builder generates cash flows detailing current amounts and dates of liquidity items by:

Process

The following figure shows how the Flow Builder works. Based on the original transactional data from the related FI and MM tables, the Flow Builder generates cash-relevant flows, reflecting amount, date, flow level, liquidity item and other account assignments, which are then imported to One Exposure from Operations.

Example

The following example is based on a vendor invoice. The incoming invoice (1a) is cleared via an outgoing payment (2a). Posting on the vendor account is categorized as payables with certainty level PAY_N, cash forecast from an open item of a payable. After that, the amount can be found in a bank clearing account for outgoing payments. Posting on the bank clearing account is categorized as cash in transit with certainty level SI_CIT, cash forecast from a self-initiated payment. Then the bank clearing account is debited and the transaction is posted at which point the bank clearing account is cleared (3a). This posting is categorized as cash with certainty level ACTUAL, accounting document line items from bank statements.

Based on flow types, the Flow Builder traces the document chain back to its source. In the example below, this is the expense account, which shows a cash outflow of 100 EUR in liquidity item E01. The expense account shows other account assignment information, such as cost center, company code, and so on.

• For FI documents, flow types must be defined and uploaded to line items in table BSEG.

• For MM documents, flow types are generated in One Exposure from Operations.

• For FI documents, liquidity items are uploaded to line items in table BSEG.

• For MM documents, currently only the query sequence for liquidity item is supported in Flow Builder for MM, which is used in the generation of MM loading class. However, when you define query sequence, only limited fields are supported. For more information, see SAP Note 2354048.

• In the Delta Run mode, flows are built automatically as the back-end job of the program is triggered after online posting of FI documents.

• In the Mass Run mode, however, flows are built manually with certain search criteria, such as company code, fiscal year, document number, and line item. As an example, in the case of an initialization and flow rebuild, you would want to use the Mass Run mode instead of the Delta Run mode.

   Note

  For MM documents, the selection criteria differs according to different data sources:

  • For purchase orders (PO) and scheduling agreements, you can select company code, fiscal year, document number and line Item.

  • For purchase requisitions (PR), you can select from several criteria, such as purchase requisitions, item of requisitions, document type, and so on.

• Maximum Steps of Chain Tracing

  You can define the maximum steps in a document chain trace. For example, if you choose one step of chain tracing, you find the document flow with one preceding document and one subsequent document.

• Merge Tax Items

  If you choose to merge tax items, the tax line item, which was previously split as a line item, is merged with other line items. This means that there is no separate line item for tax. For more information, see SAP Note 2221748.

• Schedule Background Job

  You use this setting to change the pre-defined back-end job parameters, such as: Job Delay in Seconds, Variant for Flow Builder (Delta Run only), or Background User for authorization check. The variants for Flow Builder (FCLM_FLOW_BUILDER ) are defined in Transaction SE38. The background job name is in the format of FLOW_FLOW_BUILDER_{CLIENT}*.

• Check Background Job Logs

  You use this setting to check the status of the back-end jobs. This activity is automatically triggered by online posting. By defining the User Name and Job Name, you can check the job status released, ready, active, finished, and canceled) within a time frame that you define.

• Delete Flows

  This tool allows you to define specific search criteria to search for and delete flows from target tables.

• Change Default Loading Classes :

  For FI documents, the default loading class is CL_FCLM_BSEGFLOW_SAMPLE. For MM documents, you must use this tool to generate a loading class. You can then designate the query sequence to be used to derive liquidity items from MM transactions.

  • Generate Loading Classes

    You use this tool to generate loading classes, by specifying Package, Exit Class and Loading Class Name.

    • FI documents require a Date. By default, the date is determined by the planning date for forecasting cash flows from invoices. For more information, see SAP Note 2273656.

    • MM documents requires Query Sequence in order to generate loading class. If you change the liquidity item derivation rules, you need to regenerate and assign your loading class. Please note that only limited fields are supported when you define query sequence. For more information, see SAP Note 2354048.

• Assign Loading Classes

  You use this tool to assign loading classes to the Flow Builder. Changes in the loading class is updated to the Flow Builder program.

Extensibility

Extension is supported. By taking the default exit class as an example, you can define your own exit class for use as the loading class in the Flow Builder. You can choose from the following exit classes:

You will have to regenerate the loading class after implementing flow adjustments using your own exit class.