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

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You can find detailed information of Flow Builder in link https://uacp.hana.ondemand.com/http.svc/rc/PRODUCTION/a0a0b752bf730226e10000000a4450e5/1610%20001/en...

following path:

One Exposure from Operations => Financial Operations in One Exposure => Integration of Accounting Documents => Flow Builder

Or One Exposure from Operations => Materials Management in One Exposure => Integration of Accounting Documents => Flow Builder

This is the tool to integrate FI and MM in new cash management.

 

And the blog is to facilitate the discussion about this topic, and if necessary, we will compose new blog for more detailed descriptions. Please feel free to post your questions and ideas in this blog and we will try to answer all questions. Thank you.

 

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Overview

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

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  Tracing the original document line items from the related Financial Accounting (FI) and Materials Management (MM) tables.

  
  


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  Analyzing the document flow back to the source (original) document. The analysis is based on virtually clearing the open items in the preceding and subsequent documents, which results in precise amount, date, and account assignment. Items in the preceding documents are called base items, while items in the subsequent documents are called offsetting items.

  
  


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  Generating cash flows, according to the remaining offsetting items that are not cleared in the source (original) document. Each cash flow is split according to the offsetting items in the subsequent documents and the account assignment as inherited from the offsetting items in the source (original) document.

  
  


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  Importing the cash flows with the split amounts, dates, and liquidity items over into the One Exposure from Operations hub. Cash flows are then categorized into different certainty levels in One Exposure from Operations for further calculation and consumption.

  
  

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.

Figure 1. How Flow Builder works

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.

Figure 2. An Example of Document Chain Analysis

Prerequisites

IMG Customizing Activities

To use the Flow Builder, make the required settings in Customizing under  Financial Supply Chain Management Cash and Liquidity Management Cash Management :

Flow Types

Flow types classify the lifecycle of cash flows. Each flow type is assigned to an SAP-defined flow category. Flow type and flow level are used to differentiate document line items.

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

  
  


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

  
  

For more information, see Flow Types.

Liquidity Items

Liquidity items is a customer-defined attribute for categorizing the source and use of cash flows. It serves as an analytical dimension in cash flow statements and forecast reports.

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

  
  


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  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.

  
  

For more information, see Liquidity Items and Liquidity Item Hierarchies.

Activate Individual Source Applications and Activate Multiple Source Applications under Data Setup

You can activate the source applications for Financial Operations (FI and BKPF) and Materials Management (MM) for cash flows corresponding to specific company codes.

For more information, see Integration with Source Applications in the Central System.

Activities

The Flow Builder program uses the accounting interface (RWIN) to trace back to the original documents, which are stored in delta tables. The Setting and Tools feature controls the background jobs based on the delta tables. Flows are then built automatically or manually.

Flow Builder (FCLM_FLOW_BUILDER)

You can run this transaction in two ways, either by running the Flow Builder or by using the Customizing activity Build Cash Flows from Operations. Flows are built either in the Delta Run mode, or in the Mass Runmode:

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  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.

  
  


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  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:

  
  
  

  
  

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

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

    
    
  
  

  
  

  
  

Flow Builder also allows you to perform the following activities:

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  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.

  
  


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  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.

  
  

Settings and Tools (FCLM_FB_UTIL )

You can run this transaction in two ways, either by running the Settings and Tools or by using the customizing activity Customize the Flow Builder.

With this transaction, you can perform the following activities:

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  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}*.

  
  


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  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.

  
  


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  Delete Flows

  
  

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

  
  


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  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.

  
  
  
  
  

  
  
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    Generate Loading Classes

    
    

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

    
    
    
    
    

    
    
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      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.

      
      
    
    
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      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.

      
      
    
    

    
    
  
  

  
  


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  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:

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  For FI documents, you can use the example exit class CL_FCLM_APAR_HADI_SAMPLE. The standard ABAP interface is IF_FCLM_HADI_APAR.

  
  


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  For MM documents, such as Purchase Order (PO) Filter, Purchase Requisition (PR) Filter and flow adjustment, you can use the example exit class CL_FCLM_MM_HADI_SAMPLE. The standard ABAP interface is IF_FCLM_HADI_MM.

  
  

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