The Instruction key is used for automatic payment transactions. This field (along with the house bank country and the payment method determined by the payment program) controls which statements are given to the participating banks when carrying out the payment order.

Instruction key FPAYH-DTAWS consists of four instructions:

• Instruction 1 FPAYHX-DTWS1
• Instruction 2 FPAYHX-DTWS2
• Instruction 3 FPAYHX-DTWS3
• Instruction 4 FPAYHX-DTWS4

In all S/4HANA releases, the FPAYHX structure also contains the code, text and additional information of each of the Instruction (1/2/3/4) which can be mapped in the DMEEX tree.

The logic to fill these components is triggered only when the Application area (User for Instructions) is defined in the Payment Medium Format.

The customizing in S/4HANA On-Premise and S/4HANA Cloud is a bit different and therefore I separated this blog post into 2 parts:

• Instruction Key Mapping in S/4HANA On-Premise
• Instruction Key Mapping in S/4HANA Cloud

Instruction Key Mapping in S/4HANA On-Premise

1. Defining Application Area

To define the application area, go to IMG activity Create Payment Medium Format (to create a new payment medium format) or to IMG activity Adjust Payment Medium Format (to perform changes to an existing payment medium format), and display the details of the required payment medium format.

In the details of Payment Medium Format, the field ‘User for Instructions’ must be ticked, and the field to the right must be filled in with a proper application area.

2. Defining Instructions for Application Areas

The Instructions for application areas can be defined in the IMG activity Define Instructions for Payment Transactions.

1. Select the required Application Area
2. Go to Instructions
3. Define the Instructions for the selected Application Area

3. Defining Instruction Keys

Instruction Keys can be defined in the IMG activity Define Instruction Keys. When entering this activity, you will be asked to determine the work area (in this case DE).

In there, you can either define a new Instruction key by clicking on ‘New Entries’ or display the details of an existing Instruction key by clicking on ‘Details’ while having the required Instruction key selected.

In this view, you can define the details of your Instruction key. You can fill in Payment Method, Instruction key and up to four Instructions. The instructions are country-dependent. It is also possible to fill in Additional Information, Cost Allocation Key and Payment Type.

Instruction Key Mapping in S/4HANA Cloud

1. Defining Application Area

Defining Application area is possible in the Fiori app Create Payment Medium Formats.

To apply the Instruction key logic, the field ‘User for Instructions’, must be ticked, and the field ‘App. Area’ must be filled with a proper application area.

2. Defining Instruction Keys

To define Instruction keys, go to Fiori app Defining Instruction Keys and determine the work area.

In there, you can create new entries by pressing ‘New Entries’ or show details of an existing Instruction key via the ‘Details’ button.

In this view, you can define the details of your instruction key. You can fill in Payment Method, Instruction key and up to four Instructions. The instructions are country-dependent. It is also possible to fill in Additional Information, Cost Allocation Key and Payment Type.

To find out more about functionalities for payment formats, visit our Payment Formats blog.

Do you have any further comments regarding this topic? Do not hesitate to share them in the comment section below. You are also welcome to ask any questions about SAP S4/HANA Finance in the Community Q&A section.