By converting to SAP's new general ledger, companies gain access to numerous new functionalities that enable them to optimize their financial accounting and controlling processes. These include:
Parallel accounting and deep CO integration provide enormous time savings
A significant advantage of SAP New GL is the possibility of parallel accounting. The ledger solution allows any number of ledgers to be used. International requirements can thus be covered in a simple manner.
Online postings and simultaneous closing operations for all ledgers can be carried out via a uniform interface (similar to the classic general ledger). SAP New GL also provides uniform reporting for all ledgers.
This results in greater efficiency and transparency - both in monitoring individual transactions and in period-end closing. Last but not least, the fast close is accelerated, as significantly less duplicate processing and reconciliations are required.
Also worth mentioning is the enhanced integration of Financial Accounting and Controlling that comes with the implementation of SAP New GL.
Postings from CO to FI are made in real time. The intermediate step via reconciliation ledger - which had to be performed for cross-company code postings - is therefore no longer necessary.
The advantages mentioned so far already result from the new general ledger in SAP ECC. If New GL is used under SAP S/4HANA, the following added values also come into play:
Faster period closing
Since the new general ledger no longer requires a reconciliation between the cost centers (internal accounting) and the general ledger (external accounting), the transfer postings previously required at the end of a period are no longer necessary.
In addition, in the past it was the case that transfers in Controlling only affected the cost of sales accounting at the end of the period.
For example, if a goods receipt is posted, in the classic scenario a document is created in FI and CO in each case. Although there is a link via a key, these are still independent documents that must be stored redundantly.
If the costs from the CO document are now to be distributed to profit centers, this was previously not done automatically in the general ledger. Instead, the data had to be reconciled manually during period-end closing.
SAP New GL solves this problem: Real-time reconciliation can be activated here, making fast close much more efficient. Furthermore, this also eliminates the need for clearing entries in the case of cash discounts, which were not automatically transferred to the CO module in the classic scenario.