Documents, Headers and Posting Keys
One of the most basic components of SAP is the document. Whenever data is entered into the system a document is created. Documents have a definite structure to them. This structure varies depending on the purpose of the transaction. Each document has a unique number and also contains a complete trace of the transaction entered and who entered it.The next screen shows the structure of a document. Each document has a header and at least two items. The document header contains general data about the entire document such as:, the posting data, document type and the user that entered the document. Each item must contain a posting key, an account number and an amount. There must be at least two items and the items must balance out to zero, thus assuring that debits equal credits and the books remain balanced. Selection of the document type in the header will determine what is requested to comlete the document. All of this is controlled by the IMG which sets up the transactions
Posting keys may seem mysterious to non-accountants. The term is only a reference to a standardized way that transactions will be entered. In most business the majority of transactions adding amounts to accounts receivable will occur automatically as goods are shipped and are not entered by persons manually. Likewise when customer payments are processed the depositing of cash will automatically generate documents that will post to the customer account. Shipments of goods are simpler in that most of these shipments will result in the creation of a new item in the customer's account. Payment receipts must be processed to assure that the payments made by the customers are applied against the open items designated by the customer. This last task results in a lot of human intervention.
Payment terms: The assignment of a customer to an account group will automatically. This information is part of customer master data and is originally assigned by SD.
