Clearing transaction (SAP B1)

E-invoicing in Germany: How to implement the obligation with SAP Business One

Clearing transaction (also: clearing entry or Journal entry) is a posting in SAP Business One that reconciles a difference between internal house bank account transactions and an external bank statement to zero. The reconciliation process is therefore a prerequisite for the successful completion of the bank reconciliation process.

Context

In the context of bank reconciliation, SAP Business One matches the transactions recorded in the system for a house bank account with the lines on an imported or manually entered bank statement. If the totals do not match – for example, because bank charges or interest income have not yet been posted in the system – SAP Business One blocks the completion of the reconciliation. The reconciliation process resolves this difference through a journal entry to the relevant expense or revenue account. SAP Business One automatically opens the journal entry window as soon as the user confirms a difference.

The reconciliation process is used in two settlement modes:

Manual tuning The user captures missing transactions directly from the reconciliation window using the "Adjustment" button.
Two-sided matching: The system recognises the difference between SAP general ledger lines (left) and bank statement lines (right) and prompts the user to create an offsetting entry.

Procedure

Click the "Adjustment" button in the voting window (manual tuning) or confirm the automatic prompt (two-sided adjustment).
Select document type "Journal entry".
The appropriate Effort- or select the income/expense account (e.g. bank charges).
Enter the difference amount and add the journal entry.
Assign a voting number before closing the vote — the date of the bank statement is recommended.

Demarcation

The reconciliation process is not a regular incoming or outgoing payment, but exclusively a correction element within the reconciliation process. It does not serve to cancel transactions already booked in the system, but rather supplements missing items that only appear on the external statement.