Accounting all over the world are done and reported for a specific period. This period of accounting and reporting financial statements is known as Financial Year or Fiscal Year. The fiscal year may differ from country to country as per the prevailing rules and regulations. Given below is the list of some fiscal years:
January to December
April to March
July to June
January to December
April to March
July to June
Every fiscal year has 12 months, these months are called Periods in SAP.
Definition
Fiscal Year Variant is the code that contains the number of posting periods in a fiscal year and number of special periods. This is required to be assigned to Company Code and Controlling Area.
IMG Path: Financial Accounting (New) > Financial Accounting Global Settings (New) > Ledgers > Fiscal Year and Posting Periods > Maintain Fiscal Year Variant (Maintain Shortened Fisc. Year)
Assignment
The fiscal year variant is to be assigned to the Company Code
IMG Path: Financial Accounting (New) > Financial Accounting Global Settings (New) > Ledgers > Fiscal Year and Posting Periods > Assign Company Code to a Fiscal Year Variant
Background
Before we proceed to creation of Fiscal Year Variant, it is important to understand certain SAP terminologies related to Fiscal Year Variant:
Calendar Year
A Fiscal year variant is said to have Calendar year when the Fiscal Year starts from January and Ends on December every year.
Calendar Year Independent
A Fiscal year variant is said to have Calendar year when the Fiscal Year starts from any month other than January and Ends on any month other than December every year. For e.g. Fiscal Year “April to March” or “July to June”.
Year Dependent
This is a special type of fiscal year. In this type of fiscal year the start and end date for the fiscal year is entered manually as it can’t fit in both of the above formats of fiscal year.
For e.g. the fiscal year starts from January and ends on December but the period in between i.e. months are not calendar months, they the first month starts on 1st January and ends on last Sunday of the month and the 2nd period starts from the very next day. This logic continues till November. In the month of December, the month starts on the very next day of November’s last Sunday and ends on 31st December. In such cases, the beginning and end of period is to be specified manually.
Normal Periods
Normal Periods are the 12 periods created for the 12 months of the year. The first period may differ as per the fiscal year.
Special Periods
Special Periods are special provision given by SAP for doing special postings (closing). The last period of the fiscal year is divided into special periods. Maximum number of special periods available in 4.
The closing activities can be divided into the 4 special periods provided. For e.g. all the regular postings will be done in the normal 12 periods provided. The adjustments related to audit can be made in period 13, management adjustments in period 14, other adjustments in 15 etc.
The special periods play an important role in the accounting. They help identify and draw financial statements with particular adjustments. With reference to the above example, run financials from period 01 to 14 for financials with audit adjustments, 01 to 15 for audit and management adjustments etc.
Implementation Consideration
Define Fiscal Year Variant
IMG Path: Financial Accounting (New) > Financial Accounting Global Settings (New) > Ledgers > Fiscal Year and Posting Periods > Maintain Fiscal Year Variant (Maintain Shortened Fisc. Year)
SAP provides following fiscal year variant which can be used in most of the cases.
Fiscal Year Remarks
K0 January to December with no special periods
K1 January to December with 1 special period
K2 January to December with 2 special periods
K3 January to December with 3 special periods
K4 January to December with 4 special periods
V3 April to March with 4 special periods
V6 July to June with 4 special periods
V9 October to September with 4 special periods
Assign Fiscal Year Variant
IMG Path: Financial Accounting (New) > Financial Accounting Global Settings (New) > Ledgers > Fiscal Year and Posting Periods > Assign Company Code to a Fiscal Year Variant
Tip
The Fiscal Year Variant is assigned to Company Code and Controlling Area as well. Company Code can be assigned to a Controlling Area only when both have same Fiscal Year Variant.
Reference Material
Fiscal Year Variant Definition
Fiscal Year Variant Additional Information
Special Periods
Step by Step configuration guide
Tags#
SAP Calendar Year, SAP Fiscal Year, SAP Fiscal Year Variant, SAP Fiscal Year Variant guide, SAP Normal Periods, SAP Periods, SAP Special Periods, SAP Year dependent Fiscal Year
Definition
Fiscal Year Variant is the code that contains the number of posting periods in a fiscal year and number of special periods. This is required to be assigned to Company Code and Controlling Area.
IMG Path: Financial Accounting (New) > Financial Accounting Global Settings (New) > Ledgers > Fiscal Year and Posting Periods > Maintain Fiscal Year Variant (Maintain Shortened Fisc. Year)
Assignment
The fiscal year variant is to be assigned to the Company Code
IMG Path: Financial Accounting (New) > Financial Accounting Global Settings (New) > Ledgers > Fiscal Year and Posting Periods > Assign Company Code to a Fiscal Year Variant
Background
Before we proceed to creation of Fiscal Year Variant, it is important to understand certain SAP terminologies related to Fiscal Year Variant:
Calendar Year
A Fiscal year variant is said to have Calendar year when the Fiscal Year starts from January and Ends on December every year.
Calendar Year Independent
A Fiscal year variant is said to have Calendar year when the Fiscal Year starts from any month other than January and Ends on any month other than December every year. For e.g. Fiscal Year “April to March” or “July to June”.
Year Dependent
This is a special type of fiscal year. In this type of fiscal year the start and end date for the fiscal year is entered manually as it can’t fit in both of the above formats of fiscal year.
For e.g. the fiscal year starts from January and ends on December but the period in between i.e. months are not calendar months, they the first month starts on 1st January and ends on last Sunday of the month and the 2nd period starts from the very next day. This logic continues till November. In the month of December, the month starts on the very next day of November’s last Sunday and ends on 31st December. In such cases, the beginning and end of period is to be specified manually.
Normal Periods
Normal Periods are the 12 periods created for the 12 months of the year. The first period may differ as per the fiscal year.
Special Periods
Special Periods are special provision given by SAP for doing special postings (closing). The last period of the fiscal year is divided into special periods. Maximum number of special periods available in 4.
The closing activities can be divided into the 4 special periods provided. For e.g. all the regular postings will be done in the normal 12 periods provided. The adjustments related to audit can be made in period 13, management adjustments in period 14, other adjustments in 15 etc.
The special periods play an important role in the accounting. They help identify and draw financial statements with particular adjustments. With reference to the above example, run financials from period 01 to 14 for financials with audit adjustments, 01 to 15 for audit and management adjustments etc.
Implementation Consideration
Define Fiscal Year Variant
IMG Path: Financial Accounting (New) > Financial Accounting Global Settings (New) > Ledgers > Fiscal Year and Posting Periods > Maintain Fiscal Year Variant (Maintain Shortened Fisc. Year)
SAP provides following fiscal year variant which can be used in most of the cases.
Fiscal Year Remarks
K0 January to December with no special periods
K1 January to December with 1 special period
K2 January to December with 2 special periods
K3 January to December with 3 special periods
K4 January to December with 4 special periods
V3 April to March with 4 special periods
V6 July to June with 4 special periods
V9 October to September with 4 special periods
Assign Fiscal Year Variant
IMG Path: Financial Accounting (New) > Financial Accounting Global Settings (New) > Ledgers > Fiscal Year and Posting Periods > Assign Company Code to a Fiscal Year Variant
Tip
The Fiscal Year Variant is assigned to Company Code and Controlling Area as well. Company Code can be assigned to a Controlling Area only when both have same Fiscal Year Variant.
Reference Material
Fiscal Year Variant Definition
Fiscal Year Variant Additional Information
Special Periods
Step by Step configuration guide
Tags#
SAP Calendar Year, SAP Fiscal Year, SAP Fiscal Year Variant, SAP Fiscal Year Variant guide, SAP Normal Periods, SAP Periods, SAP Special Periods, SAP Year dependent Fiscal Year
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