During transaction entry, the field status variant helps control the display of fields on the screen. This is based on the setting at the field status group level. These are Suppress, Display, and Required.
Work involves configuring the Chart of Accounts, creating Account groups, defining Posting periods, Field status variants, Tolerance groups, and Document types and Number ranges.
Suppress
Field status variant (FSV) is a crucial feature of SAP Financial Accounting (FI) and Controlling (CO). It allows organizations to configure their transactional screens to meet specific business requirements. FSVs determine whether a field is required, optional, displayed, or suppressed during document entry. They are assigned to GL accounts and cost elements and can be used across multiple company codes.
When a field has the status Suppress in both the posting key and Field status variant, it takes priority over other statuses such as Display, Optional, and Required. The priority is decided by a link rule that considers the document type, company code, and chart of accounts. If the priority scheme has not been configured, the system assigns a default one to each issue.
A priority can be re-ordered for each issue in the Projects dashboard gadget. However, it is essential to note that re-ordering a priority will also affect the default priority scheme for all projects that don’t have a custom one. In this case, it is better to create a new priority scheme than to re-order a previously configured one. This will help avoid conflicting priorities that might cause errors during document posting. For example, if a field is suppressed in the posting key but required in the field status variant, the system will throw an error during document posting.
Display
The field status variant application is an essential feature in SAP Fico that determines how the fields appear on the screen during document entry. It is necessary to configure FSVs based on organizational requirements to ensure accuracy and efficiency. FSVs are configured based on the document type, company code, and chart of accounts. They are also assigned to specific G/L accounts and cost elements. This assignment ensures that the field settings are applied to transactions involving these accounts and elements.
During document entry, you can select the required, optional, or suppressed option for each field. Whether a field is displayed or hidden depends on the priority given to it by the Field status variant or its assigned GL account. In addition, you can select the field status variant that you want to apply in a particular situation.
To create a new field status variant, navigate to SPRO – Reference IMG – Financial Accounting (New) – Financial Accounting Global Settings (New) – Ledgers – Define Field Status Variants. You can also copy the standard field status variant 0001 provided by SAP. To do this, enter the transaction code OBC4. On the change view “field status variants” overview screen, select the FSTV 0001 and then click the copy as a button. On the next screen, choose the copy entry or copy all option.
Required
Field status variant (FSV) is an essential controlling feature of SAP ERP. It allows you to configure which fields are required, optional, or suppressed during document postings. This is done by creating field status groups and assigning them to specific G/L accounts and cost elements. Then, these FSV settings are applied to all transactions involving these accounts and elements.
When a field has the required entry status, the user must fill in the information for that field during document postings. If a field is suppressed, it doesn’t appear on the screen when you post a document. Finally, if a field is displayed, the user can choose whether to enter the information or not.
You can define your field status variants by using the transaction code OBC4. The standard SAP system provides a field status variant 0001. You can copy this FSV and modify it to meet your organizational requirements. Then, you can assign it to your company code using the transaction code OBC5. In addition, you can use the FS00 transaction to set up field status groups and give them to your company codes. When you assign a field status variant to your company code, the priority follows the order Suppressed, Hidden, Required, and Optional. Consequently, the first-listed status has the highest priority. Then, the second-listed status has the next priority, and so on.
Optional
If a field is set as optional, it means that the user can choose whether to enter the field or not. However, the system still requires the user to submit the transaction.
Generally, the fields displayed on the screen while posting business transactions are based on the field status variants assigned to the general ledger account. This means that if the field is not set as required in the GL master, it will not be displayed on the document entry screen.
To create a new field status variant, navigate to SPRO -> Reference IMG -> Financial Accounting (New) -> Financial Accounting Global Settings – Ledgers -> Field Status Variants. To assign a field status variant to a company code, follow the steps below:
First, select the Company Code that you want to add to the field status variant. Then, enter the name of the field status variant that you want to add to the list and click on Copy All. The process of creating a field status variant in SAP Fico is an essential part of ensuring data integrity and compliance within the Financial Accounting (FI) and Controlling (CO) modules. By understanding the priority sequence and configuring FSVs based on organizational needs, organizations can streamline their FI and CO processes and ensure compliance with reporting and regulatory requirements.
