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72 CHAPTER 3 Introduction to Accounting

processes have a fi nancial impact on the fi rm. The key to recognizing these inte-
gration points is to “follow the money.” Any time money either leaves or comes
into the company—or the company makes an obligation to pay or receive
money—there is very likely a fi nancial accounting impact. We have illustrated
this point in our examples of fi nancial accounting transactions throughout this
chapter. As we discuss the various processes in later chapters, the linkages
between fi nancial accounting and these processes will become clearer.

REPORTING

Reporting in fi nancial accounting is broadly divided into two categories: dis-
playing account information and generating fi nancial statements.

ACCOUNT INFORMATION
Account information can be obtained at three levels—account balance dis-
play, line items display, and original FI document. Figure 3-23 shows the bal-
ance display for a bank account for the months of September (Period 9) and
October (Period 10). The fi gure highlights a drilldown for a credit amount of
$19,000 in September. The drilldown reveals a list of line items that comprise
the credit amount. One of these items is for the value of $5,000. A further drill-
down of the $5,000 displays the data in the original FI document—the original
debits and credits—associated with the posting. Note that drilling down to the
line item level is possible only if the line item display indicator, which was dis-
cussed earlier, is set in the general ledger account master data.

Figure 3-23: Account information. Copyright SAP AG 2011

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