Question Re: Long- And Short-Term in Purchase Order Deferrals (POAC) in Enterprise Resource Planning Q&A

Long- And Short-Term in Purchase Order Deferrals (POAC)

tk42 — Wed, 02 Jul 2025 09:16:05 GMT

Gurus,

I would like to ask whether it is possible to configure the split of deferred accruals into current and long-term portions in POAC (Purchase Order Accruals)?
I am looking for functionality similar to manual accruals, as described in SAP Note 2582883 - S4TWL - Manual Accruals (Accrual Engine) → Manual Accruals - Additional Documentation (link), specifically on page 279: Invoice Deferral – Long- and Short-Term Deferrals.

Is such a configuration supported in POAC? Or is there any recommended approach to achieve this split?

Thank you in advance for your guidance

Re: Long- And Short-Term in Purchase Order Deferrals (POAC)

Lakshmipathi — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 04:01:48 GMT

SAP does not currently support an out-of-the-box automatic split of deferred accruals into current and long-term portions directly within Purchase Order Accruals (POAC).

Here are two potential approaches, if you want to automate the process:

Custom Enhancement via BAdIs

You can implement a custom BAdI (Business Add-In) in the Accrual Engine to:

Automatically determine the split based on the remaining term of the accrual.
Post to different GL accounts for current and long-term portions.

This requires development effort but allows full automation.

Use of Accrual Object Subtypes

SAP allows configuration of accrual object subtypes and posting rules.
You can define rules that simulate a split by creating two separate accrual items:

One for the current portion (e.g., within 12 months).
One for the long-term portion (beyond 12 months).

This still requires some configuration logic but avoids manual journal entries.

Re: Long- And Short-Term in Purchase Order Deferrals (POAC)

tk42 — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 06:08:27 GMT

Thank you very much for your response! If possible, I’d appreciate it if you could share a bit more detail about how accrual object subtypes are used.

Re: Long- And Short-Term in Purchase Order Deferrals (POAC)

Lakshmipathi — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 06:29:49 GMT

Accrual object subtypes are used to categorize accrual postings within a single accrual object. In the context of POAC, they allow you to:

Separate current and long-term portions of deferred accruals.
Apply different posting rules and GL accounts for each portion.
Enable time-based logic to determine how much of the accrual is current vs. long-term.

Go to SPRO → Financial Accounting → General Ledger Accounting → Business Transactions → Accruals Management → Define Accrual Object Subtypes. Create subtypes like

CURR – Current portion
LONG – Long-term portion

Each subtype can have its own posting rule that determines GL account, Amount calculation logic and Posting frequency
Use accrual methods to define how the system calculates the split

Based on duration (e.g., <12 months = current, >12 months = long-term)
Based on delivery or invoice date

SAP allows you to define algorithms that calculate the split between current and long-term. These can be assigned to the accrual item types and subtypes. In the POAC configuration, link the subtypes to the relevant accrual item types. This ensures that when accruals are calculated, the system knows how to split and post them.

Re: Long- And Short-Term in Purchase Order Deferrals (POAC)

tk42 — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 07:09:47 GMT

Thank you very much for your response. May I kindly ask — have you had any hands-on experience with configuring this in POAC? Unfortunately, the recommendations you provided do not fully align with the current SAP configuration we are working with. Some of the suggested settings (e.g., Accrual Object Subtypes or Posting Templates) appear to be unavailable in the context of POAC. I would greatly appreciate any further clarification or guidance based on practical implementation.