Alternative Account Change Blocked in S/4HANA Cloud Public - French Legal Requirement

[nbek]

System: SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition - Finance
Component: FI-FIO-GL-MD (G/L Master Data)
Country: France

Business Context

Due to recent changes in French accounting law, we need to urgently modify alternative account assignments for several G/L accounts in our French Chart of Accounts. This is a mandatory legal requirement for fiscal year 2025.

Technical Issue

When attempting to change alternative accounts for Fixed Asset-related G/L accounts (e.g., accounts in class 675 - Net book value of disposed assets, class 775 - Proceeds from asset disposals) under our French company codes, we receive the error:

"Changes not possible since account balance is not zero"

Current situation:

• 2025 balances: Zero ✓
• 2024 balances: Non-zero (causing the block)
• 2023 balances: Unknown

Business Constraint

We cannot clear the 2024 balances because:

• The fiscal year 2024 audit is completed and closed
• Any modification to historical balances would violate audit compliance
• These are Fixed Asset accounts (CORE accounts) with automatic postings from asset transactions

What We've Tried

1. Opened SAP incident 
2. SAP Support confirmed this is standard system behavior - requires zero balance for the last 2 fiscal years
3. SAP suggested creating new G/L accounts as a workaround
4. Business team escalated as this doesn't meet the legal requirement

Our Question

Has anyone faced a similar situation where legal/regulatory changes require alternative account modifications on Fixed Asset accounts with historical balances?

Specifically looking for:

• Any SAP notes addressing this scenario
• Possible exemption procedures for legal requirements
• Alternative solutions that maintain audit compliance
• Experience with similar French accounting law changes

This is blocking our legal compliance for 2025. Any insights would be greatly appreciated.

Tags: #S4HANA-Cloud ##GL-Master-Data #French-Accounting #Legal-Compliance #Alternative-Account #Fixed-Asset

[Chuma · Accepted solution]

Hello @nbek 

You cannot change the Alternative Account (ALTKT) on a G/L that has non-zero balances in the current or previous years. That restriction (FH007) is intentional in S/4HANA Public Cloud, and there is no override. KBA 1650435 - Error message FH007 appears in TA FS00

How to stay compliant for FY 2025 (France/PCG):

Create new G/L accounts with the required French alternative account numbers for FY SAP Help-General Ledger Accounting-G/L Account Master Data: FAQ

Transfer asset accounting account determination retirements NBV, proceeds, clearing, etc, to the new G/Ls with a valid-from date of 01.01.2025 or the start of your financial year so that all 2025 postings are allocated to the correct alternative account. Leave historical years intact, no reposting of 2024.

Reporting: Enable the Alternative Account column in statutory reports, Financial Statement – Actuals, and Trial Balance. This change ensures that auditors will see the correct PCG numbers starting from 2025; earlier years will continue to display the legacy mapping..KBA 3102866 - Alternative G/L Account for G/L Account - S/4HANA Cloud

If you need the G/Ls immediately in Production, use Synchronise G/L Account Master Data after creating them in Q. SAP Help-General Ledger Accounting-Synchronise G/L Account Master Data (Two-System Landscape)

Notes

The zero-then-change-then-reverse method is not allowed for closed or audited years and is limited by Cloud governance.

SAP’s recommended approach in Public Cloud is using a new G/L combined with valid-from switching in account determination. This method preserves audit history and complies with the legal change required by 2025.SAP Help General Ledger-Create and Edit Account Determination

Let me know if you need further support

With regards

Chuma

[nbek · Accepted solution]

Many Thanks Chuma for the confirmation of the process to be done 🙂