A payment difference occurs when the total amount of the invoice sent to a client is partially paid. This is also called a short payment. Some situations can be handled and posted automatically, while others need manual treatment. In the following points we’ll go over these situations.
1. Agreed cash discount #
There can be payment terms that includes a cash discount for early payments. In those cases, the difference between the payed and invoiced amount is justified and SAP handles the payment adding the cash discount automatically when posting the incoming payment.
In the following example we have an invoice whose payment terms admits a 2% cash discount for an early payment. Let’s check what happens if the payment is recerived in and out of the cash discount period:
In the next example there’s no cash discount in the payment terms, so no cash discount can’t be applied even if it’s paid the following day:
2. Minor differences accepted #
There might be some differences in the payed amount that could be considered acceptable by the company if the difference is wihtin a certain tolerance defined in a tolerance group.
2.1. Minor differences handled as cash discount #
The difference can be posted as a cash discount when the following conditions are met:
- The open item has already an agreed cash discount according to the payment terms.
- The cash discount adjustment fields have been defined in the tolerance group and the the payment difference within the limits.
In the following example we have an invoice that admits a cash discount for early payment. The payment has a minor difference, so we’ll see how SAP can automatically adjust the cash discount or create an underpayment according to the tolerance:
2.2. Minor differences handled as underpayment #
When the difference doesn’t meet the proper conditions to be posted as a cash discount, it can also be posted as an unauthorized deduction. To make this possible, the difference must be within the limits defined by the amount and percentage fields of the “permitted payment differences” area of the tolerance group.
The difference will be write off to a special undepayment account. See the following video for more details:
3. Differences not accepted #
When the difference can’t be posted automatically as a cash discount or an underpayment, it has to be handled manually.
3.1. Cash discount adjustment #
When the payment difference is out of tolerance, the payment can be posted as a partial payment. In this case:
- The invoice item is not cleared (debit side).
- The payment item (on the credit side) references the short-paid invoice item.
If the cash discount period is over, the calculated cash discount will be 0, but you could change the cash discount field and set another amount when posting the incoming payment, even if there was no cash discount in the payment terms of the invoice.
3.2. Partial payment #
When the payment difference is out of tolerance, the payment can be posted as a partial payment. In this case:
- The invoice item is not cleared (debit side).
- The payment item (on the credit side) references the short-paid invoice item.
3.3. Residual item #
When the payment difference is out of tolerance, the payment can be posted with a residual item:
- The invoice item is cleared.
- A residual item is created with a reference to the original invoice item.
3.4. Specfic account for each reason #
When the payment difference is posted as a residual item, the amount can be posted to different accounts that can vary according to the reason why the invoice has been short-payed.
When posting the incoming payment you can set one or more reason codes, controlling that way the G/L accounts used.
3.5. Manual account assignment. #
When posting the payment you can pay off the difference using a manual account assignment. Check out the following video for more details about this.
4. Practical example #
In the following video you can see a practical example using some of the previous approaches for handling the payment differences.
5. Related objects #
The following topics have been mentioned previously and you might be interested in going over them:
6. Related transactions and apps #
Check the following Fiori apps available:
- Create Outgoing Invoices.
- Post incoming payment.
Check the following transactions available in the SAP GUI:
| Transaction / App | Description |
|---|---|
| FB70 | Create outgoing invoices |
| F-28 | Post incoming payments |
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