Advanced use of search strings in

Electronic Bank Statement

This document explains capabilities of search strings in electronic
bank statement processing

Electronic Bank Statement is one of the most widely used functionality to automate bank
reconciliation and related posting. It can be further optimized by use of ‘search strings’.
Search strings by reading strings in “Note to Payee” can help EBS further automate
functions like changing posting rule, populating values from EBS file to assignment field
in accounting document, skip processing of bank code for specific house bank etc. We will
see all these functionality in detail.

Passing values from EBS file to assignment field in accounting

document

Once electronic bank statement is posted it becomes difficult to match accounting

document with physical bank statements based on just amounts and date. Using search
string we can pass specific string (e.g. reference number) from electronic file to
assignment field in line item of “Wires/Check in clearing” account. This value in
assignment field in line item of “Wires/Check in clearing” account can be useful in setting
up automatic clearing of “Wires/Check in clearing” account. For example where
receivables (Non-Lockbox) are post processed after posting of EBS (e.g. inter-company
receivables), line items in clearing account can be cleared by background job for T-Code
F.13.

1. Incoming Electronic Bank File (BAI format):

Electronic Bank file can be in many formats like MT940, MULTICASH, BAI etc. Shown
below is one sample file in BAI format where reference number generated bank is in
specific format. We want to pass reference number for each bank code in Assignment
field in line item of clearing account –
g

2. Configuration of Search String –

To pass value from ‘Note to Payee’ to accounting document we need 2 search strings.

a) First one to identify the target field in accounting document for search string and,

b) Second one to pass bank reference value in assignment field.

Search String definition-

For configuration follow path – SPRO > Financial Accounting (New) > Bank Accounting
> Business Transactions > Payment Transactions > Electronic Bank Statement > Define
Search String for Electronic Bank Statement.

Configuration of first search string (BANK REF. IDENTIFIER) to identify the target field
in accounting document:
Please note that there is no mapping for this search string as it is only used to identify the
target field in accounting document. In our example in BAI file bank reference comes in
format “IA123456789012” or IA1234567O9012 where first 2 characters are constant (IA)
followed by 12 numeric values where 8th character can be alphabet “O” or a number. In
SAP performance assistant you can see how to configure search strings. I have configured
search string as follows:

• First 2 characters I and A as constant.

• Next 7 characters as numbers. Numbers in search strings are identified by sign
‘#’.
• 8th character as (#|O), which means 8th character can be an alphabet ‘O’ or a
number. System will identify string in both the cases.
• Last 4 characters as numbers.

For different banks format of reference value can be different. However, it should have
some unique identification like in our example it starts with ‘IA’, so that system can
uniquely identify the string.
Configuration of second search string (BANK REF. POSTING) to pass bank reference
value to assignment field –

Please note that here I have configured search string exactly as the first one but it has
mapping. If search string has mapping it means that value will be passed to accounting
document.
Search String Use-
Search strings are assigned to combination of Company Code/House Bank/Acct ID/Bank
Code. To pass value to specific field in accounting document we will use BDC Fields.

BDC fields work as follows (Excerpt from SAP Performance Assistant) –

The BDC fields are a means of filling screen fields if there is no suitable target field in
the bank data store. You must know the technical name of the relevant screen field (if
you do not know it, use the F1 help to find it out).For example, if you want to transfer a
control indicator in the event that the key word “TELECOM” appears in the note to
payee, you can proceed as follows:
Use the search string TELECOM with mapping ” ” (all blanks) for the three target
fields “BDC Field Value 1”, “BDC Field Name 1” and “BDC Account Type 1”. The constants
to be entered in the individual BDC fields are always stored in the “Mapping Basis” field:
BDC Field Value 1 = “V1”
BDC Field Name 1 = “BSEG-MWSKZ”
BDC Account Type 1 = “0”
If you want to transfer the content of only one particular line, you can use the “BDC
Account Type” field to control the process. If you enter the constants 0, 1, 2, or 3 in this
field, the transfer only takes place as specified. The constants here mean the following:
0: First line, posting area 1
1: First line, posting area 2
2: Second line, posting area 1
3: Second line, posting area 2
If you do not control the transfer in this way, the system tries to transfer the screen field
defined under “Field Name” in all the posting lines in posting areas 1 and 2. This cause
an error on the grounds that the field does not exist (for example, because a control
indicator for a particular account does not accept input.
In the control indicator example, note that you must set the “Calculate Tax” indicator
too, so that the posting can be made automatically. You then need the following settings
in addition:
BDC Field Name 2 = “BKPF-XMWST”
BDC Field Value 2 = “X”
BDC Account Type 2 = “0”
Continuing to our configuration proceed as follows-
1. For relevant Co Cd/House Bank/Acct ID/Bank Code combination assign first search
string (BANK REF. IDENTIFIER) to “Target Fields” “BDC Field Name 1” and “BDC
Account Type 1”.

2. For same combination in step 1 assign second search string (BANK REF. POSTING)
with target field “BDC Field Value 1”.

3. Assign following values to fields “Mapping Prefix”:

 BDC Field Name 1 – BSEG-ZUONR (Target field)
BDC Account Type 1 – 2 (Target line)
BDC Field Value 1 – IA000000000000 (Target value)
Once above configuration is ready, for that specific Company Code/House Bank/Acct
ID/Bank Code system will read any search string with format IA############ or
IA########O#### and pass that value to assignment field of clearing account. Of
course you will have to configure your search string according to your requirements.

3. Changing the posting rule for same bank code:

It may be possible that a bank code is posting to specific set of GL accounts via a posting
rule; however we want to change GL account posting for the same bank code. It may be
possible for example bank uses same code for ACH OUT and ACH RETURN. We will want
system ACH OUT to post by debiting ACH OUT account and crediting Main Bank
Account. However when there is ACH return we want to reverse the posting. In case bank
uses same bank code however in note to payee gives information in the form of string
“ACH RETURN”, we can configure a search string to identify such returns and change the
posting rule for reversal. Example:
Bank Code for ACH OUT – 169
Posting rule for ACH OUT – WF08; debits ACH clearing account, credits bank account
Posting rule for ACH RETURN – WF10; debits bank account, credits ACH clearing
account,
BAI file comes as shown below for ACH out –

BAI file comes as shown below for ACH return –

For ACH out posting would have been gone through posting rule WF08 which is
configured as shown below –

We want to substitute posting rule WF08 with posting rule WF10 for bank code 169 if
note to payee has string “ACH RETURN”. For ACH RETURN search string can be defined
as shown below –

Assign search string configured above in node “Search String Use” as follows:

Assign search string “ACH RETURN” to relevant Company Code/House Bank/Acct

ID/Bank Code combination. Select target field as “Posting Rule”. Assign “Mapping Prefix”
as WF00. When substituting posting rule WF08, system will take “WF” from mapping
prefix and “10” from search string definition. Mapping prefix works as follows (Excerpt
from SAP help) –
A string of characters you can define yourself to have the funds center found “filled out”
in the event of a successful search if it is too short.
The prefix should be the same length as the document numbers being searched for in the
system. The later part is then replaced with the search string found.
If a “hit” is longer than, or as long as, the relevant prefix, the hit overwrites the whole
prefix.
Use
This function is particularly useful for filling in redundant parts (such as leading zeros)
when the reference information is incomplete.
Example
Prefix “1800000000” and hit “12345” results in number “1800012345”.
Once above configuration is in place any file with bank code 169 assigned for house bank
and account when loaded with string ACH RETURN will replace the po