Posting periods: User-specific time intervals

You can restrict access to tcodes using roles and authorizations, but it is also possible to lock certain transactions globally.

FINANCIAL KNOWLEDGE

5/8/20242 min read

Introduction

During the accounting close process, it's common for the finance department to continue making adjustments to the closing period, while other users should already be posting transactions in the new period.

If only one period remains open, the users responsible for the close won't be able to post the final adjustments. However,, if both periods remain open without any control, any user could post transactions in the previous period, compromising the integrity of the close.

To address this issue, SAP allows two periods to remain open simultaneously using transaction OB52, restricting access to one of them through specific authorizations. In this article, we'll see how to configure this functionality and what aspects to review to avoid errors.

How do opening periods work in SAP?

The opening and closing of accounting periods in SAP FI are managed using transaction OB52. This transaction doesn't directly configure company codes, but rather a period variant. This variant is assigned to one or more FI company codes. This means that any changes made in OB52 to a variant will automatically affect all company codes that use that variant. Transaction OB52:

References

[1] Authorization Group in Open/Close posting period (... - SAP Community

[2] OB52 – Maintain posting period control through aut... - SAP Community

[3] Configurar OB52 para bloquear según autorizaciones - Educación / Tutoriales - Ayuda SAP

[4] Dos períodos abiertos en SAP FI: Guía de configuración

Configuring two open periods

SAP allows you to define two open period intervals. The first can be used for the period that is still being closed, and the second for the current period, in which other users will continue to record transactions as normal. This functionality is especially useful during monthly closings, as it avoids having to continually open and close periods when making final accounting adjustments. In the example shown below, note in green that the first interval has also been defined for a specific range of accounts.

What is the function of the Authorization Group field?

This field (shown in yellow in the previous image) allows you to specify which users can post transactions in the restricted period. By entering a value, only users with the authorization object F_BKPF_BUP with that same value 0001 will be able to post documents in that period. If the field is left blank, both periods will be open to all users. This function allows you to separate closing tasks from the rest of the finance department's daily work.

Note that you must first create authorization group 0001 using transaction code SM30 as follows in order to use it in OB52 later: