Don’t Sweat the Audit: Making Journal Entries in SAP Easier!

Most companies use standard, or even exception-based Journal Entries to manage their financials and keep everything in balance. SAP is used by many businesses as the system of record, but the process applies to every company. The use of Journal Entries can be scary though: Are people able to access them when needed? Is system / data security set to limit the types of data an individual can influence? Journal Entry review is often a big part of any audit, and most companies look for ways to control the process and retain the appropriate information to make the examination process easier.

Even standard, recurring JEs need to go through the creation, approval and post process (even daily) to properly maintain the accounting systems. Workflow is a wonderful way to add streamlined controls to the JE process while leveraging out-of-the-box audit information for easy review. Clear Process Solutions has implemented a couple of different solutions to manage this process with SAP workflows, ranging from simply documenting the approval flow to fully automating the entire Journal Entry process.

Here are some examples of standardizing and automating the Journal Entry processes in your implementation of SAP:

• Standardized Excel templates to capture the Journal Entries. These can be the Excel files your finance folks have loved to use forever!
• A form portal to submit the Journal Entry spreadsheet for approval
• Customizable approval mechanisms based on your company requirements
• Email approval for those who are not able to be in the office to approve through the system
• Additional documentation that can be attached with the Journal Entry spreadsheet and uploaded to SAP if needed
• Easy ways to reject and resubmit Journal Entry spreadsheets with audit traceability
• Auto posting in SAP after the spreadsheet has been approved
• Reduction of JE cycle time
• Automatic notification when approval action is required and when Journal entries have been approved and posted

Automating this critical internal process lessens the likelihood of human errors. By eliminating manual processes, you make your organization more efficient. With faster post times to SAP, and one place for auditors to review Journal Entry documentation, you can successfully put JE’s to work to make the whole audit process much simpler!

Contact the CPS team.