SAP • FICO • 2025
SAP FICO Interview Questions and Answers for 2025
Placement-ready Q&A for S/4HANA FICO: from FI/CO fundamentals and configuration to integrations, profitability analysis, product costing, closing, and troubleshooting. Use the accordions below to practice.
Table of Contents
FI/CO Basics
Configuration & Organization
Integrations (SD, MM, PP, HCM)
Controlling, CO-PA & Costing
S/4HANA & Universal Journal
Period-End Close & Reporting
Troubleshooting & Common Errors
Hands-on Tasks in Interviews
Behavioral & Stakeholder Questions
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FI/CO Basics FICO
1) What is the difference between FI and CO?
FI supports external, statutory reporting (G/L, AR, AP, AA) while CO supports internal
management accounting (cost centers, internal orders, profit centers, CO-PA) for planning, control, and profitability.
2) What are reconciliation accounts?
G/L accounts automatically updated by subledgers (AR/AP/Assets). Direct postings are not allowed; ensures subledgers stay in sync with G/L.
3) Open item management — when and why?
Enable on accounts requiring line-item clearing (e.g., GR/IR, bank clearing, some taxes). It helps track outstanding items to be matched/cleared later.
4) Document splitting — where is it used?
Used for real-time segment/profit-center reporting in New G/L/S/4HANA. Splits documents by characteristics to produce balanced entries at segment level.
5) What are special periods?
Up to four special periods used for year-end adjustments without reopening regular months (configured in fiscal year variant).
Configuration & Organization IMG
6) Company vs Company Code vs Controlling Area?
Company: consolidation level; Company Code: legal entity for accounting; Controlling Area:
CO scope for cross-company controlling and allocations (one or multiple company codes).
7) How do you choose a Fiscal Year Variant (FYV)?
Align with statutory/management calendars (e.g., K4 Jan–Dec or custom Apr–Mar). Decide periods (12 + special), year-dependency, and 4-4-5 if needed.
8) Steps to set up Chart of Accounts and assign to company code?
Define COA → create account groups/field status → assign COA to company code → create G/L masters (balance sheet vs P&L, OIM, tax config).
9) Posting Period Variant vs OB52?
PPV defines rules and is assigned to the company code; OB52 is used operationally to open/close periods by account type & authorization group.
10) What controls do Document Types and Number Ranges provide?
Doc Types (e.g., SA, KR, DR) control posting keys, number ranges, and field status; Number ranges (FBN1) assign intervals per company code/year.
Integrations (SD, MM, PP, HCM) FICO
11) SD → FI integration example?
SD billing posts customer invoice to AR and revenue G/L; profitability characteristics flow into CO-PA (account-based in S/4HANA).
12) MM → FI: GR/IR clearing flow?
Goods Receipt (GR) posts inventory/GRIR; Invoice Receipt (IR) clears GRIR differences; payment run clears vendor liability. Match rate drives AP KPIs.
13) PP/CO-PC: WIP & variance settlement?
Production orders collect costs; WIP/variance calculated and settled to FI (COGS/price difference) and CO objects at period-end.
14) HCM → CO/FI posting?
Payroll results post to cost centers/internal orders; provides labor cost transparency and enables budgeting vs actuals.
15) Taxes and withholdings — where maintained?
Country-specific tax procedures and codes (e.g., in OBYZ path). Withholding taxes configured at vendor/customer master & company code level.
Controlling, CO-PA & Product Costing CO
16) Account-based vs costing-based CO-PA?
In S/4HANA, account-based CO-PA is default—aligned with G/L via the Universal Journal. Costing-based offers value field flexibility but adds reconciliation effort.
17) Cost Center vs Profit Center?
Cost Centers collect overhead for responsibility areas; Profit Centers provide segment-style P&L/BS for business units. Both used for internal performance management.
18) Allocation methods in CO?
Assessment (secondary cost elements, summarized) and Distribution (line-item detail) using statistical key figures or percentages.
19) Standard cost estimate basics?
Uses BOM/routings, activity prices, and prices to compute standard cost. Release updates material master; variances analyzed vs actuals.
20) How do you analyze margin drivers?
Use CO-PA drilldowns and bridges (price/mix/volume) with account-based postings; segment by customer/product/channel and time.
S/4HANA & Universal Journal S/4
21) What is the Universal Journal (ACDOCA)?
A single line-item table combining FI and CO postings, eliminating duplication and reconciliation. Enables real-time analytics on a single source.
22) What changed for CO-PA in S/4HANA?
Account-based CO-PA is tightly integrated with G/L; many customers drop costing-based to simplify reconciliation. Characteristics flow at posting time.
23) New Asset Accounting highlights?
Streamlined depreciation areas, parallel valuation, real-time posting to ACDOCA, improved Fiori analytics for asset lifecycle.
24) Embedded Analytics & Fiori in FICO?
CDS views power KPI tiles and drilldowns (AR aging, cash positions, closing tasks). Reduces need for ETL to BW for operational reporting.
25) Document splitting & segment reporting in S/4?
Still supported and improved; ensures balanced entries at segment/profit center level for true segment P&L/BS.
Period-End Close & Reporting
26) Typical month-end activities?
Accruals/provisions, foreign currency valuation, asset depreciation, allocations/assessments, WIP/variance, reconciliation, and financial statement run.
27) Group Consolidation in S/4?
Group Reporting integrates with ACDOCA for consolidations, intercompany eliminations, currency translation, and ownership adjustments.
28) Liquidity & cash reporting?
Bank statement integration + cash management apps produce liquidity forecasts using due AR/AP and planned payments.
| Area | Key Task | Tool |
|---|---|---|
| FI | Accruals, FX valuation | Fiori Closings, classic FB50/OB08 |
| AA | Depreciation run | AFAB (or Fiori) |
| CO | Allocations, assessments | KSV5/KSU5 / Fiori |
| CO-PC | WIP & variance | KKAX/KO88 (or Fiori) |
Troubleshooting & Common Errors Fix
29) “Posting date not in permitted range” — fix?
Maintain period ranges in OB52 for the relevant account type (+/A/D/K/S/M) and fiscal year; check authorization groups.
30) “Account XXX not defined in chart of accounts” — fix?
Create the G/L in operating COA; extend to company code; verify account group and field status; ensure correct currency and OIM setting.
31) “Balance in transaction currency” during clearing?
Review exchange rates (OB08), document currency, and line items; post residual/exchange difference to designated accounts.
32) CO-PA not receiving characteristics?
Check derivation rules/assignments, account-based CO-PA settings, and whether SD billing or FI postings carry required characteristics.
33) GR/IR not clearing?
Investigate price/quantity variances, missing IR/GR, and incorrect movement types; run GR/IR clearing programs and analyze open items.
Hands-on Tasks You Might Get in Interviews
- Create a company code and assign fiscal year variant; open period in OB52.
- Configure a posting key/document type and demonstrate a sample posting with FB50.
- Set up a cost center and perform a simple assessment cycle.
- Demonstrate a standard cost estimate and explain variance categories.
- Show a CO-PA margin drilldown by customer and product.
Behavioral & Stakeholder Questions
34) How do you handle conflicting numbers between finance and sales?
Align KPI definitions first, trace data lineage (source → transformation → report), reconcile timing/filters, and agree on a governed metric dictionary.
35) Managing go-live risks for period-end close?
Dress rehearsal close, fallback plans, freezing master data windows, clear comms on OB52 windows, and hypercare support with SLAs.
36) Example of optimization you delivered?
(Your story) e.g., automated accruals via recurring entries + Fiori task orchestration → reduced close by 2 days, fewer post-close adjustments.