Ledger approach

In the ledger approach every principle gets a complete ledger in the Universal Journal. One ledger is the leading ledger, by default 0L. It exists for every company code, cannot be switched off for one, and represents the main principle, the one the group consolidates on. Other ledgers are non-leading ledgers and can be activated per company code. Each ledger has the same chart of accounts, so a trial balance in 0L and in 2L lists the same accounts, but the balances can differ where the principles differ.

Ledger groups

A ledger group is a named set of ledgers. When you post with a ledger group, the document updates only the ledgers in that group. Each ledger automatically has a ledger group of the same name that contains only itself, so posting with ledger group 2L updates only 2L. You can define additional groups, for example to let one foreign currency valuation run update several ledgers. A posting with no ledger group updates all ledgers, which is what you want for ordinary business transactions.

Posting a ledger-specific adjustment

Suppose Contoso's IFRS reporting requires an additional USD 25,000 warranty provision that US GAAP does not. The G/L accountant opens Post General Journal Entries, fills the Ledger Group field with 2L, and posts: debit warranty expense 25,000, credit provision 25,000. In SAP GUI the equivalent is the ledger-specific G/L posting transaction (for example FB50L). The document exists only in 2L. In 0L, nothing happened.

Read the result back before you trust it. Open the journal entry in Manage Journal Entries and look at the ledger information: a ledger-specific document shows lines only for the ledgers in its group. Then run the trial balance for each ledger. In 2L the provision account rises by 25,000; in 0L it does not move. Reversal works the same way: reversing the document reverses it only in the ledgers it posted to. If the adjustment should repeat each month, consider whether a recurring entry or an accrual object with a ledger group is a better fit than re-keying it, since every manual repetition is another chance to leave the ledger group empty.

What else is ledger-specific

• Foreign currency valuation runs per valuation area, each tied to an accounting principle and ledger group.
• Depreciation posts per depreciation area to the ledger of its principle (next lessons).
• Posting periods can be controlled per ledger, so the IFRS ledger can stay open for adjustments after US GAAP is closed.
• Fiscal year variants can differ per ledger in some designs, for example a non-calendar fiscal year for one principle.
• Extension ledgers sit on top of a standard ledger and hold only delta postings, for example management adjustments; they do not carry a full set of business transactions.

Recent SAP S/4HANA releases also offer universal parallel accounting, which extends ledger-specific valuation into controlling and actual costing. It changes how much of the system is ledger-aware and is a significant design topic of its own; check its availability and prerequisites for your release before you assume it is in scope.