FI / FICOintermediate

FICO Asset Accounting Part 2: Configuring Depreciation Areas and the Asset Posting Flow

Key takeaway

Configure FI-AA foundations: copy and assign a chart of depreciation, define depreciation areas and how they post to GL, asset classes, account determination, and screen layouts — and follow an acquisition posting through FI-AA and GL.

Explanation

📌 KEY POINTS
✅ Copy a reference chart of depreciation (EC08) and assign it to the company code (OAOB).
✅ Depreciation areas (OADB) define valuation purpose and whether/how they post to GL.
✅ Asset classes (OAOA) link account determination (AO90), screen layout and number ranges.
✅ AO90 maps APC, accumulated depreciation, depreciation expense and gain/loss accounts.
⚠️ Deleting unused depreciation areas after assets exist is not possible — clean up the chart before go-live.

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▶ WHERE WE ARE
Part 1 introduced FI-AA. Now configuration.

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▶ 1. CHART OF DEPRECIATION

Copy (EC08), reduce areas, assign (OAOB).

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▶ 2. DEPRECIATION AREAS

Book area 01, tax, group; posting indicator; accounting principle.

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▶ 3. ASSET CLASSES

Class, account determination key, screen layout, number range.

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▶ 4. ACCOUNT DETERMINATION

AO90 per chart of accounts and account determination key.

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▶ 5. POSTING FLOW

Acquisition posts APC in all areas; depreciation posts per area.

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▶ STEP BY STEP

Copy and assign a chart of depreciation.
Review OADB areas.
Create an asset class with AO90 accounts.
Post an acquisition and check GL.

✅ CHECKPOINT: asset values equal GL balances per account.

Code example

ABAP Code

===== CONFIG MAP =====EC08 copy chart of depreciation → OAOB assign to company codeOADB depreciation areas (posting to GL, accounting principle)AS08 number ranges | OAOA asset classes | AO90 account determinationScreen layout rules per class ===== ACQUISITION POSTING =====Dr APC machines 160000 50,000 | Cr Supplier / technical clearing 50,000

Real project scenario

A company copied a full reference chart of depreciation with 15 areas but used only three. Month-end runs were slow and reports confusing. A redesign before the next country go-live reduced areas to what was needed.

Common mistakes

Too many areas.
Wrong AO90 accounts.
No screen layout control.
Changing chart after assets.
Untested acquisitions.

Best practices

Minimal areas.
Validate AO90.
Mandatory fields via layouts.
Finalize chart before go-live.
Test postings.

Interview angle

Questions: "How do you set up a chart of depreciation?", "What does OADB define?", "What is AO90?"
Strong answer: EC08/OAOB, areas and posting, classes, account determination, posting flow.

Practice this lesson

Quick check

1. Where are APC, accumulated depreciation and depreciation expense accounts assigned for an asset class?

2. In New Asset Accounting with the ledger approach, how is parallel valuation for different accounting principles (e.g., local GAAP versus IFRS) typically represented?

3. In classic (pre-New Asset Accounting) SAP Asset Accounting, which depreciation area is mandatory and, by default, posts values to the general ledger in real time?

Interview questions

1. How would you apply Asset Accounting in a real SAP project? Walk through the design or implementation approach.

Answer it in your own words first, then compare.

2. Set up asset accounting for a new company code. What do you configure?