FICO Treasury Part 2: Bank Account Management and Signatories

📌 KEY POINTS
✅ In S/4HANA, bank accounts are master data managed in Bank Account Management, not only house bank settings.
✅ Opening, changing and closing accounts can run through approval workflows with audit trails.
✅ Signatories and payment approvers are maintained per account with validity and limits.
✅ Each bank account is linked to a house bank account ID and GL accounts for postings.
⚠️ Uncontrolled changes to bank account data are a classic fraud risk — every change needs approval and review.

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▶ WHERE WE ARE
Part 1 showed cash reporting. Part 2 covers the master data behind it: the bank accounts themselves.

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▶ 1. BANK ACCOUNTS AS MASTER DATA
Companies often have hundreds of accounts across banks and countries. S/4HANA treats each as a master record with bank, account number or IBAN, currency, owning company code, purpose and status. This central inventory is what treasury, audit and payment processes rely on, instead of scattered spreadsheets.

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▶ 2. LIFECYCLE WITH WORKFLOW
Opening an account, changing its details and closing it follow requests that can be routed through approval workflows. Each step is documented, which matters for audits and for bank KYC requirements. Closing an account also means checking open items, standing instructions and payment methods that still point to it.

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▶ 3. SIGNATORIES
For each account, the people allowed to sign or approve payments are maintained with validity dates and limits. When someone leaves the company, their signatory rights must be removed on every account. Bank Account Management makes this review possible across all accounts at once.

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▶ 4. LINK TO HOUSE BANKS AND GL
Payments and statements still use house banks and account IDs. Each bank account master is linked to a house bank account and to the GL accounts used for postings, typically a main bank account and clearing accounts for incoming and outgoing payments. Inconsistent links lead to statements posting to the wrong account.

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▶ 5. CONTROLS
Restrict who can change bank master data, require dual control for sensitive fields, review change logs regularly, and reconcile the list of accounts in SAP against bank confirmations at least yearly. These controls are as important as the payment approvals themselves.

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▶ STEP BY STEP

1. List bank accounts for one company code with owners and purpose.
2. Trace one account to its house bank, account ID and GL accounts.
3. Review signatories for validity and departed employees.
4. Check the change log of bank account data for the last quarter.

✅ CHECKPOINT: every account has an owner, valid signatories and consistent house bank and GL links.

An internal audit found that a former finance manager was still a signatory on twelve accounts eight months after leaving. The company introduced a quarterly signatory review in Bank Account Management and linked HR leaver notifications to a task that removes signatory rights on all accounts.

• Bank accounts tracked only in spreadsheets.
• No workflow for opening and closing accounts.
• Departed employees still listed as signatories.
• Broken links between account master, house bank and GL.

• Central bank account inventory with owners.
• Approval workflow and dual control for changes.
• Leaver-driven signatory removal.
• Yearly reconciliation with bank confirmations.

Interviewers ask how bank accounts are managed in S/4HANA compared with older house-bank-only setups, and what controls prevent bank master data fraud.