SAP AR AP


SAP AR AP: An Overview and Key Considerations

What Is SAP AR AP?

SAP AR AP represents the accounts receivable and accounts payable sub-module components of the SAP Financial (FI) module and helps maintain financial relationships with vendors and customers, as well as manage their accounting data. The SAP accounts receivable sub-module (FI-AR) handles customer invoices, approvals, and incoming payments, enabling organizations to access reports and forecasting features for tracking customer outstanding balances. The SAP accounts payments sub-module (FI-AP) manages vendor invoices, approvals, and outgoing payments to provide organizations with the necessary information for tracking outstanding balances belonging to vendors.

SAP AR AP: An Overview and Key Considerations

What Is SAP AR AP?

SAP AR AP represents the accounts receivable and accounts payable sub-module components of the SAP Financial (FI) module and helps maintain financial relationships with vendors and customers, as well as manage their accounting data. The SAP accounts receivable sub-module (FI-AR) handles customer invoices, approvals, and incoming payments, enabling organizations to access reports and forecasting features for tracking customer outstanding balances. The SAP accounts payments sub-module (FI-AP) manages vendor invoices, approvals, and outgoing payments to provide organizations with the necessary information for tracking outstanding balances belonging to vendors.

SAP AR AP plays a significant role in providing organizations with end-to-end financial management. Finance and accounting teams can streamline their financial processes and improve their overall financial visibility by preventing duplicate inter-company AR/AP postings.

Additional key benefits for SAP AR AP end-users include:

  • Improved cash flow
  • Better budgeting and forecasting capabilities
  • Enhanced decision-making capabilities
  • Improved customer service
  • Streamlined operations.

Key Considerations for SAPinsiders 

Consider options to enhance SAP AR AP capabilities with a move to SAP S/4HANA. SAP S/4HANA Cloud, enabled by in-memory processing and simplified SAP Fiori interfaces, offers extended SAP AR/AP functionality. As a result, organizations can expect improved performance and faster response times when executing financial transactions, with all postings across the SAP AR AP function updating to the SAP General Ledger (FI-GL).

Leverage SAP AR AP best practices to streamline operational processes. The SAP Best Practices Explorer provides standardized essential process flows to help lower the cost of operations and deliver business benefits across multiple geographies, divisions, subsidiaries, and ledgers with global and country-specific content. For example, organizations can realize cost savings by centralizing account receivables and account payables processing, allowing finance and accounting managers to enforce governance and common standards, supporting compliance efforts.

Enable operational efficiencies with SAP AR AP automation. Organizations can save time and money by reducing the workload of finance and accounting teams when AR/AP automation is improved. In addition, core business functions, such as order-to-cash and procure-to-pay processes, are more efficient when organizations significantly reduce the effort required for manual approvals with automation.

39 results

  1. Insights from Serrala’s Rob Jackson on Overcoming Data Readiness Hurdles in SAP S/4HANA Finance Migration

    Reading time: 3 mins

    This article highlights the critical importance of data archiving and readiness in the context of migrating to SAP S/4HANA, as explained by expert Rob Jackson. It emphasizes that preserving historical data while enhancing system performance is vital for finance leaders. Additionally, the article underscores the dual challenge of technical upgrades and business process transformation during…
  2. Cash Management Cash Visibility

    Zoetis Partners with Serrala to Optimize Global Order-to-Cash Process

    Reading time: 6 mins

    Organizations are constantly in flux, expanding their offerings and their geographic footprint. In order to keep up, finance teams must constantly stay on the cutting edge, updating core business processes like end-to-end order-to-cash (OTC), which encompasses cash applications, credit applications, and collection activities. Zoetis, a global animal health company, faced this situation. Zoetis teamed up…
  3. An Overview of Global PayEX B2B Payments Offerings for SAP Finance Teams

    Reading time: 3 mins

    Many organizations struggle with B2B payments issues like invoice processing inefficiencies and reduced sales productivity, inefficient reconciliation processes, and payment delays due to limited visibility. To help address some of these problems, Global PayEX, a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) company, offers a platform that emphasizes the facilitation of collaboration between buyers and sellers. Collaboration relies on associations…
  4. digital transformation leader

    Lessons from Birmingham City Council Failed Payments/ERP Implementation: A Closer Look at Vendor Selection

    Reading time: 4 mins

    Modernizing financial systems, particularly within SAP ecosystems, is not a trivial undertaking. A deep dive into the Birmingham City Council case highlights significant departures from software procurement best practices and a stark underestimation of the project’s requisites by the supplier. A strategic approach to vendor selection is required to mitigate risks. By focusing on crucial…
  5. xSuite Adds New Invoice Workflow on SAP BTP

    Reading time: 2 mins

    xSuite recently announced a new workflow solution for its core business, digital invoice processing, on the SAP Business Technology Platform. The solution offers standardized accounts payable processes on SAP BTP, transforming it into the foundation of SAP-based business processes. Organizations that centralize and automate payment processing requirements are able to cut down on manual processes.…
  6. Delego’s Five Steps To Get Customers To Pay Invoices on Time

    Reading time: 2 mins

    No matter how well-orchestrated an accounts receivable process is, sometimes customers will simply fail to finalize payments. Some customers may want to hold onto liquid capital as long as possible, others may have overworked finance teams who forget or misplace invoices, while some may just consider making payments a low priority. Without the risk of…
  7. IPS and CSI Edenred Announce New Name and Brand Image: Edenred Pay

    Reading time: 2 mins

    Following its October 2022 acquisition by Edenred, IPS and CSI Edenred are now fully merged. The company will now be known as Edenred Pay going forward. In a press release, the company revealed its new name and brand image on its new corporate website. “We are excited to announce our new name and brand image,”…
  8. Accounts Payable

    From Manual to Automated: The Benefits of Invoice Automation for Accounts Payable

    June 15, 2023

    Join us for an exciting webinar on the future of accounts payable invoice automation, presented in partnership with SAPinsider. AP teams face increased pressure to do more with less in today’s fast-paced business world. Manual invoice processing can be time-consuming and error-prone, leading to delayed payments and strained vendor relationships. Recent SAPinsider benchmark research reveals that 76% of…
  9. AP Automation – What, Why and How?

    Reading time: 4 mins

    Accounts Payable is one of the most important aspects of any SAP organization. Ensuring that suppliers are paid on time keeps the business running smoothly. Yet many companies are still running this crucial part of the business with too many manual touchpoints. Each touchpoint opens the company up to human error. It can also be…
  10. ap invoice management

    How EMEA Organizations Are Leveraging Automation to Improve AP Invoice Management Processes

    Reading time: 1 mins

    Survey respondents operating in EMEA facing challenges with manual work and manual processes across AP invoice management are prioritizing a move to SAP S/4HANA as an opportunity to transform AP functions at their organizations. This represents the leading driver for EMEA respondents regarding their approach to automating AP invoice management.