Description
Lockbox Service
Payment transactions in the USA consist almost exclusively of checkpayments. In order to process these payments more quickly, banks offera lockbox service where checks are sent directly by the customer to thebank (lockbox). The bank enters the checks as a credit memo and sendsthis information to the payee via file transfer. The record layout ofthe lockbox file must correspond to the standard BAI format.
Procedure
Banks transmit, sometimes several times a day, to the payee the datamedium with relevant information about the check (MICR number) and ifnecessary, the document numbers from the payment advice.
With this data medium, the system uses batch input to generate postingsfor Accounts Receivable and the General Ledger.
Advantages of the lockbox service

• Accelerated collection, payment and credit memo of checks increases the
payee's liquidity.

• The lockbox system reduces internal processing costs.

The program consists of the following parts:

• RFLBOX00 : control and processing logic


• RFLBOX01 : common data area


• RFLBOX20 : BAI record format, importing data medium

For other record formats, you can create your own program based on thissample. RFLBOXnn, in which nn can be between 30 and 80, is predefinedfor your programs.

• RFLBOX90: evaluation of table T049C for creating lockbox statistics

Program RFLBOX00 reads data sent by the bank and generates:

• the FB01 batch input (G/L account posting: debit bank, credit payment
clearing account)

• the FBZ1 batch input (customer payment: debit payment clearing account,
credit customer with open item clearing).

• the FD02 batch input (create new customer bank details)


• a log of the records processed:

log of all items processed
log of incorrect items
log of bank details created
and then maintains table T049C, which is read by program RFLBOX90 tocreate a statistical evaluation of the lockbox tapes.
In order to be able to process different record formats, the processinglogic is set up as follows:

• For each record format, there is one program accessed by control
routine RFLBOX00 as an external PERFORM. This program reads the datarecords and places information required for further processing into aninternal table (AGTAB). The record format is stored in the DataDictionary. Before using the program, you must check whether the recordformat in the Data Dictionary corresponds to that of the cooperatingbank. You may have to adapt the structure in the Data Dictionary.

• The main control routine reads the internal AGTAB table and generates
the required batch input sessions and/or log sections.
For the FBZ1 postings (debit bank, credit payment clearing account),the system carries out the following checks and actions:

• First, it tries to identify the customer by using the document number.


• If the customer cannot be indentified via the document number, the
system tries via the MICR number from record type 6 (= bank number/bankaccount number of the depositing bank).

• If a customer is identified via the document number but its bank
details do not correspond to the MICR number, you can create them byusing the FD02 batch input.

• The status of every record is stored for controlling individual
records:
status 0: customer could not be identified
status 1: customer uniquely identified via document number
status 2: customer uniquely identified via document number and new bankdetails
status 5: customer uniquely identified via bank details
status 9: customer could not be uniquely identified

Precondition
Checking the record format
The record format of the bank must correspond to the record format inthe Data Dictionary. You may have to adjust the structures in the DataDictionary. At the moment, the BAI format is stored using eight tablestructures:
FLB01: header record
FLB02: service record
FLB04: overflow record
FLB05: detail header record
FLB06: detail record
FLB07: batch total record
FLB08: lockbox total record
FLB09: trailer record
Customizing entries for the posting data
Posting data is determined via Financial Accounting configuration. Anentry must exist for each bank account (lockbox). The key is the bankaccount identification to how it delivers the lockbox file. A typicalentry would be as follows:
,,SAMPLEDEST,,Ultimate destination of transmission
,,1234567890,,Present origin of transmission
,,SA,,Document type of bank posting
,,DZ,,Document type of customer payment
,,0001,,Company code
,,113100,,Bank account number in company code
,,113108,,Payment clearing account in company code
,,40,,G/L account debit posting key
,,50,,G/L account credit posting key
,,15,,Customer credit posting key
,,X,,Automatic search via FBZ1 required
INCLUDE FUNKTION_AUSFÜHREN
IF &DEVICE& = 'SCREEN'
Proceed
ENDIF
Basic customizing entries for Autocash
In Financial Accounting configuration, you must also store particularcontrol parameters for Autocash. Change this entry to meet yourrequirements.
LOCKBOX,,Procedure for handling of payments
BAI,,Record format of the file, only BAI currently allowed
10,,Length of document number
03,,Number of document numbers in record type 6
06,,Number of document numbers in record type 4
X,,FB01 batch input requested
SAMPLE__FB01,, Batch input session name of the FB01 postings
1,,Type of FB01 update
,,1= A line item is generated in the bank account and a
,,line item in the payment clearing account
,,2= A line item is created per lockbox (total of all checks)
,,in the bank account (debit)
,,A line item is created per check in the payment clearing
,,account (credit)
X,,FBZ1 batch input requested (posting with clearing)
SAMPLE__FBZ1,, Batch input session name of the FBZ1 postings
X,,FD02 (create bank details) requested
SAMPLE__KNBK,, Batch input session name of the FD02 transactions
/usr/sap/samplepath/,,Lockbox file path name
INCLUDE FUNKTION_AUSFÜHREN
IF &DEVICE& = 'SCREEN'
Proceed
ENDIF


• Starting program RFLBOX00

You must specify the name of the file to be read. The file must be inthe /usr/sap/samplepath/ directory. This directory must be stored as acontrol parameter within configuration.

Further_hints
If all transactions are indicated as incorrect when the batch inputsessions are processed, you might have set the editing options forFinancial Accounting so that the selected items are initially inactive.
You can change this by accessing the Accounts Receivable menu andselecting Document entry -> Incoming payment and then Settings ->Editing options. The "Selected items initially inactive" field must notbe selected.

T_testnotes
Program RFLBOXIN can be used to generate test data. This procedure isdescribed in the documention for this program.