SAP FB01 — Post Document

The date printed on the source paperwork — the invoice date, the contract date. It is what the outside world would call the date of the transaction.

Watch out: This does NOT decide which accounting period the entry lands in. Posting Date does.

The date the entry hits the books, and therefore which fiscal period and which month-end it belongs to. An invoice dated 15 July but posted with a posting date of 31 July counts in July.

Watch out: If the period is closed you get error F5201. This is the single most common FB01 failure.

A two-character code classifying the document, which also controls which number range it takes and which account types it may post to. SA is a general G/L document, KR a vendor invoice, DR a customer invoice, AB a general one that allows all account types.

Watch out: Document type restricts allowed account types. Choosing SA and then trying to post to a vendor will be rejected.

The legal entity that produces its own balance sheet and P&L. This is the fundamental FI organisational unit — a document always belongs to exactly one company code.

A two-digit code doing two jobs at once: it says whether the line is a debit or a credit, and it says what kind of account the line posts to. 40 = debit a G/L account, 50 = credit a G/L account, 31 = credit a vendor, 01 = debit a customer.

Watch out: The number you memorise first is 40/50. Getting them the wrong way round produces a document that balances but is economically backwards.

A free-text field for the external document number — the supplier invoice number, for example. Searchable later, so a consistent convention here saves hours.

F5201 — Posting period 006 2026 is not open

Why: The posting date falls in a period that has been closed for the account type you are posting to.

Fix: Either change the posting date into an open period, or ask whoever owns the close to open the period in OB52. Do not simply backdate to force it through — you will distort a closed month.

F5702 — Debits do not equal credits

Why: The line items do not sum to zero, usually a typo in an amount or a missing line.

Fix: Use Document → Simulate to see all lines with the running balance and find the difference.

F5808 — Field Cost Center is a required field for G/L account 470000

Why: The field status group on the account (or on the posting key) makes cost centre mandatory, and it was left blank.

Fix: Fill the cost centre. If it genuinely should not be required, the field status group needs changing in configuration — that is a change to make deliberately, not to work around.

What is the difference between FB01 and FB50?

They create the same kind of document. FB50 is a single-screen entry for G/L postings that infers the posting key from whether you type the amount in the debit or the credit column. FB01 makes you state the posting key explicitly and can post to any account type. FB50 is faster day-to-day; FB01 is more general.

Can I delete a document posted with FB01?

No. Posted FI documents are never deleted — that is the point of an audit trail. You reverse them with FB08, which creates an equal and opposite document and links the two.

What does "parking" a document mean?

Parking (FV50/FV60) saves an incomplete document without updating any balances, so someone else can review and post it. FB01 posts immediately.