How to Fix MM/FI Field Status Errors
by Rohana Gunawardena, SAP Practice Director, Quality Software & Systems
Examine why field status errors occur for Materials Management (MM) transactions. Understand
the relationship between MM and Financial Accounting field status. Discover the steps required to
correct field status group errors and the special considerations for configuring field status groups.
When you post Materials Management
(MM) transactions that have a Financial
Accounting (FI) impact, you may receive
the error message M7 093 Different field
selection for movement type 501/account
400020 differs from Profit Center 042 or
F5 808 Field Cost Center is a required
field for G/L account 3000 792000. These
error messages are caused by an inconsis-
tency in the field status group for the MM
movement type and the FI G/L account to
which you are posting. Common MM
transactions such as MB01, MB1A,
MB1B, MB1C, and VL01 and SAP Enjoy
transactions such as MIGO and MIRO
can trigger these messages.
When configuring a movement type using
transaction OMJJ to set the field status
group, you miss the similar field status
group for the G/L account configured
using transaction OBC4. To help resolve
these issues, SAP provides standard report
RM07CUFA to help analyze the inconsis-
tencies. Ill show you how to use this
report to update field selections, and also
explain in greater detail the considerations
you need to take into account when
adjusting the configuration.
Consider the following scenario: The Finan-
cial Accounting (FI) General Ledger (G/L)
team has decided that profit center should
be a compulsory account for material con-
sumption accounts. When a user performs a
goods receipt using movement type 501,
goods issue (GI) receipt without purchase
order (PO), they receive error message Fld
selectn for mvmt type 501/acct 400020
20 2008 SCM Expert Reproduction prohibited. All rights reserved.
05 SCMx Jun08_v2.indd 20
differs for Profit Center (042). Note 042
indicates the profit center fields are con-
trolled by the forty-second position in the
raw data display of field T156B-FAUSN.
What should your next step as an analyst
be? To resolve this message you need to
know the field selection for a movement
type. First Ill explain what MM field
status is and how it interacts with FI field
status. Then Ill show you how to quickly
identify and correct any inconsistencies.
MM Field Status
When you post an MM document certain
information is required to process the
transaction, such as plant, storage loca-
tion, and material. Additional information
can be required of an MM transaction
(e.g., movement type 201 requires a cost
center). The field status group controls
what information is required to complete
an MM transaction.
To configure MM field status, use transac-
tion OMJJ and select the sub-dialog Field
selection (from 201)/Batch search proce-
dure (Figure 1). The text (from 201)
means it applies to movement types from
201 to 999 only, not to the purchasing
goods receipt transactions 101 to 199. One
Figure 1 Transaction OMJJ for movement type field selection update
>> Key Concept
A Materials Management (MM)
movement type and a general ledger
(G/L) account both have field selec-
tion strings. Field selection strings
need to be consistent between
Financial Accounting and MM. For
example, it is inconsistent for an
MM movement type to suppress a
profit center, but for the G/L account
to require a profit center.
entry per special stock indicator is active
for each movement type. Double-click on
the appropriate entry to see the field status
group overview (Figure 2).
The field status groups break the individual
fields in the MM document into logically
related groups. Double-click on a group to
see the full field details (Figure 3). If the
field status group name is in blue it means
at least one field in the group is optional or
required; if it is black then all fields are
suppressed. The text (FI only) refers to
fields that are only used in FI, but you may
need to update these settings if you run into
the error messages I have discussed.
The field status group detail shows the
settings for individual fields such as
Profit Center. The options Suppress,
Req. Entry, and Opt. Entry control the
field status during MM document entry
for the specific movement type. You can
6/17/2008 12:23:30 PM

use the page up and page down keys to
navigate between pages.
Figure 2 Transaction OMJJ detail after
you double-click on the move-
ment type
Figure 3 Transaction OMJJ field status group update for Additional account
assignments group
Figure 4 Profit center PRCTR added as a required field for SAP Enjoy transactions
Configuration
Assignment
object
G/L account Field status group
assigned to G/L
account has configura-
tion, display link using
transaction FS03
Posting key Directly part of posting
key configuration
Table 1 Comparison of the two types of field status group settings in FI
05 SCMx Jun08_v2.indd 21
Sometimes a single row in the field status
group can refer to more than one field in
the MM document (e.g., the Sales order
option controls the sales order document
and sales order item fields). Use the Field
check button in Figure 3 to see which
fields a single setting controls.
The settings in the OMJJ sub-dialog Field
selection (from 201)/Batch search proce-
dure do not apply to SAP Enjoy transaction
MIGO (goods receipt with a purchase
order). Instead you need to enter the field
for which you want to change the status in
the sub-dialog Field selection (Enjoy)
shown in Figure 4. Note the SAP Enjoy
logic applies to all movement types from
101 to 999. It has no special text, as
opposed to Figure 1, which says from 201.
Configuration
Comments
transaction
OBC4: configu- The M7 093 and F5 808 error
ration by field messages compare MM field
status group status to this FI field status
OB41: con- Nearly all fields are defined as
figuration by optional for material related
posting key posting keys 80 to 99. Usually
you do not need to adjust them.
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FI Configuration
Now that I have discussed the configura-
tion for MM field status group, you know
the error messages occur due to an incon-
sistency between MM and FI field status
groups. FI has two field status groups, one
for the G/L account and one for the
posting key (Table 1).
OBC4: G/L Account Field Status Group
Each G/L account is assigned a field status
group. You can display the field status
group assignment with transaction FS03
(Figure 5 on the next page).
An FI field status group is not unique. You
need to know its field status variant. Click
on the drop-down arrow next to Field
status group G003 or press F4 for help.
Then the field status variant 1000 is dis-
played at the top of the selection list
(Figure 6 on the next page).
You can find the details of the FI field
status groups with transaction OBC4. Sel-
ect the correct Field status name and then
double-click on the Field status groups
folder in the Dialog Structure to display
the Change View Field status groups:
Overview screen (Figure 7 on the next
page). From there you can drill down to a
screen similar to Figure 2, then proceed to
Figure 3 to set the options for suppressed,
required, or optional entry control.
OB41: Posting Key Field Status
In FI there is also a field status setting for
each posting key, which is configured
using transaction OB41 (Figure 8 on the
next page). The FI posting keys relevant
for MM transactions are 80 to 99. In this
transaction double-click on the posting
key to go to the detail screen. In the detail
screen click on the Maintain Field Status
button to see a screen similar to the MM
Maintain Field Status Group: Over-
view screen in Figure 2. From there you
can drill down to set the options for sup-
pressed, required, or optional entry con-
6/17/2008 12:23:31 PM
 trol, similar to the MM Maintain Field
Status Group: Detail screen in Figure 3.

If you need to review the settings at a

more technical level, see Table 2, which
shows the tables where the three field
status group settings I have introduced
earlier are stored.
Figure 5 Field status group assignment for a G/L account
When the raw data in these tables is dis-
played using transactions SE16, SE16N,
or SE17, the field selection string appears
as a set of plus (+), minus (-) and period
(.) characters (Figure 9). You can interpret
the raw data characters using the descrip-
tions in Table 3.

Figure 6 Find the field status variant for a field status group
Invalid Combinations
I have discussed the configuration for MM
field status group and error messages that
occur due to an inconsistency between MM
and FI field status groups. Table 4 shows
the logic SAP applies to the comparison of
the MM movement type and FI G/L
account field status group settings. Table 5
provides additional detail on the four com- Figure 7 Transaction OBC4 field status group overview
binations that cause errors. Analyze your
own business scenarios before proceeding
with the possible corrections suggested.

Error Report
Now I will introduce a report to quickly
identify and correct any inconsistencies. You Figure 8 Transaction OB41 configures FI posting keys
can use report RM07CUFA (Field Selection
Comparison: Movement Type G/L Account) Configuration
to identify the field selection string errors. Configuration object Table Table description
transaction
See SAP Note 9281for more information. MM movement type OMJJ T156B Movement types: screen selection
Enter the data from the error message Fld
FI G/L field status group OBC4 T004F Field status definition groups
selectn for mvmt type 501/acct 400020
differs for Profit Center (042) into the FI posting key OB41 TBSL Posting key

selection screen of RM07CUFA. Table 2 List of configuration tables where field status group settings are stored

Execute the report and it highlights con- Symbol Description Comment

flicts between MM and FI field status
Suppressed
groups (Figure 10). To execute the report,
populate the selection screen and click on + Required entry
the execute icon. . Optional entry

Figure 9 Raw data display of field Space Display entry Rarely used
To change the field status group with trans-
selection string Table 3 Field status symbols
action OMJJ or OBC4, click on the

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appropriate symbol for the row in error. The Click on the error log icon of the main group. This was done by clicking on the -
left symbol with the header MvT is the report output to take you to a summary list symbol for Profit Center in Figure 10,
MM field status and the hotspot links to of all errors (Figure 11). This is useful as going to the Field Status Overview,
transaction OMJJ. The symbol on the right the report has a long list of field status double clicking on the Additional account
hand with header A/c is the FI G/L field groups you have to scroll through. assignments group, and then setting the
status and the hotspot links to transaction required entry option for Profit Center.
OBC4. In both cases, a screen similar to the In this case the error is resolved by mak-
MM Maintain Field Status Group: Over- ing profit center a required field in the
view screen appears as shown in Figure 2. MM movement type 501 field status
Issues with RM07CUFA
Report RM07CUFA is very useful but you
MM cannot resolve all issues directly form this
Suppressed () Required (+) Optional (.) report. There is no link to OMJJ sub-
Suppressed () OK Error Error dialog Field selection (Enjoy), so you
need to enter OMJJ directly to update
FI Required (+) Error OK Error
configuration for SAP Enjoy transactions.
Optional (.) OK OK OK
Table 4 Matrix showing intersection of MM and FI field status group settings The report does not compare settings for
FI posting keys. Usually this is not an
MM T156B FI T004F Description Issue Possible correction issue as the MM relevant posting keys 80
Required Suppressed Required The field is populated in Make field status to 99 have default settings with nearly all
(+) (-) in MM, but MM, but the data cannot optional in FI or sup- fields optional, which allows all field data
suppressed be transferred to the FI press in MM
to pass through. If there is an issue with
in FI posting, resulting in loss of
data in the FI document the posting key field status group you see
Suppressed Required Suppressed The field cannot be popu- Make field status
the error message Rules for posting key
(-) (+) in MM, but lated in MM resulting in an required in MM or 91 and acct 400020 set incorrectly for
required error in the FI posting for optional in FI or sup- PRCTR field. n
in FI the required field pressed in FI

Optional Required Optional in The field may not be popu- Make field status
Rohana Gunawardena is the
(.) (+) MM, but lated in MM resulting in an required in MM or
required error in the FI posting for optional in FI SAP practice director of
in FI the required field Quality Systems & Soft-
Optional Suppressed Optional in The field maybe populated Make field status ware, a specialist SAP
(.) (-) MM, but in MM, but the data cannot optional in FI or sup- consulting firm. Rohana has
suppressed be transferred to the FI press in MM been working with SAP
in FI posting, resulting in loss of
since 1992, focusing on the order-to-cash
data in the FI document
process with emphasis on global rollouts,
Table 5 Field status group settings that cause errors
business segment reporting, cross-module
integration, and the financial impact of
SCM transactions. Plus, he has helped
multiple clients on detailed system correc-
tion projects (e.g., correcting inventory
balances, retrospectively activating group
currency, and cleaning up intercompany
accounting transactions). Rohana has
spoken at many SAP conferences and has
Figure 10 Field status group error found for profit center field
published more than 20 articles on various
aspects of SAP. He is a Fellow of the Insti-
tute of Chartered Accountants in England
& Wales. You may contact Rohana via
email at Rohana@QSandS.com.
Figure 11 Error log for report RM07CUFA

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