Book excerpt: SAP ERP modules are notoriously hard to configure and use effectively without a lot of practice and experience. But as SAP ERP Financial Accounting and Controlling: Configuration and Use Management shows, it doesn't have to be so difficult. The book takes a systematic approach that leads SAP Financial Accounting and Controlling (FICO) users step by step through configuring and using all the program’s facets. This approach makes configuration complexities manageable. The book’s author—SAP expert, trainer, and accountant Andrew Okungbowa—ensures that both you and your end users are up and running quickly and confidently with FICO. He also provides sound and tested procedures that ensure your implementation works without error. SAP ERP Financial Accounting and Controlling: Configuration and Use Management is in fact the most comprehensive and easy-to-follow SAP FICO configuration book in the market. It incorporates a hands-on approach, with hundreds of screen shots and practical examples, that allows a person without prior configuration training to make SAP FICO ready for use in the enterprise. You’ll find that you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to grasp the concepts explained and apply them to your work—even when the finances are complicated, such as with the ins and outs of taxes, currency conversions, or special general ledger entries such as down payments or bills of exchange. Providing an in-depth coverage of both configuration and end user procedures, the book covers most aspects of the SAP FICO certification syllabus—SAP’s view of the module’s key tasks and procedures—including: Configuring and using the general ledger and accounts payable and receivable screens Configuring and completing closing procedures, asset accounting, and financial reporting Configuring global settings and enterprise variables Accounting for both profit and cost centers Creating a house bank Integrating FICO with other SAP modules Taking a jargon-free tone and providing an abundance of examples, Andrew Okungbowa provides a clear understanding of configuration techniques and the breadth of functionalities encompassed by SAP FICO. And as an accountant, Okungbowa understands the needs of end users as well as of those answering to the CIO.