What is control totals in SAP FI - Financial Accounting?

SAP Term: control totals

• Component: FI

• Component Name: Financial Accounting

• Description: The totals you can use to determine whether the amounts of posted documents were entered correctly. You can instruct the SAP System to update control totals when posting documents.

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• Key Concepts: 
  Control totals are a feature of SAP Financial Accounting (FI) that allow users to check the accuracy of their data entry. They are used to compare the total of a group of documents or postings with a predetermined value. This predetermined value is known as the control total. If the actual total does not match the control total, an error message is displayed and the user must investigate and correct the discrepancy. 
  
  How to use it: 
  Control totals can be set up in SAP FI by entering a control total in the document header or line item. The control total can be set up for any field in the document, such as a currency amount, quantity, or other numerical value. Once the control total is set up, it will be checked against the actual total when the document is posted. If there is a discrepancy, an error message will be displayed and the user must investigate and correct the discrepancy before posting can continue. 
  
  Tips & Tricks: 
  Control totals are an effective way to ensure data accuracy in SAP FI. It is important to remember that control totals should only be used for fields that are expected to remain constant throughout the document or posting process. For example, if a document contains multiple line items with different amounts, it would not be appropriate to use a control total as these amounts will change as more line items are added or removed. 
  
  Related Information: 
  For more information on control totals in SAP FI, please refer to SAP Help documentation at https://help.sap.com/viewer/product/SAP_FI/6.0/en-US?q=control%20totals&language=en-US