What is contra account in SAP SRD-FIN-GL - FIN-General Ledger?

SAP Term: contra account

• Component: SRD-FIN-GL

• Component Name: FIN-General Ledger

• Description: An account whose balance is subtracted from an associated account in the financial statement.

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  Key Concepts: 
  A contra account is an account that is used to offset the balance of another account. It is a type of ledger account that is used to reduce the balance of another account. For example, when a company purchases an asset, the cost of the asset is recorded in an asset account and the payment for the asset is recorded in a contra account, such as a cash or accounts payable account. In SAP, contra accounts are used in the General Ledger (GL) component to reduce the balance of an account. 
  
  How to use it: 
  In SAP, contra accounts are used in the General Ledger (GL) component to reduce the balance of an account. When creating a GL account, you can specify a contra account that will be used to offset the balance of the GL account. For example, if you create an asset account, you can specify a cash or accounts payable account as its contra account. When transactions are posted to the GL, the amount posted to the asset account will be offset by an equal amount posted to its contra account. 
  
  Tips & Tricks: 
  When creating a GL account, it is important to specify a valid contra account. If no valid contra account is specified, transactions posted to the GL will not be offset and will result in incorrect balances.