In SAP Controlling (CO OM CCA), data from internal and external accounting should be reconcilable. Which of the following statements about the reconciliation between Financial Accounting (FI) and Controlling (CO) using the reconciliation ledger is correct?

Introduction / Context:
A key design principle in SAP is that internal management accounting in Controlling must remain reconcilable with external financial accounting in General Ledger. The reconciliation ledger in CO supports this by summarizing CO postings and, when necessary, generating adjustments back to FI. This question asks you to identify a correct statement about how external FI postings and CO are linked through this mechanism.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• Financial Accounting posts external business transactions to G L accounts.
• Some of these postings are relevant for cost accounting and therefore must be reflected in CO.
• The reconciliation ledger in CO collects and summarizes relevant data for reconciliation purposes.
• We are looking for a statement that accurately describes this integration.

Concept / Approach:
When an FI document is posted with cost accounting relevant information, such as a cost center or internal order, SAP automatically creates the corresponding CO document. The reconciliation ledger stores totals by company code, account, and CO object to support reconciliation reports and, if needed, reconciliation postings back to FI. Any correct statement must reflect this automatic data transfer from FI to CO for cost relevant postings.

Step-by-Step Solution:

Verification / Alternative check:
In SAP, when an expense is posted in FI to a cost center, the system generates a corresponding CO document using the primary cost element that mirrors the G L account. The reconciliation ledger updates totals for these postings, enabling reconciliation reports to compare FI and CO balances. Customizing options even allow creation of reconciliation postings from CO back to FI when allocations span company codes, which reinforces the idea of tight integration.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option B is wrong because the reconciliation ledger does maintain totals for relevant external postings. Option C is incorrect, since cross company code allocations in CO can be reflected back to FI using reconciliation postings. Option D misrepresents the reconciliation ledger, which can indeed be used to generate postings that bring FI into agreement with CO. Option E is incorrect because the reconciliation ledger handles actual values, not only planning data.

Common Pitfalls:
One pitfall is to think of FI and CO as completely separate systems without automatic integration, which leads to unnecessary manual reconciliation work. Another common mistake is to assume that the reconciliation ledger is obsolete in all modern releases; while some functions are replaced or enhanced, the principle of automatic transfer from FI to CO remains central to SAP architecture.

Final Answer:
The correct answer is External postings to Financial Accounting that are relevant for cost accounting are transferred automatically to the appropriate Controlling application component and appear in the reconciliation ledger, because this statement accurately describes the automatic integration mechanism that supports reconciliation between FI and CO.