BKPF

Transparent table · headerHeader for ACDOCAStill live in S/4HANA

The header of every accounting document, one header, many lines. In S/4HANA the line items moved into ACDOCA, but the header stays right here in BKPF: document type, dates, currency, who posted it, and the link back to the source.

Primary key: BUKRS · BELNR · GJAHR (company code · document number · fiscal year). The same document number is reused each year and across company codes, so all three are needed to identify one document.

◆Key fields (BKPF)

Field	Key	In reports	Description
BUKRS	PK	●	Company code, which set of books.
BELNR	PK	●	Accounting document number.
GJAHR	PK	●	Fiscal year, the document number repeats each year.
BLART		●	Document type, SA journal, KR vendor invoice, DR customer invoice, AB clearing.
BUDAT		●	Posting date, the date it hits the ledger and the period.
BLDAT		○	Document date, the date on the source document.
WAERS		●	Document currency.
XBLNR		○	Reference, e.g. the external invoice number.
BKTXT		○	Header text.
USNAM		○	The user who posted the document.
STBLG		○	Reversal document, filled if this document was reversed.
AWTYP		●	Reference transaction type, what kind of source document this came from.
AWKEY		●	Reference key, the id of that source document.

◆One header, many lines

BKPF holds the summary; the amounts and accounts sit on the line items. The join is the document key.

Object	Holds	Joined on
BKPF	One header per document	BUKRS · BELNR · GJAHR
ACDOCA	Many Universal Journal lines (S/4HANA)	RBUKRS · BELNR · GJAHR
BSEG	Many classic line items (open items / terms)	BUKRS · BELNR · GJAHR

◆Tracing a document to its source, AWTYP / AWKEY

Most journal entries are created by another process, a supplier invoice, a billing document, a goods movement. The pair AWTYP (what type) and AWKEY (which one) is the thread back to that source, so a report can show why a posting exists, not just that it does.

AWTYP	Source document	Module
BKPFF	Direct FI posting (manual journal)	FI
RMRP	Supplier (logistics) invoice	MM
VBRK	Billing document (customer invoice)	SD
MKPF	Material document (goods movement)	MM
ANLN	Asset posting	FI-AA

◆S/4HANA status

BKPF is not replaced, it is a live transparent table and still the header for every accounting document. What changed is the lines: the classic line items in BSEG are now mirrored in ACDOCA, which carries the same document key back to BKPF. So one BKPF header points to many ACDOCA lines.

Reading directly: BKPF is safe to read as the header dimension, type, dates, user, and the AWTYP / AWKEY source link. Get the amounts and accounts from ACDOCA, not from the old balance views.

◆Where this surfaces, released CDS views

I_JournalEntry, the released header view over BKPF
I_AccountingDocumentHeader, released header view with the document attributes

◆Reports that use this header

G/L Account Line Items, header context: type, dates, who posted
Document Journal, every document posted in a period
Trial Balance & Financial Statement, lines tie back to their headers
Audit & manual-posting review, who posted what, and from where

How the data gets out: a SAP-compliant extract of the released CDS view via SLT or Table / Table-CDC, never ODP-RFC (SAP Note 3255746). See the extraction pattern →

Need the document header in your model?

We build BKPF as a conformed header dimension on ACDOCA, with the AWTYP / AWKEY source link wired in, and you own the code.

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Terms on this page

BKPF: The accounting document header table, one header per document.
Document header: The summary of a posting: type, dates, currency, who posted it.
ACDOCA: The Universal Journal, where the line items live in S/4HANA.
BSEG: The classic line-item table, open items and payment terms.
BLART: Document type, tells a journal from a vendor invoice from a clearing.
BUDAT: Posting date, the date the document hits the ledger and period.
AWTYP / AWKEY: The pair that links a document to its source in another module.
STBLG: Reversal document number, filled when the document was reversed.
CDS view: Core Data Services, an SAP-supplied, upgrade-safe view onto the data.
I_JournalEntry: The released view that exposes the BKPF header.
ODP-RFC: An older extraction route SAP now bans for non-SAP tools (Note 3255746).