Harmonizing the Chart Of Accounts

Question

Hi Every Body,
I have a slightly different question from one on my clients.
They are interested in harmonizing the Chart of accounts.
I have good idea , what should be done while harmonizing COA.
But if some body can give me some inputs on Benchmarking's while harmonizing COA.
When i say benchmarking , for eg: lets say AP control accounts , how many account codes we can have , based on what we will decide to have AP  control accounts.
If i demystify my question , should i need to have one control account for every vendor or do I need to have a control accounts based on vendor type.
Like above example , if some body can tell me the major areas in SAP FICO , i will create a benchmarking template based on your information.
Thanks a lot in advance for all contributors.
VjayGopal

Answer 1

This mostly depends on the business processing and reporting requirements.  There is no hard and fast rule.  Sometimes, things are guided by the statutory requirements too, which must be adhered.
For eg., you define the control accounts based on how you want to classify your reporting.  You can put all the vendor groups in a single control account or have separate control account based on vendor groups or types.  Say, for one time vendor different account than a regular vendor.  Or even a North territory Vendor posted to a different account as against a South territory Vendor.  Things are mostly guided by the business requirements.
Ravi.