SAP Clearing Document: How to Find and Analyse Cleared Items

An SAP clearing document records the accounting entry that clears one or more open items. It provides the link between documents such as invoices, payments, credit notes and adjustments once SAP has treated them as settled or matched.

For finance teams, the clearing document is often the starting point when a balance, payment allocation or reconciliation result needs to be investigated. It shows that items have been cleared, when the clearing took place and which document created the clearing relationship.

Quick answer: what is an SAP clearing document?

An SAP clearing document is the accounting document created when open items are cleared. The individual items retain information that points to that document, allowing users to trace the clearing relationship later.

SAP documentation identifies AUGBL as the clearing document number and AUGDT as the clearing date. SAP’s reconciliation documentation also lists the clearing fiscal year alongside these fields.

How does an SAP clearing document work?

Open-item clearing brings related debit and credit items together so that SAP can mark them as cleared. A simple example is a customer invoice cleared by an incoming payment. Another is a supplier invoice cleared by an outgoing payment.

The original documents do not disappear once they are cleared. SAP records the clearing information against the relevant line items, making it possible to trace:

• Which invoices were cleared by a payment
• Which payment or credit note cleared a specific invoice
• When the clearing happened
• Whether several documents were included in the same clearing group
• Which document should be reviewed if the clearing appears incorrect

This is useful when an account shows an unexpected zero balance, a payment has been allocated incorrectly or a reviewer needs evidence of how an open item was resolved.

What creates a clearing document in SAP?

A clearing document can be created through several standard SAP processes, including:

• Manual customer clearing
• Manual vendor clearing
• Incoming or outgoing payment processing
• Automatic clearing runs, including SAP F.13 automatic clearing
• Customer payment allocation after bank statement processing
• Clearing of G/L open items

The exact transaction or app depends on the process and SAP environment. For investigation, the important point is that a clearing document records when SAP linked the items as cleared.

How to find a clearing document in SAP

1. Find the original line item

Use the relevant account line-item display for the account type being investigated. Depending on the process and SAP version, this may be a customer, vendor or G/L line-item display, or the equivalent Fiori app.

Filter for cleared items or use the document number, account, company code, amount or posting date to locate the original document.

2. Review the clearing information

Open the line-item details and look for the clearing document number (AUGBL), clearing date (AUGDT) and clearing fiscal year (AUGGJ). These fields identify the document that cleared the item.

3. Display the clearing document

Use the clearing document number, company code and fiscal year to display the accounting document and review the items included in the clearing group.

The original invoice document tells you what was billed or posted. The clearing document tells you how that item was subsequently settled or matched.

4. Trace the full clearing group

Review every item included in the clearing document. A single payment may clear one invoice, several invoices or a combination of invoices, credit notes and payment differences. Looking at only one line can give an incomplete view of what happened.

How to analyse an SAP clearing document

Which items were cleared together?

Identify the original documents in the clearing group. Check document numbers, posting dates, amounts, currencies, business partners and references. This confirms whether the group makes commercial and accounting sense.

Was the clearing automatic or manual?

The document flow and associated references can help explain how the clearing occurred. A recurring issue may point to a rule, matching criterion, payment process or manual step that needs review.

If several unrelated items are repeatedly cleared together, the team may need to review the criteria used in an automatic clearing process. Our guide to SAP F.13 automatic clearing covers the matching criteria that influence whether standard SAP clears open items automatically.

Does the clearing date make sense?

The clearing date may differ from the original invoice date and, depending on the process, from the date the payment was received. This can matter for period-end reporting, ageing, foreign-currency valuation and reconciliation review.

Are there residual items or payment differences?

An item may look settled at first glance while a residual amount, deduction or payment difference still needs investigation. Review whether the clearing created a residual item or whether another open item remains in the account.

Does the evidence support the clearing?

For customer payments, compare the clearing group with the remittance advice and bank transaction. For supplier payments, compare it with the payment proposal, payment run, vendor statement and supporting documents. The aim is to confirm that the clearing reflects the underlying business event.

Common SAP clearing-document investigation scenarios

The final scenario matters particularly for electronic bank statements. A bank statement can confirm that funds were received without containing sufficient information to allocate the payment across invoices. Our guide to reducing SAP FEBAN post-processing explains how bank statement processing and detailed customer clearing are related but distinct stages.

Clearing documents and reconciliation evidence

Clearing-document data is useful evidence during account reconciliation because it helps finance teams explain changes between an open-item position and a cleared position.

For a reviewer, a well-supported reconciliation should make it possible to answer:

• What cleared the item?
• On what date was it cleared?
• Which documents were included in the clearing group?
• Is there evidence to support the allocation?
• Does any residual amount remain open?

For a balance sheet or G/L reconciliation, this information supports the investigation of aged items, unusual postings and unexpected movements. For customer and vendor reconciliations, it supports the investigation of differences between SAP account activity and external statements or remittances.

Where BEST fits in

BEST does not replace the SAP clearing document. It supports the work that happens before and around clearing: matching high volumes of items, validating detailed remittance data, highlighting exceptions and posting clearing directly in SAP where the criteria are met.

The BEST Open Item Clearing module supports automated matching and clearing across company codes and account types. The BEST Customer Clearing module supports allocation of detailed customer remittance information against open receivables, including payments that cover multiple invoices, customers or company codes.

Finance teams retain SAP-standard clearing and the related document trail, while reducing the manual effort needed to identify the right items to clear.

Frequently asked questions about SAP clearing documents

Is a clearing document the same as an invoice?

No. An invoice is an original accounting document. A clearing document records the clearing relationship that later links the invoice to the payment, credit note or other offsetting item.

What is AUGBL in SAP?

AUGBL is the field that stores the clearing document number against a cleared item.

Can one clearing document include multiple invoices?

Yes. A clearing document can link several items in one clearing group, such as one payment allocated across multiple invoices.

Can a clearing document be changed after posting?

The correction process depends on the situation. Where clearing needs to be undone, SAP FBRA can reset the cleared items and, if appropriate, reverse the clearing document. The action should follow the organisation’s controls and accounting policy.

Make clearing-document data useful, not just available

An SAP clearing document gives finance teams the trail needed to understand how open items were settled. Used properly, it helps explain balances, investigate exceptions and support reconciliation evidence.

If your team is manually tracing high volumes of payments, invoices and open items before it can clear them, book a demo to see how BEST can automate matching and clearing directly inside SAP.