Spotlight on Customer Clearing Module

At BEST’s exclusive GL User Group event held in Rosebank on 11th March, Christopher Brooks gave a detailed presentation on BEST’s Customer Clearing Module, which addressed common challenges in customer payment allocation within SAP environments. The presentation covered:

• The need for automated customer clearing solutions
• The evolution of BEST’s customer clearing solution
• Comprehensive functionality overview
• Impressive client processing statistics

Brooks explained the common pain points that finance teams face with manual customer payment allocation:

• Time-consuming manual clearing processes via transaction F-32
• Loss of work when exiting transactions
• Customer account locks during manual clearing 

Manual matching of remittance to SAP lines outside the system

• “Lump sum” payment balances for unmatched remittances
• Limited visibility of unmatched remittance lines

How BEST’s Customer Clearing Module Works

The presentation provided a detailed overview of how the module transforms and automates the customer-clearing process:

1. Remittance advice is received and emailed to the BEST Remit Reader
2. The Remit Reader converts the remittance data into usable formats for processing in SAP
3. An IDoc is automatically created in SAP to post the remittance
4. Posting the IDoc triggers several automated processes:
• Payment entry is cleared
• Remittance lines are posted to the customer account
• Supporting documents are attached to the remittance posting
• BEST Open Item Clearing matches customer and remittance line items
• Clearing is posted, leaving only unmatched entries open

The solution creates a seamless workflow where remittances are automatically posted, matched, and cleared—all within SAP.

Impressive Client Results

Brooks shared detailed processing statistics from several clients who have implemented BEST’s Customer Clearing Module:

Client #1
Industry: Public health and social care service
Location: Ireland
Despite only implementing in 2024, they’ve already achieved a 99% clearing rate

Client #2
Industry: Heading supplier of construction materials
Location: Africa
Implemented in 2020, they’ve processed 930 remittance headers with a 99% clearing rate across 60,239 remittance lines

Client #3
Industry: Health and beauty manufacturing and marketing
Location: South Africa
Since implementation in 2021, they’ve processed 2,618 remittance headers with a 99% clearing rate across 547,540 lines

Client #4
Industry: Leading glass packaging manufacturer
Location: South Africa/Global group
Achieved a perfect 100% clearing rate since their 2022 implementation, processing 83,354 remittance lines

Client #5
Industry: Independent wholesale and retail traders
Location: Southern Africa
Also implemented in 2024, they’ve processed 575 remittance headers with a 96% clearing rate across 68,893 lines

These statistics demonstrate the module’s effectiveness across different organisations and timeframes.
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