C_TS4FI Financial Accounting Practice Question
A financial accountant in SAP S/4HANA needs to post a customer payment that partially clears an invoice. The company wants the residual item to remain open with the original payment terms so that the remaining balance still appears in the dunning run. Which standard SAP S/4HANA function should the accountant use?
⚠ Common exam trap
Test-takers frequently confuse partial payment transaction types, which create separate down payment style documents, with residual item clearing, which modifies the open invoice itself.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Use the Residual Item processing mode for partial clearing, which creates a new open item carrying the original terms.
Residual item processing is the standard partial clearing method for open item managed accounts. The payment is applied to the invoice, the paid portion is cleared, and a new open item for the difference is generated with the original payment terms, so dunning, payment run, and aging reports continue to treat the remaining balance consistently.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Post the incoming payment with the Partial payment account type and leave the residual item with the original terms.
Why it's wrong here
The Partial payment account type is used for down payments and similar transactions, not for partially clearing an existing invoice. Choosing it here would create a separate down payment document instead of reducing the open invoice, so the original receivable would remain fully open and the dunning run would pursue the entire amount, contradicting the requirement.
- ✗
Reverse the original invoice and repost it with a reduced amount matching the payment received.
Why it's wrong here
Reversing and reposting changes the document number, restarts the payment terms baseline, and leaves a reversal pair in the audit trail. It also fails to reflect that the customer partially paid the original document. SAP provides residual item processing specifically to avoid this destructive approach when only part of an invoice is settled.
- ✗
Post a credit memo against the invoice and then create a new debit memo for the unpaid balance with fresh terms.
Why it's wrong here
A credit memo followed by a new debit memo would technically reduce and re-create the receivable, but it generates two additional accounting documents, breaks the audit trail of the original invoice, and resets the baseline date. It is a workaround rather than the standard partial clearing mechanism, and it would distort dunning history.
- ✓
Use the Residual Item processing mode for partial clearing, which creates a new open item carrying the original terms.
Why this is correct
The residual item function splits the original invoice into a cleared portion and a new open item for the unpaid remainder. Because the new residual item inherits the payment terms, dunning and payment run logic continue to treat the balance according to the original agreement, which matches the requirement precisely.
About these practice questions
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official SAP exam blueprint
This C_TS4FI practice question is part of Courseiva's free SAP certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the C_TS4FI exam.