C_TS4FI Financial Accounting Practice Question
A financial accountant is analyzing a financial statement in SAP S/4HANA Financial Accounting. The accountant notices that the balance of a reconciliation account for customers does not match the sum of customer balances in the subledger. Which of the following is the most likely cause for this discrepancy?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is assuming that configuration issues like open item management or customer master data cause balance discrepancies, when the most common cause is direct manual postings to the reconciliation account.
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
✓
The reconciliation account has been posted to directly via a manual journal entry.
Reconciliation accounts are automatically updated by subledger postings, ensuring that the G/L balance matches the sum of customer balances. If a manual journal entry is posted directly to the reconciliation account, it creates an additional balance not backed by subledger items, causing a discrepancy. The correct approach is to avoid direct postings to reconciliation accounts; they should be posted automatically only.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The company code's fiscal year variant does not match the customer's fiscal year.
Why it's wrong here
The fiscal year variant is defined at the company code level and applies to all postings. Customers do not have their own fiscal year; they follow the company code's fiscal year. A mismatch in fiscal year variants is not possible and would not cause a discrepancy between the reconciliation account and subledger balances.
- ✓
The reconciliation account has been posted to directly via a manual journal entry.
Why this is correct
If a manual journal entry is posted directly to a reconciliation account, it creates a balance in the G/L account that is not reflected in the subledger. This causes a mismatch between the reconciliation account balance and the sum of customer balances. Reconciliation accounts should only be updated through subledger postings to maintain consistency.
- ✗
The reconciliation account is not flagged as an open item management account.
Why it's wrong here
Open item management is required for reconciliation accounts to manage open items, but if it were not set, the account would still be updated with postings from the subledger. The discrepancy between the reconciliation account balance and the subledger sum is not directly caused by the absence of open item management; it would affect clearing capabilities, not the balance itself.
- ✗
The customer master records have not been updated with the correct reconciliation account.
Why it's wrong here
If the customer master records have an incorrect reconciliation account, postings would be directed to a different reconciliation account, potentially causing discrepancies in multiple accounts. However, the scenario describes a discrepancy for a specific reconciliation account, and the sum of customer balances would still match if all customers were assigned to that account. The mismatch is more likely due to direct postings.
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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.