C_TS4FI Financial Accounting Practice Question
When migrating to SAP S/4HANA, what happens to existing secondary cost elements?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often believe secondary cost elements are deleted or remain unchanged. They fail to realize that S/4HANA merges them into the G/L account table, requiring a specific G/L account type.
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
✓
They are converted into G/L accounts.
In SAP S/4HANA, the G/L account and cost element master data are unified. Secondary cost elements, previously managed separately, are now integrated into the G/L account master record. This migration strategy simplifies data maintenance, as users no longer need to maintain two separate master objects, which reduces the complexity of the financial system and improves overall data governance and alignment.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
They are deleted.
Why it's wrong here
Secondary cost elements are essential for internal CO allocations. Deleting them would break all existing cost allocation cycles, internal assessments, and distributions, rendering the entire management accounting functionality useless. Migration preserves this critical data by migrating it into the unified G/L account master instead of removing it from the system.
- ✓
They are converted into G/L accounts.
Why this is correct
During migration, secondary cost elements are converted into G/L accounts with the category 'Secondary Cost'. This unification ensures that all cost data is visible in the Universal Journal, enabling seamless reporting across both FI and CO without the previous need for reconciliation between separate master data tables.
- ✗
They are archived immediately.
Why it's wrong here
Archiving secondary cost elements would remove them from active use, which is contrary to the needs of the business. Since they are required for ongoing cost accounting processes, they must remain active and accessible within the system to ensure that management accounting reports can be generated for both past and future periods.
- ✗
They are moved to a special ledger.
Why it's wrong here
Secondary cost elements are part of the core management accounting data. Moving them to a special ledger would isolate them from the main financial reporting, defeating the purpose of the S/4HANA Universal Journal, which aims to provide a single, integrated source of truth for all financial and management accounting entries.
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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.