FBRA: How to Reset Cleared Items in SAP

By : Mason Garcia Mason Garcia
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⚡ Smart Summary

Resetting cleared items in SAP uses transaction code FBRA to break the link between an invoice and the payment that cleared it, returning both documents to open status so the mistake can be corrected.

  • 🔁 Transaction: FBRA resets a clearing document for customer and vendor payments alike.
  • 🔑 Key inputs: Clearing document number, company code and fiscal year identify the document.
  • ↩️ Two outcomes: Reset only reopens the items, while Reset and Reverse also posts a reversal.
  • 📅 Reversal reason: The reason code decides whether the posting date may fall in a closed period.
  • 🧾 Result check: The status bar returns the reversal document number, which confirms the reset.
  • ⚠️ Watch out: Cleared documents cannot be reversed with FB08 until FBRA has reset them.
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FBRA Reset Cleared Items in SAP

How to Reset AR Cleared Items

In SAP, if a customer payment is made against an incorrect invoice, the clearing can be reset. The following steps work through an accounts receivable clearing document.

Step 1) Enter transaction code FBRA in the SAP command field, as shown below.

Entering transaction code FBRA in the SAP command field

Step 2) In the next screen, enter the following on the Reset Cleared Items selection screen shown below.

  1. Enter the clearing document number for the cleared items.
  2. Enter the company code in which it was posted.
  3. Enter the fiscal year in which it was posted.

FBRA selection screen with clearing document number, company code and fiscal year

Step 3) Press the ‘Save’ button shown below to reset the cleared status of the items.

Save button on the FBRA toolbar used to reset the clearing

Step 4) Confirm the modal dialog box for the deactivation of open correspondence, shown below.

Dialog box asking to deactivate open correspondence during the reset

Step 5) In the next dialog box, shown below, enter the following.

  1. Enter the reversal reason for the cleared items.
  2. Enter the posting date.

Dialog box for entering the reversal reason and posting date

Step 6) In the next dialog box, confirm the reset of the clearing document, as shown below.

Confirmation prompt before the clearing document is reset

Step 7) In the next dialog box, check the reversal document number shown below to confirm the reset of the cleared items.

Message showing the reversal document number after the AR reset

How to Reset Vendor Cleared Items in SAP

The same transaction resets an accounts payable clearing document. In SAP, if a vendor payment is made against an incorrect invoice, that clearing can be reset as well.

Step 1) Enter Transaction Code

In the first step, enter transaction code FBRA in the SAP command field, as shown below.

Entering FBRA in the command field to reset a vendor clearing document

Step 2) Reset Cleared Items

Fill in the selection screen shown below.

  1. Enter the clearing document number for the cleared items.
  2. Enter the company code in which it was posted.
  3. Enter the fiscal year in which it was posted.

FBRA selection screen filled in for a vendor payment document

Step 3) Press the ‘Save’ Button

Now press the ‘Save’ button shown below to reset the cleared status of the items.

Save button pressed to reset the vendor clearing document

Step 4) Confirm the Reset

In the next dialog box, shown below, confirm the reset of the clearing document.

Dialog box confirming the reset of the vendor clearing document

Step 5) Confirmation of Reset

Now check the status bar shown below for the confirmation of the reset.

Status bar message confirming the vendor clearing document was reset

RELATED ARTICLES

Reset vs. Reset and Reverse in FBRA

The FBRA screen offers two buttons, and choosing the wrong one is the most common mistake on this transaction. Both act on the clearing document, but only one of them posts a new accounting document.

Aspect Reset Cleared Items Reset and Reverse
What happens The link between the invoice and the payment is broken. The link is broken and the clearing document is reversed.
Document status Both documents return to open status. The invoice reopens; the payment document is reversed.
New posting No reversal document is created. A reversal document is posted.
Reversal reason Not required. Required, and it controls the posting date.
Typical use The payment is correct but was applied to the wrong invoice. The payment itself was wrong and must be cancelled.

Choose Reset when the cash is genuinely in the bank and only the assignment was wrong, so the item can be re-cleared against the correct invoice. Choose Reset and Reverse when the payment posting itself has to disappear from the ledger.

Reversal Reasons and Prerequisites for FBRA

Before running the transaction, confirm that the posting period is open, that the clearing document has not already been reset, and that the payment has not been sent to the bank through a payment medium. The reversal reason then controls which posting date SAP accepts.

Reason Description Posting date used
01 Reversal in current period Same as the original document, current period must be open
02 Reversal in closed period An alternative date in an open period
03 Actual reversal in current period Same as the original document
04 Actual reversal in closed period An alternative date in an open period
05 Accrual or deferral posting Used for reversing accrual and deferral documents

Reasons 03 and 04 mark a negative posting, which reverses the original amount rather than posting an offsetting entry, so the account turnover is not inflated. Negative postings have to be permitted in the company code before these reasons can be used.

Common FBRA Errors and Related T-codes

Most FBRA failures come from period control, from documents that are not really clearing documents, or from payments that have already left the system. The list below covers the messages that appear most often.

  • Document is not a clearing document: the number entered is the invoice or the payment, not the clearing document. Look up the clearing document in the line item display first.
  • Posting period is not open: either open the period or use reversal reason 02 with a date in an open period.
  • Document already contains a reversed item: the clearing has already been reset, so nothing remains to reverse.
  • Payment already issued: a cheque or payment medium exists, so the payment must be voided before the clearing is reset.

Several transactions surround this task, and knowing which one to reach for saves a reversal that has to be undone again.

T-code Purpose
FBRA Reset, or reset and reverse, a clearing document
FB08 Reverse a single document that is not cleared
FBL5N Display customer line items and find the clearing document
FBL1N Display vendor line items and find the clearing document
F-32 / F-44 Clear customer and vendor open items again after the reset

FAQs

BKPF holds the document header and BSEG the line items. Cleared customer items sit in BSAD and open ones in BSID, with BSAK and BSIK holding the vendor equivalents. A reset moves the item back to the open table.

Not directly. If a payment medium or cheque was created by the payment run, void it first with the cheque management transactions. Otherwise the ledger and the bank statement disagree once the clearing is reset.

A user needs company-code posting authorization through the object F_BKPF_BUK for the relevant activity, plus access to the document type and an open posting period. Many companies restrict FBRA to a small accounting team.

Yes. Cash-application models score remittance text, amounts and customer history, then flag matches with low confidence for review before clearing. Catching a mismatch at that point avoids the reset entirely, which is far cheaper than reversing it later.

Copilot can draft the ABAP or scripting wrapper around a batch input session that calls FBRA for a list of clearing documents. Test it in a sandbox first, because a generated loop that resets the wrong documents is difficult to unwind.

Yes. The invoice returns to open status, so the receivable counts against the limit again in credit control. Re-run the credit update if the customer is close to a block, otherwise new orders may fail unexpectedly.

Yes. FBRA remains the transaction for resetting a clearing document in SAP S/4HANA, and the classic screen is unchanged. Fiori apps for managing customer and supplier line items expose the same reset action from the item list.

FBRA handles one clearing document per run. For volume, teams use a batch input session or a small program that loops over the document list, and mass reversal handles the reversal side once the items are open again.

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