What’s the difference between ‘Reset’ and ‘Reverse’  of document(s) in SAP system?

In SAP system, the Reset and Reverse terms are popularly use under Financial Accounting component. When do you Reset a document(s)? When do you Reverse a document(s).  Take a look at this explanation below:

‘RESET’ – you use reset document transaction if the document is a cleared one. For instance, you post a customer invoice and the said invoice has been paid and cleared. In this case, if you want to cancel the document invoice number the system requires you to reset its clearing document. An error message ‘Document includes already cleared items – reversal not possible’ appeared.  Use transaction FBRA to perform reset of documents.

In FBRA transaction, you have two options either ‘Reset’ only or ‘Reset and Reverse’. If reset only, the clearing document and the original invoice document become open items. There are no changes in the balance of the account.  If ‘Reset and Reverse’, the clearing document entry is reverse. In addition, the original invoice document become open item

‘Reverse’ – a document can be reversed directly if it does not include already cleared documents. What happen is, the entry of the original document is reverse. Take note that all reversal transactions in SAP system create another document number. This is very important for audit trail purposes. The original invoice reversed can still be displayed and accessed in the system.

If you only perform Reset transactions, you need to reverse both the payment document and original invoice document. You can use transactions FB08 (individual reversal) or F.80 (mass reversal).