Setting Up Financial Years & Periods

Nicola Bootes

Overview

Financial Years and Periods define the accounting periods relevant to your region. These settings are used throughout the system and will appear as filters across various accounting and management reports.

These settings are accessible only by users with Unrestricted Setting access.

The system allows financial periods to be closed, after which the financial figures for that period are locked. This differs from ledger locking, as transactions can still be back-dated to a closed financial period; however, any back-dated postings will be allocated to the current open financial period.

Each transaction stores both a Transaction Date and a Financial Period Date, with the period date being automatically assigned by the system. Financial reports are generated based on the Financial Period Date, not the transaction date, ensuring consistency in period-based reporting.

Please note, the use of the financial period date feature is optional. For period based reporting, this date determines the current open period. All dates earlier than this date are considered in a closed period. The latter of this date or the transaction posting date will determine the period date applied to transactions.

Managing Financial Years and Periods

The Financial Years and Periods can be managed within the settings.

Navigate to Settings → Firm Settings → Financial Years and Periods.

Updating the Financial Year Start Date (Period Date)

To update the Financial Year Start Date (also referred to as the Period Date):

Select the calendar icon next to the Financial Year Start Date field.
Navigate to the correct month.
Select the appropriate start date.

Once updated, the system will apply this date when determining open and closed financial periods.

The Financial Year Start Date determines the current open financial period for reporting.

Financial Year Status

Financial Years are displayed with a status of Open or Closed.

You can manage the status using the padlock icon next to the financial year.

Actions available include:

Close a Financial Year
Re-open a Financial Year

Closing a Financial Year

Closing a Financial Year prevents further postings to that financial period.

Once closed:

The financial period becomes locked for posting.
The financial figures for that period remain fixed for reporting.

Closing a financial year locks financial reporting for that period.

Re-opening a Financial Year

Re-opening a Financial Year allows additional adjustments or corrections to be made.

This may be required if:

Late adjustments are identified
Corrections need to be posted
Additional financial reconciliation is required

Re-opening financial years should only be performed by authorised finance staff.

Permission Requirements

Only users with the appropriate permissions can open or close Financial Years.

Typically, this access is restricted to:

Finance Managers
Accountants
System Administrators

Restrict Financial Year controls to authorised finance personnel only.

Tips & Best Practices

To ensure accurate financial management and reporting:

Ensure Financial Year dates align with your firm's regional and statutory requirements
Close Financial Years only after all reconciliations and adjustments are complete
Restrict access to opening and closing Financial Years to senior finance staff
Review reporting filters after updating financial periods to ensure accuracy
Maintain consistent financial year structures for clean comparative reporting

Always complete reconciliations before closing a financial year

Financial Years work closely with Financial Year End & Reporting For more information see the End of Financial Year Closing guide here.