VISUAL NEWSLETTER – NOV 2006                        

 

YEAR-END CLOSING REVIEW

 

Since December is both the calendar and for many clients, their fiscal year-end as well, it seems like a logical time of year to review the Year-End Closings. Due to Data Retention laws it is particularly important to follow proper procedures in the primary modules, those being General Ledger, Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable. These are the primary focus of tax auditors when they come to call so we’ll devote most our attention there. Other modules require different Year-End Procedures at different times. Make sure you have performed required closings before processing data for the new fiscal year.

 

Keep in mind that the General Ledger does allow you to keep up to two full years of data open at one time. Beyond the two-year limit you must backup the current data and perform a year-end closing. More typically, this is done between 3 and 6 months after the fiscal year-end. Libra maintains next year data by specifying a separate G/L period. This is the month of the year + 20. So if December is your year-end, January would be period 21. A small group of customers opts to close the year immediately, so next year period numbers are never used. Backup databases are critical in this case to ensure reports are available. The three primary modules must be closed at the same time. 

 

Prior to closing the primary modules you need to create backup databases. You do this via the Database Management Utility. Select the option: Create A New Database From An Existing One. Then specify the name of the existing database and the new database you wish to create prior to doing your year-end closings.

 

Copy From Database  Copy To Database

GLD001                        GLD206

APD001                        APD206

ARD001                        ARD206

 

The above example would work prior to closing database 001 for the year ending 2006. Libra only allows 3 digits in the database number but the above scheme is easy to remember. Multiple active databases will need a more elaborate numbering scheme like 106, 206, etc.

 

YEAR-END CLOSING OPTIONS

 

Generally you want to set most run time options to ALL for most data ranges. There are some exceptions for Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable but only use those options listed below to avoid partial closings.

 

General Ledger

 

Year-End Mode                           : Yes

 

This is the only critical option in the General Ledger Closing. If it is set correctly the Year-End Closing will complete normally. Call or check the manual if you have a question on other options.

 

Accounts Payable

 

As Of Period                                :  6

Range Cheque Dates                  :  0  thru  06/30/2006

Period-End Mode                        : Year-end

Delete Paid Invoices                   : Yes

Delete Checks & Debit Memos  : Reconciled

 

The above options would close out the Accounts Payable Module up to the end of June removing invoices and cheques paid and reconciled up to  that time. Any data from July onward would be retained by the Period-End Closing Procedure.

 

Accounts Receivable

 

As Of Period                : 0 = All Data In System

Invoice Dates                : 0  thru  12/31/2004

 

Period-End Mode         :  Year-End

Delete Paid Invoices    :  Yes

Delete Line Items        :  No

Delete Payments          :  No

 

The above options would delete all paid invoices up to the end of December 2004. These sort of options are used to retain data for longer periods. Delete Line Items and Payments should always be set to No. All of these modules have numerous options that can sound like something that they are not. If you do the backups and check your data afterwards, problems can easily be reversed.