Closing Period and Fiscal Year in General Ledger

Outcome

All transactions in the General Ledger become balanced. No transactions can be entered in closed periods or fiscal years. The financial system is configured for the new fiscal year.

Transactions can be entered in the new fiscal year.

See each subordinate document for details.

Before you start

You must have a proficient knowledge of the financial system as well as the national regulations that apply.

Follow these steps

1. Perform required periodic routines

   Which periodic routines to perform and in which order depends on a combination of the company's policy, the company's configuration of M3, and national regulations.

2. Verify that transactions have updated General Ledger

   To verify that all transactions are correctly transferred to the General Ledger, check the transaction work file FCR040 by printing a report in 'Transaction Work File. Print' (GLS970). You can also print a list of journal and vouchers that do not balance in 'Journal/Voucher. Check Balance' (GLS975).

   If you find any interrupted or erroneous jobs, follow the instructions in Managing Interrupted Jobs in the General Ledger. If required, recreate internal account entries in 'Internal Account Entry. Create' (CAS950) and ensure that transactions are backdated.

3. Close/Activate period

   You close/activate a period by changing the start and end dates for each FAM function. The dates determines the time period within which transactions can be entered. There are three ways to change the dates, two mass updates, and one individual update:

   • Mass updates: Select a module or select all by clicking F14 in 'Period. Open for Transaction Entry' (GLS990). Then enter a new date range. You can also carry out a mass update by activating the periods in 'Fiscal Year. Close Definitively' (GLS985).
   • Individual update: Select a FAM function in 'FAM Function. Open' (CRS405) and then change the date range for the connected detail record in 'FAM Function. Open Details' (CRS406/E).

   After the update, no transactions can be entered with a transaction date earlier than the start date of the respective FAM function.

4. Conclude period/year end routines

   Once the period is closed, there are a number of tasks to perform such as consolidating the accounts of various units in the company. As is the case with other periodic routines, which ones to perform depend on the company's setup and national regulations.

5. Close fiscal year definitively

   To prevent unauthorized changes of the date ranges of FAM functions to allow posting on fiscal years already closed, you close the year definitively in 'Fiscal Year. Close Definitively' (GLS985). After the closure, no transactions can be entered for that year, even if someone tries to change the date ranges for the FAM functions manually. Note that the process cannot be reversed.

6. Review and update configuration of financial system

   Once the year is closed, verify that the financial system is configured for the new fiscal year. This includes updating the system calendar, various number series, and financial templates.