Period and year end processing

SunSystems is a very flexible, open system. No restrictions are imposed on period end processing. You can move freely from one period to the next, without having to perform any kind of period close.

When you specify a period using Change Period (CPD), you are setting the current default period for Financials. This period is presented during transaction entry, report selection, and other functions as the current or default period. The number of periods in a year is determined by the Maximum Number of Periods setting in Business Unit Setup and Financial Calendars (FCS). You normally have 12 periods, or 13 if you use a separate period for your financial year end adjustments, or you may use 13 four week periods.

Date and Period Restrictions

You can choose to apply restrictions on movement to another period; for security reasons, it is often prudent to do so. For example, you can prevent operators from posting transactions to prior or future periods by setting the open period range to the current period on the Ledger Setup (LES) and Financial Calendars (FCS). You may also set constraints on the dates that can be used for transaction processing. Date restrictions are also set on the Ledger Setup (LES).

Note: You can restrict the periods available to certain groups of operators in Security Console or User Manager.

Period/Year End Processing

Although you are not forced to perform period or year end routines at a fixed point in time, you probably want to carry out a standard period and year end procedure. There are a number of common requirements, including period/year end reporting and adjustments, and necessarily transferring the year end profit to the balance sheet.

You can continue with entries for the new period/year while in the process of 'closing' the previous period, with no restrictions except those you choose to impose.

Period/Year End Reporting

You should ensure that all audit reports are printed and filed for each period. You invariably print a variety of other reports, such as your Profit and Loss Account and Balance Sheet reports, which are normally designed using the financial report writers.

Period/Year End Adjustments

SunSystems can deal with period/year end timing differences. It caters for accrual and prepayment transactions in two ways:

you can set up a journal in Journal Types (JNT) which posts to the selected period and automatically reverses the transactions out of the following period
a standard ledger entry type can be used. During Ledger Entry (LEN), a minimum of four lines are posted, two to the current accounting period, and two to the subsequent period. You can automate this procedure by presetting the journal in Journal Presets (JNP).

Transferring the Year End Profit to the Balance Sheet

In line with your accounting requirements, you want to transfer the previous year's net profit figure to a retained profit account in the balance sheet. Before undertaking this procedure, print a Trial Balance. This report includes a line, Prior Year Net Profit/Loss. This is the amount to transfer.