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User ManualNeed configuration, code or deployment details? In the Technical Manual: Ledger (Accounting)

Periods

Every fiscal year has twelve periods, one per month. When a month is finished and checked, close it: from then on nothing can be posted, changed or reversed on a date in it, so the reports you gave your accountant or filed with a return stay the same. When a correction is really needed, the latest closed period can be reopened with a reason.

MenuBooks > Periods
PermissionView journal entries and the trial balance (to see the periods); Close and reopen periods and enter opening balances (to close and reopen them)
FeatureAccounting
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What you see depends on your role. If the menu, a button or a setting on this page is missing, ask your administrator to give you the permission listed above or to turn on the feature. Only administrators can turn features on and change site settings.

See the periods of a year​

  1. Open Books > Periods. It shows the current fiscal year.
  2. Use the arrows next to Fiscal year to see the year before or after.

The page says how far the books are closed, for example The books are closed through March 31, 2026. Each period shows its dates, whether it is Open or Closed, and its last change: who closed or reopened it, when, and the reason they gave.

The months follow your fiscal year. If it starts in July, the first period of fiscal year 2027 is July 2026. You set the start of the fiscal year in the Business profile.

Close a period​

  1. Check the period first: post or delete the draft journal entries dated in it, and look at the Trial balance on its last day.
  2. In the period's row, select Close through month.

The page confirms The books are closed through date. Closing a period also closes every open period before it, so the books never have an open month before a closed one. A period can be closed only after it has ended.

If the period, or an earlier open one, still has a draft journal entry, the page says Post or delete the draft journal entries dated in the periods first. and nothing is closed.

What a closed period changes​

  • A journal entry dated in a closed period cannot be posted. The editor says The date is in a closed period. Use a date after the closed periods instead.
  • A posted entry dated in a closed period cannot be reversed on its own date. Reverse it on an open date.
  • When a document such as a daily sale is changed after its period is closed, the change is posted on the document's new date, which must be open. If the document still has a date in the closed period, the change is refused.
  • Balances and the trial balance on dates in closed periods no longer change.

Reopen a period​

Only the latest closed period can be reopened. To reopen an earlier one, reopen the later periods first, one at a time.

  1. In the row of the latest closed period, type why it is reopened, for example Late vendor bill.
  2. Select Reopen.

The period's history keeps who reopened it, when, and why. Close it again when the correction is posted.

See also Opening balances and Journal entries.