Open and Close Accounting Periods

Overview 

Accounting Seed provides the ability to perform a Hard Close or a Soft Close of an Accounting Period.

Important: A Hard Close and a Soft Close operation cannot be combined (selected at the same time).

Hard Close

A Hard Close will close the entire period so that no transactions can be posted into that period. A Hard Close of an Accounting Period will:

• Display a status of Close in Progress until the Close process is complete.
• Update the opening balances in the next period.
• Lock the closed period from the posting and un-posting of records.
• Update aging records for both Billings and Payables if the Billing and Payable Period Sensitive Aging setting has been turned on in the Enablements screen.
• Update Inventory Quantity Available History if the Enable Inventory Period History setting has been turned on in the Enablements screen. Additionally, the Orders & Inventory package must be installed to see this setting in the Enablements screen.

When a Hard Close is performed, the closed period can be reopened to correct past transactions. You can close up to 12 Accounting Periods at a time. However, the Accounting Periods must be closed in chronological order, oldest first.

Soft Close

A Soft Close will close the selected AR, AP, and/or Inventory subledger(s) so that no transactions can be posted into that period for the closed subledger(s). The actual Accounting Period status can remain “Open,” while it has been soft closed for a selected subledger(s). A Soft Close can be performed on source records for any one of or all of the following:

• Accounts Receivable (Close AR)
• Accounts Payable (Close AP)
• Inventory (Close Inventory) - if you have the Orders & Inventory package installed

When a Soft Close is performed on an open period, the Close AR, Close AP, and Close Inventory fields can be unchecked (opened) to correct past transactions. A Soft Close does not require the closing of Accounting Periods in chronological order.

Best Practice: While you do not have to Soft Close in chronological order, we recommend that you do so for easier reporting.

A Soft Close of an Accounting Period will:

• Lock the period for AR, AP, and/or Inventory from posting and un-posting of records.
• Update aging records for both Billings and Payables if Billing and Payable Period Sensitive Aging setting has been turned on in the Enablements screen.
• Update Inventory Quantity Available History if the Enable Inventory Period History setting has been turned on in the Enablements screen.

The Soft Close will perform the above based upon whether Close AR, Close AP, and/or Close Inventory was selected for closing during the period. Any one or all three can be selected for a Soft Close. You can:

• Soft Close AR, AP, and Inventory at the same time
• Soft Close AR, AP, and Inventory for the same period
• Soft Close AR, AP, and Inventory at the same time for multiple periods

In the sample screen below the Close AR (Soft Close) has been selected for the Accounting Period Name of 2022-12 and 2023-01. And, the Close AP (Soft Close) has been selected for 2023-01 Accounting Period.

Note: Click here to view the above image in full screen. 

Do you want to:

• Soft Close an Accounting Period(s)
• Hard Close one Accounting Period at a time
• Hard Close up to 12 Accounting Periods at a time
• View Rules that Govern Period Open and Close

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Soft Close an Accounting Period(s)

1. Navigate to Accounting Home and click the Setup tab. Then, under the Ledger menu, click Accounting Periods.
2. Select a list view (other than the Recently Viewed list view).
3. Double click in one of the following Soft Close columns on the line for the Accounting Period that you want to close.
   Note: If the Soft Close columns are not available on the list view, they can be added. For more information refer to the Modify Display Fields in a List View article. Additionally, the Close Inventory column can only display if you have the Orders & Inventory package.
   1. Close AR
   2. Close AP
   3. Close Inventory
4. Select the checkbox for each Soft Close column and Accounting Period, as necessary.
   Note: The Accounting Periods do not have to be selected in chronological order.
5. Click Save.
   Note: Once closed, similar to a Hard Close, validation messages will display to prevent posting and un-posting source records in a closed period.

Hard Close one Accounting Period at a time

1. Navigate to Accounting Home and click the Setup tab. Then, under the Ledger menu, click Accounting Periods.
2. Double click in the Status column of the list view next to the Accounting Period to be closed. Change from Open to Closed. 
   Note:  Accounting Periods must be closed in chronological order, oldest first.
3. Click Save. The status of Close in Progress displays until the close process has been completed. This will take a few minutes to complete.
4. Once the Accounting Period close process completes, the Status will display as Closed. An email confirmation that the period has been closed will be sent to the email address registered with the Salesforce user who closes the period.

Hard Close up to 12 Accounting Periods at a time

1. From the Open Accounting Periods list view, select the Accounting Periods you want to close.
2. Double click in the Status column of the list view next to one of the selected records. 
   Note: Accounting Periods must be closed in chronological order, oldest first.
3. From the dialog box, select Closed from the drop-down list. Then, select the Update selected items checkbox. 
   
   
   
   
4. Click Apply.
   
   
   
   
5. Click Save.
   The Close in Progress status displays until the save completes. 
   Note: After clicking Save, if the below error message displays, click the Warning icon on a specific line to view the related error message, as in the second screen capture below. 
   
   
   
   

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Rules that Govern Period Open and Close