Set up an Accounting Period Recurring Task

Overview

An Accounting Period Task can be automatically created from a Recurring Accounting Period template. This is an easy way to automatically create Accounting Period task records that should be repeated during a defined future interval. 

Accounting Seed includes preloaded Recurring Accounting Task templates. Each preloaded template starts with a naming convention that makes it easy to sort and quickly identify the purpose for an Accounting Period Recurring Task template. The following are examples of the preloaded Recurring Accounting Task templates that are available:  

• ADMIN: Create new Accounting Periods for next 12 months
• AP/EXPENSE: Process Vendor Accounts Payable
• AR/SALES: Recognize revenue
• CASH: Reconcile Bank Accounts
• CLOSE: Close system Accounting Period
• PAYROLL: Process Payroll
• REPORTING: Generate Financial Statements

The preloaded templates can be cloned to create Recurring Accounting Period Task templates specifically for your organization (org).  

With each daily/nightly run of the Recurring Period Task job in the Automated Jobs, the Accounting Period Tasks will automatically be created from your templates (based upon the Create Date) and assigned to the selected users as tasks. The assigned user will receive an email notification and be able to see the task assignment in his/her Tasks listing.

The Accounting Period Recurring Tasks Dashboard is available from the Accounting Dashboard. The Dashboard shows the Accounting Period Recurring Tasks (up to the first 200 rows) by task name, username who was assigned to the task, the subject, date, priority, and status. To view the full report, click the View Report (Accounting Period Recurring Tasks Report) hyperlink that displays at the bottom of the Dashboard.

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Set up an Accounting Period Recurring Task

Setting up an Accounting Period Recurring Task provides the ability to have tasks automatically generated as part of the nightly Recurring Period Task job in the Automated Jobs. Tasks that are created as part of the nightly job will display in the assigned users task listing.

If you want to customize a preloaded template to set up an Accounting Period Recurring Task, it should be cloned. Then, make changes to the cloned version, as necessary. If you do not want to use the preload templates, you can click New from the list view and create a new Recurring Accounting Period Task template from scratch. However, even when creating a new template, you might want to follow the naming convention of the preload templates to make it easy to sort and locate a template or task in a listing.

Note: The naming convention on the preloaded templates are suggestions, which can be changed or additional ones can be added. The preloaded templates with the naming convention provide direction for creating additional templates, which can be used to create tasks.

1. Navigate to Accounting Home and click the Setup tab. Then, under the Ledger menu, click Accounting Period Tasks. 
2. Select the All list view or another one that you might have created. Typically, you want to select a list view other than the Recently Viewed.
3. Select the preloaded Accounting Period Task Name template that you want to clone. The template displays in the Accounting Period Recurring Task screen. In the sample screen below the “ADMIN: Create new Accounting Periods for next 12 months” template was selected for cloning.
   
   
   Note: Click here to view the above image in full screen. 
   
   
4. Click Clone. The New Accounting Period Recurring Task dialog box displays with pre-populated fields.
5. Edit the required fields.
   Note: Required fields display with a red asterisk.
   1. Accounting Period Task Name - update the displayed name for the Accounting Period Recurring Task template.
      Best Practice: It is recommended to continue using the naming convention from the preloaded templates or to use a similar naming convention of your choosing.
   2. Priority - click the drop-down list to select the priority for the task as one of the following:
      1. High
      2. Normal
      3. Low
   3. Status - click the drop-down list to select one of the following options:
      Note: Assigned users will be able to update the status on their tasks, as necessary.
      
      1. Not Started
      2. In-Progress
      3. Completed
      4. Waiting on Someone Else
      5. Deferred
   4. Assignee - Search for and select the name of the person who will accomplish this task.
      Note: When cloning a preloaded Recurring Accounting Period Task template, the Assignee field displays as blank. Since this is a required field, you will need to search for and select an Assignee as part of creating the clone version.
   5. Create Date - enter a creation date for the task in reference to the due date.
      Note: The system will use the “Create Date” to determine when the Recurring Accounting Period Task will be run by the Recurring Period Task automation job. For example, if you enter today’s date as the “Create Date,” when the nightly process runs for the Recurring Period Task job, a task will be automatically created for the assigned user.
      
   6. Due Date - enter a date for when the task should actually be completed.
      Note: The number of days between the Create Date and the Due Date will be used to set the Due Date for the next task, if one is scheduled.
      Important: As you add a Create Date and a Due Date keep in mind that since there are different number of days in months, the days may vary depending upon the month.
   7. Frequency Type - click the drop-down list to select one of the following as the frequency for the task:
      1. Days
      2. Weeks
      3. Months
      4. Years
   8. Repeat Every - based upon the selected Frequency Type, enter a number to indicate how often this task should be repeated. For example, if you entered Months as the Frequency Type and you want this task to be repeated once every month, enter 1 in the Repeat Every textbox.
   9. Ends On - indicates how long this task will continue to be scheduled. Click the drop-down list to select one of the following:
      1. Never - indicates no ending date.
      2. Number of Occurrences - if you select this option, enter the number of times this task will be scheduled in the Number of Occurrences textbox.
      3. End Date - if you select this option, click the Calendar icon in the End Date field to select a date for when this task should no longer be generated.
         Note: Setting a task to end on December 31 (12/31) will cause the task to only run for the current year.
         
         
         
         
6. Complete any or all of the non-required fields:
   1. Ledger - search for a select the Ledger that is associated with this task.
   2. Comments - enter written remarks that may express information about this new task.
      Note: A comment will automatically display for each preloaded template. This comment can be edited, if necessary.
   3. Accounting Period Offset - indicates when the task is being performed in comparison to when the Accounting Period will end. For example, a June task for a May Accounting Period would have an offset of -1 (minus one).
   4. Exclude from Automation - select this checkbox only if you want to exclude the new task from Automation as part of the Automated Jobs. If this checkbox is selected the task will not be automatically generated as part of the nightly Recurring Period Task job.
   5. Schedule Information - the four date fields that display in this section of the New Accounting Period Recurring Task dialog box will be updated when this task is scheduled to run as part of the nightly Recurring Period Task job. 
      
      Note: Users with the AS Full Admin permission set are able to edit these dates and will need to manually remove them (if these fields are populated) from cloned templates.
      
      
      
      
7. Exit the New Accounting Period Recurring Task screen by clicking one of the following:
   1. Save: Saves the New Accounting Period Recurring Task template.
   2. Save & New: Saves the New Accounting Period Recurring Task template and offers another (blank) New Accounting Period Recurring Task screen to populate (repeat this process until all required Recurring Accounting Period task templates have been created).
   3. Cancel: Cancels the current New Accounting Period Recurring Task.

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