Overview 

Accounting Periods are the fundamental data element that captures accounting transactions in the dimension of time. When you install Accounting Seed, Accounting Periods for three calendar months back and twelve calendar months forward are automatically set up for you. These can be deleted if you are not using a traditional calendar year.

The format for an Accounting Period Name must be YYYY-MM. The month value must be between 01-12. Every calendar day in a fiscal year must be a part of one, and only one, Accounting Period, meaning there can be no gap in days between a prior period’s End Date and the next period’s Start Date.   

When you access the Accounting Periods list view, you have the option to click New to set up a single Accounting Period or, you can click Create Accounting Periods to set up multiple Accounting Periods at the same time.

The Refresh Accounting Periods button is available to automatically update the Quarter and Year fields. For more information, refer to the Refresh Accounting Periods section below.

Do you want to: 

• Create Accounting Periods
• Refresh Accounting Periods
• Create a Single Accounting Period

Fiscal Calendars

• Traditional Calendar Year
• Fiscal Years
• 4-4-5 Fiscal Calendar 

Accounting Periods

Accounting Periods can be uploaded. The Accounting Periods template is available in the Import Templates knowledge article. The Accounting Period close process performs the following functions:

• It creates opening balances for the next Accounting Period.
• It updates current year-to-date income in the current period.
• It locks the transactions belonging to that period from any changes. Periods can be reopened as needed.
• If elected, it also updates AR and AP Aging records. 

Create Accounting Periods

The Create Accounting Periods wizard automatically creates Accounting Periods for fiscal years that begin in any month of the year and include 12 month-based consecutive periods. For example, a year that starts in January, ends in December, and includes 12 full months. Another example would be a year that starts in July, ends in June, and includes 12 full months. If you have a short year, or you have week-based periods, you will need to create Accounting Periods manually.

When you access the Create Accounting Periods wizard, the Latest Accounting Period displays. For example, the Latest Accounting Period might display as 2024-12. In the Create Accounting Periods dialog box, enter the number of periods that you want the system to automatically create. The number in this dialog box defaults to 12. Use the plus (+) or minus (-) signs to change the number of periods in the dialog box, as necessary. The number in this dialog box can be between 1 and 60.  

1. Navigate to Accounting Home and click the Setup tab. Then, under the Ledger menu, click Accounting Periods.
2. Click Create Accounting Periods. The Create Accounting Periods wizard displays with the Latest Accounting Period.
   
   
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3. In the Create Accounting Periods field, 12 defaults as the number of periods. Use the plus (+) or minus (-) signs to adjust the number of periods, as necessary. Otherwise, enter a number from 1 to 60 for the number of period that you want to create.
4. Click Next. The Update Criteria displays.
   
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5. Review the existing periods. Use the Pencil icon to make changes to any of the fields, if necessary.
   
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6. Click Preview Accounting Periods. Preview the information.
   
   Note: If you need to make additional changes, click Back to return to the previous screen in the wizard. Then, use the Pencil icon to make changes, as necessary. Additionally, you can click Back twice to return to the first screen in the wizard. Then, adjust the Create Accounting Periods, if necessary.
   
   
7. Click Create Accounting Periods. The new Accounting Periods are created and display in the list view.

Refresh Accounting Periods

Clicking the Refresh Accounting Periods button will auto-populate the Quarter and Year fields on the selected Accounting Periods. The result of populating these fields will allow you to generate financial reports on a quarterly and yearly basis.

Before Refreshing Accounting Periods

Important: Before you click Refresh Accounting Periods, review the details below. 

• If the Quarter and Year fields are not populated on the Accounting Period record, you will not be able to run financial reports on a quarterly or yearly basis (in a future release).
  
  Note: When clicking Refresh Accounting Periods, only selected Quarter and Year fields that have 12 consecutive periods will be populated. However, you can manually assign Quarter and Year fields to any Accounting Periods.
  
  
• When referring to a traditional fiscal year, this is a year that begins in any month of the year and includes 12 month-based consecutive periods. See below for examples of how the Quarter and Year fields will be automatically populated.
  
  
  • The Quarter field will be auto-populated as follows: Accounting Periods YYYY-01, YYYY-02, or YYYY-03, will be updated to notate a Quarter of YYYY-Q1.
  • The Year field will be auto-populated as follows: The Year field on Accounting Periods YYYY-01 through YYYY-12 will be auto-populated with the year from the End Date field on the YYYY-12 Accounting Period record.
    

    If this does not match your fiscal calendar, it is recommended NOT to proceed.

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. Select the Accounting Periods for which you want to have the system automatically populate the Quarter and Year fields.
4. Click Refresh Accounting Periods. The Refresh Accounting Periods dialog box displays.
   
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5. Make sure that you have read through the Before Refreshing Accounting Periods section above.
6. Click Refresh Accounting Periods. When this process completes, the system will return to the list view with the Quarter and Year fields populated for the selected Accounting Periods.

Create a Single Accounting Period

1. Navigate to Accounting Home and click the Setup tab. Then, under the Ledger menu, click Accounting Periods.
2. Click New. 
3. Enter the Accounting Period Name, Start Date, and End Date. The status automatically displays as Open. 
   Note: Remember that the format for an Accounting Period Name must be YYYY-MM. The month must be a value between 01-12. For example, 2024-05 represents the 5th Accounting Period in the 2024 fiscal year.
4. Click Save.

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Spring '25

Release Notes and Schedule

• This release includes the ability to set up multiple Accounting Periods at the same time. 
• The Refresh Accounting Periods option is available.