Accounting Periods

Open Periods

Overview

Period Management divides a client’s financial activity into fiscal periods — monthly, quarterly, and annual. Periods are generated per fiscal year, and each moves through three states. While a period is Open, transactions can be freely added, edited, and deleted within it. Closing a period calculates its final balances and prevents new transactions from being posted to it; a closed period can still be Reopened if corrections are needed. Locking a period is permanent — a locked period can never be reopened or modified. At year-end, a dedicated Year-End Close posts a closing journal entry that rolls income and expense into Retained Earnings. Close, reopen, lock, and year-end-close actions are all recorded in the audit log.

Period Management with Open/Closed/Locked status cards and per-period actions.

1. (1) Summary cards — counts of Open, Closed, and Locked periods, plus fiscal years
2. (2) Fiscal Year and Period Type filters
3. (3) Period card — name, date range, and closing balances when available
4. (4) Status — Open (green), Closed (amber), or Locked (red)
5. (5) Actions — Details, Close, Reopen, Lock, Year-End Close

Screen Layout

Header (top): A Generate Periods button.

Summary cards: Counts of Open Periods, Closed Periods, Locked Periods, and the number of Fiscal Years on file.

Filters: A Fiscal Year selector and a Period Type selector (All Types / Monthly / Quarterly / Annual; defaults to Monthly).

Period cards (centre): Periods are shown as cards in a grid — not a table. Each card shows the period name, its date range, and (once closed) its closing balances, along with the actions available for its current status.

UI Elements

Header and Filters

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Generate Periods

Opens a panel to generate the fiscal periods for a given year. Generating a year creates 12 monthly, 4 quarterly, and 1 annual period.

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Fiscal Year

Switch between fiscal years that have periods generated. Defaults to the most recent year.

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Period Type

Filter the cards by All Types, Monthly, Quarterly, or Annual.

Period Card

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Status

Open (green) — transactions can be added and edited. Closed (amber) — final balances are calculated and new transactions are blocked; can be reopened. Locked (red) — permanent; cannot be reopened or modified.

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Closing Balances

Shown on the card and in Details once a period has been closed: Total Revenue, Total Expenses, and Net Income (plus Retained Earnings in the Details panel).

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Details

Opens a side panel with the period’s type, status, start/end dates, closed-at and locked-at timestamps, closing balances, and any closing notes.

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Close

Available on Open periods. Calculates final balances and closes the period.

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Reopen

Available on Closed periods. Requires a reason. Reopening allows new transactions to be posted to the period again.

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Lock

Available on Closed periods. Requires a reason. Permanent — a locked period can never be reopened or modified.

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Year-End Close

Shown on a fiscal year-end period that is not locked and has no closing entry yet. Posts a closing journal entry.

What Closing a Period Does

When you close a period:

• Its closing balances (revenue, expenses, net income) are calculated and stored.
• New transactions can no longer be posted to it, and existing transactions dated within it are protected. Attempts to post, edit, void, or reverse anything dated in a closed or locked period are blocked with an error.
• The status changes to Closed and the close is recorded in the audit log.

Locking goes further: it makes the period permanent. Reopening is the escape hatch for a closed period only; a locked period cannot be reopened.

Considerations Before Closing

Before closing a period, confirm:

1. All bank transactions for the period have been categorised (no Uncategorised transactions remain).
2. Bank reconciliation for all accounts has been completed for this period.
3. All invoices issued and bills received during the period have been entered.
4. Any required adjusting journal entries (depreciation, accruals) have been posted.
5. The Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet reports have been reviewed and approved with the client.

Actions

Generate Periods

1. Click Generate Periods.
2. Enter the Fiscal Year.
3. Click Generate Periods. Twelve monthly, four quarterly, and one annual period are created for that year.

Close a Period

1. Review the pre-close checklist above.
2. On the target period’s card, click Close.
3. The panel warns that closing calculates final balances and blocks new transactions. Add optional notes.
4. Click Close Period. The card’s status changes to Closed and the closing balances appear.

Reopen a Period

Reopening should be used only when a material error is discovered in a closed period and must be corrected in that period rather than through an adjusting entry.

1. On the closed period’s card, click Reopen.
2. Enter a Reason (required) — it is stored with the audit-log event.
3. Click Reopen Period. The status returns to Open. Make the corrections, then close the period again.

Lock a Period

1. On the closed period’s card, click Lock.
2. The panel warns that locking is permanent and cannot be undone. Enter a Reason (required).
3. Click Lock Period. The period becomes read-only forever.

Year-End Close

1. On the fiscal year-end period’s card, click Year-End Close.
2. Optionally pick the Retained Earnings account (auto-detected by default) and add notes.
3. Click Perform Year-End Close. A closing journal entry is posted that closes all income and expense accounts to Retained Earnings and transfers net income into it.

Related

• Reconciliation — Complete reconciliation before closing a period
• Journal Entries — Post adjusting entries before period close; locked periods block edits and voids
• Audit Log — Close, reopen, lock, and year-end-close events are recorded here
• Reports — Run Trial Balance and P&L before closing to confirm accuracy