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Kuberan AI Help

Accounting Periods

Open Periods

Overview

Accounting periods are the monthly (or custom) intervals into which a client’s financial activity is divided. Periods are automatically created for each calendar month within the client’s fiscal year. While a period is Open, transactions can be freely added, edited, and deleted within it. Closing a period locks all transactions in that month against further modification, providing a reliable audit trail and ensuring that previously reviewed financial statements cannot be altered accidentally. Reopening a closed period requires elevated permission and creates an entry in the audit log.

Periods list showing month, status badges, close date, and closed by columns with close/reopen action buttons
The Accounting Periods list with Open and Closed status indicators and action buttons.
  1. (1) Period name — month and year (e.g., December 2024)
  2. (2) Status badge — Open (green) or Closed (grey)
  3. (3) Close Date column — date the period was closed
  4. (4) Closed By column — team member who performed the close
  5. (5) Close Period / Reopen Period action buttons

Screen Layout

Toolbar (top): Fiscal year selector and a Close Current Period shortcut button.

Periods table (centre): One row per accounting period. Columns: Period (month/year), Status, Transaction Count, Close Date, Closed By, and Actions. The current period is highlighted.

UI Elements

Toolbar

Fiscal Year Selector

Switch between fiscal years to view periods from prior years. Defaults to the current fiscal year.

Close Current Period

A shortcut button that closes the earliest open period. Equivalent to clicking Close Period on the current month’s row.

Table Columns

Period

The month and year (e.g., “January 2025”). For clients with non-calendar fiscal years, the period label reflects the fiscal month number as well.

Status

Open (green) — transactions can be added and edited. Closed (grey) — all transactions are locked. A closed period can be reopened by a user with the required permission.

Transaction Count

The number of journal entry lines (debits + credits) recorded in this period. This includes auto-created entries from invoices, bills, bank transactions, and manual journal entries.

Close Date

The date the period was closed. Empty for open periods.

Closed By

The display name of the team member who closed the period.

Actions

Close Period (for Open periods) or Reopen Period (for Closed periods). Also includes View Transactions to open the Bank Transactions list filtered to this period.

What Closing a Period Does

When you close a period:

  • All transactions dated within the period are locked. Attempts to edit, delete, or add transactions dated in a closed period are blocked with an error message.
  • The period status changes to Closed and the close date and user are recorded.
  • An event is written to the client’s audit log.
  • The Reconciliation screen shows the reconciliation status for the period.

Transactions that were not yet categorised at the time of closing remain in the ledger but cannot be edited. This is intentional — it preserves the state of the books as reviewed. Any necessary corrections should be posted as journal entries dated in the next open period.

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

Close a Period

  1. Review the pre-close checklist items above. Navigate to Bank Transactions and confirm no Uncategorised items remain for the period’s date range.
  2. Return to Periods and click Close Period on the target month’s row.
  3. A confirmation dialogue summarises the number of transactions that will be locked and reminds you that changes will require reopening the period.
  4. Click Close Period. The status badge changes to Closed immediately. The close date and your name are recorded.

View All Transactions in a Period

  1. Click Actions → View Transactions on any period row (open or closed).
  2. The Bank Transactions list opens filtered to the date range of the selected period.
  3. For closed periods, all transaction rows are read-only — the edit controls are hidden.

Reopen a Period

Reopening a closed period is an elevated action. It 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. Click Reopen Period on the closed period’s row. This option is only visible to users with the Reopen Period permission (typically the CPA or practice owner).
  2. A warning dialogue explains that reopening will unlock all transactions in this period and that the action is recorded in the audit log.
  3. Enter a Reason for Reopening in the mandatory text field.
  4. Click Confirm Reopen. The period status changes back to Open. The reason and user are stored in the audit log alongside a Reopen event.
  5. Make the required corrections, then close the period again following the standard close procedure.
  • Reconciliation — Complete reconciliation before closing a period
  • Journal Entries — Post adjusting entries before period close
  • Audit Log — Period close and reopen events are recorded here
  • Reports — Run Trial Balance and P&L before closing to confirm accuracy