Frequently Asked Questions
Can I enter transactions for the next financial year before I have closed the prior financial year?
Last Updated 7 years ago
You can enter transactions for the next financial year while the book is still set up for the current financial year. You can continue to do this even after the financial year has actually ended even if you have not closed the prior financial year.
There is a mechanism in Bookkeeping Pro to close a book. This is located in the option menu on the Book Details screen (the button at the top right on the navigation bar in the Book Details screen).
You only do this when you have finalised your accounts for the prior year. Finalising accounts usually means that you have filed the tax return and have entered any adjustments into Bookkeeping that you accountant gives to you. These are usually adjustments for amortisation, depreciation, and maybe some corrections/adjustments to how items were classified during the year because the way you classify them and the way the tax law classifies them might be different.
In Bookkeeping version 3 once you close a financial year it is not possible to enter transactions for the prior year, and it is not possible to "undo" the close of the book because a completely new book is created for the next financial year with all of the details copied across from the prior year. So with Bookkeeping version 3 you have to be absolutely sure you have entered everything before closing the book.
In Bookkeeping Pro it is much better and you can close the year quickly and without it creating/copying a new book if you don't want. You still have the option to create a copy for reference purposes if you want, and as of version 4.1.2 you will be prompted before closing to create a backup if you want and then to create a copy of the book if you want.
As you only close the books once a year it is a good idea to both create a backup and make a copy of the book during the closing process when prompted. It does take longer to create the backup and make the copy however this gives you safety and also gives you a reference copy of your book that you can use to easily view the transactions entered in the prior financial year.
The improved financial year end closing in Bookkeeping Pro means that you just keep on entering transactions regardless of whether you have closed the year or not. Of course once you close the financial year transactions for the prior financial year are locked and cannot be changed and new transactions in that period cannot be created.
However in Bookkeeping Pro it is possible to "undo" the closing of the year if you get a month or so down the track and realise that you missed something. In Bookkeeping Pro when you undo the close of the book you will not lose transactions that you have entered since closing, whereas in Bookkeeping version 3 if you wanted to "undo" the close you would have to throw away all of the transactions entered since closing the year.
There is a mechanism in Bookkeeping Pro to close a book. This is located in the option menu on the Book Details screen (the button at the top right on the navigation bar in the Book Details screen).
You only do this when you have finalised your accounts for the prior year. Finalising accounts usually means that you have filed the tax return and have entered any adjustments into Bookkeeping that you accountant gives to you. These are usually adjustments for amortisation, depreciation, and maybe some corrections/adjustments to how items were classified during the year because the way you classify them and the way the tax law classifies them might be different.
In Bookkeeping version 3 once you close a financial year it is not possible to enter transactions for the prior year, and it is not possible to "undo" the close of the book because a completely new book is created for the next financial year with all of the details copied across from the prior year. So with Bookkeeping version 3 you have to be absolutely sure you have entered everything before closing the book.
In Bookkeeping Pro it is much better and you can close the year quickly and without it creating/copying a new book if you don't want. You still have the option to create a copy for reference purposes if you want, and as of version 4.1.2 you will be prompted before closing to create a backup if you want and then to create a copy of the book if you want.
As you only close the books once a year it is a good idea to both create a backup and make a copy of the book during the closing process when prompted. It does take longer to create the backup and make the copy however this gives you safety and also gives you a reference copy of your book that you can use to easily view the transactions entered in the prior financial year.
The improved financial year end closing in Bookkeeping Pro means that you just keep on entering transactions regardless of whether you have closed the year or not. Of course once you close the financial year transactions for the prior financial year are locked and cannot be changed and new transactions in that period cannot be created.
However in Bookkeeping Pro it is possible to "undo" the closing of the year if you get a month or so down the track and realise that you missed something. In Bookkeeping Pro when you undo the close of the book you will not lose transactions that you have entered since closing, whereas in Bookkeeping version 3 if you wanted to "undo" the close you would have to throw away all of the transactions entered since closing the year.