Frequently Asked Questions

The "Close Financial Year" facility is accessed from the option menu on the Book Details screen.You should only execute the "Close Financial Year" function once you have finalised your books for the financial year that you are closing.
This usually means that:

• you have entered all transactions for that year,
• have reconciled all transactions for that year,
• have sent your details to your accountant,
• you have entered any adjustments provided to you by your accountant,
• you have filed your accounts with your tax authority as final accounts.

Bookkeeping Pro does not create a new book when closing a financial year. This means that closing a book can be much faster in Bookkeeping Pro than in Bookkeeping version 3. It also means that in Bookkeeping Pro it is possible to reverse the closing of a book without losing transactions that were entered into the next financial year.

It is recommended to make a copy of the book before closing it and at least make a backup. A copy of the book will allow you to easily refer to the prior years information as it was when the book was closed. You should lock the copy of the book and name it appropriately so you can use it for reference purposes. In Bookkeeping Pro version 4.1.2 and above you will be prompted to backup and make a copy before the close process commences.

The process that occurs when closing a financial year is:

1. The closing balances of accounts at the end of the financial year are calculated
2. The closing balances of inventory items at the end of the financial year are calculated
3. The current earnings at the end of the financial year are posted to the accumulated profits account
4. The current balance of all revenue and expense accounts are set to zero
5. The current earnings is set to zero
6. The financial year start date is advanced to the start of the next financial year
7. The book is locked to entering any transactions before the start of the new financial year
8. The opening balance on each account is set to that previously calculated
9. The opening balance on each inventory item is set to that previously calculated
10. The ledger is posted for all of the changes