Closing a Period in Connected

Closing a period in Connected locks that period so that no further transactions can be entered into it.  This may be referred to as a "soft close" since the period can be re-opened only by System Administrator level users. (Reference:  Creating Connected User Accounts and Access Privileges) 

Aside from year end processes, closing a period is a good idea if financial statements and/or other reports have been generated that should not change.

Closing the period in the General Ledger (G/L) should be viewed as the "final close".  If periods in the A/R, A/P, I/C, and J/C have not already been closed, closing the period in the G/L will automatically close the periods for all other modules of the program.

A period cannot be closed until all the entries have been posted.  Periods must be closed sequentially; a period cannot be closed that is preceded by an open period.

There are 18 periods available to close as defined in Company Setup window.  To close the year, only the first 12 periods need to be closed.

In some cases, reports are printed before a period is closed.  Some of the most common reports include the Income Statement, Balance Sheet, Customer Aging, Vendor Aging, and Inventory Valuation reports.

Closing A Period

NOTE: A period can only be closed if there is a single user logged into the data file.

1) Select Close Period from the File Menu and chose G/L as shown in the following screen.

2) The following warning message will appear.

3) If you have backed up your data, select Yes to continue. The Close Period G/L window appears.

4) Choose the period to close by selecting the checkbox to its right.  You cannot close periods that are preceded by open months.  If you have selected a period to close, you will see this message:

5) Select Yes to close the selected period. The program checks the entries in the G/L, A/R, A/P, I/C, and J/C if you are using these modules.  If all entries have all been posted Connected will close the period.  You will remain in the dialogue box which gives you the opportunity to closing another period.

6) Press Enter or click OK to save the information.

Re-Opening a Period

It is possible to re-open a period after it has been closed.  This may be required if you need to enter adjusting entries to a previously closed period.  Financial statements previously printed for the closed period are no longer final and will have to be reprinted if adjustments are made.  The financial statements for subsequent closed months will also have to be reprinted.

NOTE: Only a Connected System Administrator can re-open a period. Reference: Creating Connected User Accounts and Access Privileges

To re-open a period:

1) Select Close Period from the File menu and choose G/L.  A warning message will appear prompting you to back up your file.  Click Yes if you have made a backup or No to cancel.

2) The Close Period G/L window will appear. Select the period you wish to reopen by clicking on the checkbox to the right of the date. The following warning message will appear:

3) Click Yes to re-open the selected period.

4) Press Enter or select OK to exit the window or proceed to re-open another period.