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Period Closing: Step-by-Step Guide

Updated over 2 months ago

Overview

The Period Closing module lets you finish an accounting period and lock it from further changes.

From this screen you can:

  • See all accounting periods that were created in Period Setup.

  • Preview the journal that will be posted when you close a period.

  • Close a period once everything is balanced.

  • Reopen a closed period (with a reason) if you need to make corrections later.


Key Features

Based on the web-portal code and UI:

  1. Period list

    • Shows each period’s Start Date, End Date, and Status.

    • Status values include:

      • Open

      • Closed

      • Reopened (a previously closed period that has been opened again).

  2. Preview & Close

    • For periods with status open or reopened, an “Preview & Close” action is available.

    • Clicking it opens a preview modal that shows:

      • The selected fiscal period.

      • The Retained Earnings account that will receive the net result.

      • A Profit and Loss Summary (Total Revenue, Total Expenses, Net Profit/Loss).

  3. Closing journal preview

    • The system builds a period journal from the ledger data for that period.

    • The confirmation dialog shows a simple list of Account and Amount for each line.

    • It checks whether the entries are balanced:

      • If totals are not zero, an “Out of Balance” row appears.

      • The Confirm button is disabled while the journal is out of balance.

  4. Locking a period

    • The warning text clearly states: “Period closing will lock this period from further changes.”

    • After confirmation, a closing log is created and the period status becomes closed, with a success message.

  5. View Journal for closed periods

    • For closed periods, the action changes to “View Journal”.

    • This opens the same preview modal in view mode (no “Close Period” button).

  6. Reopening a period

    • Closed periods have a “Reopen” action.

    • A dialog requires you to enter a reason before confirming.

    • On success, the system shows “Period reopened successfully” and updates the list.


Getting Started

1. Make sure periods exist (Period Setup)

The Period Closing screen works with the account periods you create in Period Setup.

  • Period Setup uses the /account-period API to create records with:

    • periodStart

    • periodEnd

    • status (open/closed)

If there are no periods, Period Setup shows “No periods found.”

Tip: Create your fiscal periods first in Accounting Setup → Period Setup. Only then will you see them in Period Closing.

2. Navigate to Period Closing

  1. Go to Financials in the left sidebar.

  2. Click Accounting Setup.

  3. Under Period Management, choose Period Closing.

    • The sidebar item is configured with the path /dashboard/accounting-reports/period-closing.

You now see the Period Closing list.

3. Related Modules

From the sidebar configuration, these modules are directly grouped with Period Closing:

  • Period Setup – creates the periods.

  • Manage Opening Balance – sets initial balances before the first closing.

  • Chart of Accounts – defines the accounts used in the closing journal.

  • Period-end Reports

    • Profit & Loss

    • Balance Sheet

    • Statement of Cash Flows

Typically, you review these reports before finalising a period.


How to Use

A. Viewing your periods

When you open Period Closing, you see a table:

  • Period Start – start date of the period.

  • Period End – end date of the period.

  • Status – Open, Closed, or Reopened.

  • Actions – available actions depend on the status.

Statuses are shown with coloured labels, for example green for open.


B. Preview & Close an open period

You should usually close periods only after you’ve checked your Profit & Loss and other reports.

Steps

  1. In the Period list, find a period with status Open or Reopened.

  2. Click Preview & Close.

  3. The Preview window appears. It is built from the ledger entries for that period.
    In this window you’ll see:

    • Fiscal Period – the selected period (read-only).

    • Retained Earnings account – the category that will receive the net result.

    • Profit and Loss Summary:

      • Total Revenue

      • Total Expenses

      • Net Profit / Loss (Revenue minus Expenses).

  4. Review the figures. If something looks wrong, close the preview and correct your journal entries before continuing.

  5. Click Close Period at the bottom of the preview.

  6. A Confirmation dialog opens:

    • Shows a simple list of Account and Amount lines that will be posted as the closing journal.

    • If the journal is not balanced, an “Out of Balance” banner appears and the Confirm button is disabled.

    • There is also a yellow warning box saying that closing will lock the period from further changes.

  7. If everything is correct and the Out of Balance value is 0.00, click Confirm.

  8. The system:

    • Calls the closing API (useCreateAccountClosingLog).

    • Shows the message “Period closed successfully”.

    • Refreshes the period list; the status is now Closed.


C. Viewing the closing journal for a closed period

Once a period is closed, you can still view what happened.

  1. In the Period list, find a period with status Closed.

  2. Click View Journal in the Actions column. (This action is available only for closed periods.)

  3. The same preview window opens, but in view mode:

    • Fields such as the Retained Earnings account are disabled.

    • The Close Period button is not shown

Use this to review how the period was closed without changing anything.


D. Reopening a closed period

If you discover an error after closing, you can reopen the period.

Steps

  1. Find the Closed period in the list.

  2. Click Reopen in the Actions column.

  3. A Reopen Period dialog appears.

    • You must enter a Reason (text field). It is required.

  4. Click Confirm.

  5. The system sends a reopen request (reOpenPeriod.mutate) and on success shows “Period reopened successfully” and refreshes the list.

  6. The period status changes to Reopened, and you can again edit the underlying transactions and later close the period once more.


Troubleshooting

1. I don’t see any periods in Period Closing

Possible reasons:

  • No periods have been created in Period Setup.

    • Period Setup fetches its list from /account-period; an empty list there also means an empty list in Period Closing.

What to do

  1. Go to Accounting Setup → Period Setup.

  2. Click Add New Period and create at least one period.

  3. Return to Period Closing and refresh.


2. The “Close Period” button is disabled

In the confirmation dialog, the Confirm button is disabled when the journal is out of balance.

What to check

  • Look at the Out of Balance row:

    • If it shows a non-zero amount, the debit and credit totals for the closing journal do not match.

  • Review your transactions and ledger entries for that period to find and fix the discrepancy.

  • After correction, open Preview & Close again; when Out of Balance is 0.00, the Confirm button becomes available.


3. I can’t edit transactions for a closed period

Once you confirm the period closing, the warning states that the period will be locked from further changes.

If you need to modify data:

  1. Open Period Closing.

  2. Use the Reopen action for that period.

  3. Enter a reason and confirm.

  4. Make your corrections, then close the period again.


4. The Profit & Loss figures don’t match what I expect in the preview

The Profit and Loss Summary in the preview is calculated from the ledger data for that period (closingLedger.credit and closingLedger.debit).

If amounts look wrong:

  • Check whether all income and expense entries have been posted to the correct period.

  • Make any necessary adjustments in your journals.

  • Reopen and close the period again if you already closed it.


By following these steps, you can safely manage your accounting periods in Period Closing, keeping each period’s books finalised and locked once you’re confident everything is correct.

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