Overview
Accounting Periods (G/L periods) need to be established before non-labor transactions can be entered into the system.
Key Concepts
Fiscal Years
G/L Periods represent each period in the Fiscal Year. Before adding G/L Periods, the Seed Start Year (earliest Fiscal Year) and Seed Start Date must be established and should cover the oldest transaction to be entered in the system. This is done through AD>Global Settings>General Tab in the Fiscal Calendar section.
InFocus supports the following Fiscal Year Types. This is assigned through Global Settings>General Tab in the Fiscal Calendar section.
| • | Calendar 12 - Twelve periods. Start date of year is January 1st. End Date of year is December 31st. Each month is a period. |
| • | Non-calendar 12 - Twelve periods. Start date of year is specified by user. Each period begins on the same day of the month. |
| • | 13 Periods - Each period is 28 days long, starting on a user-specified start date. |
| • | 5 x 4 x 4 - Twelve periods. The first period of each quarter receives five weeks. All other periods receive four weeks. |
| • | 4 x 5 x 4 - Twelve periods. The second period of each quarter receives five weeks. All other periods receive four weeks. |
| • | 4 x 4 x 5 - Twelve periods. The third period of each quarter receives five weeks. All other periods receive four weeks. |
Format
A G/L period contains a start and end date with a period code in the following format: YYYY-MM (e.g. 2016-10). In this format, YYYY = Fiscal Year and MM = the period- a number between 01 and 13 (12 for 12-period Fiscal Years).
Open/Closing Accounting Periods
When a period is checked open, the accounting period is open for transactions. Conversely, when unchecked, the accounting period is closed. Having a standard approach to opening and closing accounting periods is a recommended accounting control to have in place for your firm.
Allow Adjustments
That said, there are scenarios where adjustments must be made to transactions post-close. As an alternative to re-opening the period (and therefor increasing the margin of error), each period can be marked to Allow Adjustments. When checked, users with access to journals- including the special right Allow Post Closing Adjustments- can make adjustments even if the period is closed.
Tutorial - Allowing Adjustments Post Close
| 1. | Browse to GA>Accounting Periods |
| 2. | Check Allow Adjustments as appropriate |
| 4. | Browse to AD>Permissions |
| 5. | Click the lockbox next to the user and/or group you wish to edit |
| 6. | Enable the Special Right Allow Post Closing Adjustments on each of the following applets as appropriate |
Field Descriptions
Menu
| • | File/Help - Lists standard InFocus File and Help options |
Toolbar Options
Periods Menu
| • | Create New Fiscal Year - When selected, this will create a new Fiscal Year. If it is your first time running this, InFocus will use the Seed Start Year and Seed Start Date to create the first year. Those are set at Global Settings>General Tab in the Fiscal Calendar section. |
| • | Delete Most Recent Fiscal Year - When selected, this will delete the most recent fiscal year. |
Applet Fields
| • | Current Period - This is the default G/L period. It must be an open period in the All Periods Grid. It acts as the default on new transactions and other procedures where a G/L period is required. |
| • | Current Invoicing Period - The default "As of" period for client invoicing. |
| • | Open - When checked, this period is open for transactions. |
| • | Period Code - System-generated. Cannot be changed. |
| • | Start Date - System-initialized but can be changed by user. This is the start date of the period. |
| • | End Date - System-initialized but can be changed by user. This is the end date of the period. |
| • | Allow Adjustments - Click to allow post close adjustments in the period. Note, only users with special journal permissions can make post close adjustments. |
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