You set up fiscal years in this table by setting up accounting periods and indicating which period is the start of a new fiscal year. You can use the periods as a time reference in various places in the program, for example, when you are getting an overview of posted entries in a Balance/Budget window. You specify the length of the accounting period, such as one month or one quarter.
The shortest possible accounting period is one day. You must set up at least one accounting period for each fiscal year.
To set up fiscal years and accounting periods, click the Create Year button in the Accounting Periods window and then enter the starting date, number of periods and period length in the window that appears. After this, the program will automatically enter the periods in the Accounting Period table and also indicate when the fiscal year begins.
To close a fiscal year, click the Close Year button and then run the Close Income Statement batch job. When you post G/L entries to a closed fiscal year, the program will mark the Prior-Year Entry field for those entries in the G/L Entry table. When you post to a closed fiscal year, you must always remember to run the Close Income Statement batch job to get the correct balances on the G/L accounts. Repeat the batch job each time you make a prior-year entry.