How do I process a year end?

Summary

The following article explains how to process a financial year end.

If you do not have the full Platinum accounts system DO NOT use the End of Year option.

More Information

When to close the year

If you use an external accountant or accountancy firm to prepare your accounts for submission to HMRC, they may give you a list of adjustment journals to be done.

You cannot post transactions into a closed financial year so please consider whether you wish to wait to make these postings, before producing updated copies of the final year end reports or if you would rather proceed and close the year. If so you will need to post these adjustments in the new financial year.

If you choose to make adjustments in the new financial year any postings relate to Profit & Loss codes should be posted directly to 'Z995', rather than to the Profit & Loss codes themselves, to avoid affecting your P&L for the current year.

Final Month End

Make sure you have carried out the usual month end processes for the final month of the financial year.

Checks to make

View the What should I consider at month end? article as it contains checks you are advised to carry out such as balancing your Stock Valuation and Unit Valuation reports to your nominal.

Transfer Profit to Date

The Profit & Loss Audit Trail report will post profit for the year to nominal centre 'Z995' - Profit to Date.

If you wish to avoid adding to this year on year you may wish to journal the balance from the previous year to Retained Profit & Reserves - '90101'. Platinum will not make this posting for you.

Backup your system

You are strongly advised to take a full backup of your Platinum system once you have completed all month end processes for the financial year and before you close the year. Set the backup aside e.g. copy it onto a USB stick, label it with the year you are closing and set it aside for seven years.

If you are using the Platinum backup option then you may run this having first made sure all users are out of the system, including yourself.

If you need any advice please Contact your Platinum dealer or our support team on 0116 230 1500 or by using our website support contact page for advice.

Closing the Year - Final Reports

Make sure you have the month end reports for the final month of the year then proceed with all the options listed below.

You are advised to print each of the below reports to a PDF print record. This allows you to store the reports in your preferred location and easily email them to your accountant. The P&L and Balance Sheet Audit Trail printouts in particular are very large so electronic storage is highly recommended. Contact Contact your Platinum dealer or our support team on 0116 230 1500 or by using our website support contact page if you need assistance.

Debtors, Creditors & Trial Balance

Produce an Aged Debtors & Aged Creditors report as at the end of the financial period. In each case follow the steps described in the month end guide.
Produce a Trial Balance. This will be your final year end trial balance. Print a copy and also press <Ctrl+P> and select [Excel] to output a copy to Excel.

These are the reports you produce whilst running the month end guide for the last month of the financial year but it is worth re-running them to ensure you have a copy of each.

Full Year Profit & Loss Report

Go to " Nominal Ledger Profit & Loss Change Report Range".
In the "Start Date:" and "End Date:" fields, enter the date range for your entire financial year.
Press <Esc>.
Press <Alt+P> and choose your PDF printer, usually '92'.
Select [Run Profit & Loss Report] which will give you a full year P&L report.
Select [Audit Trail & Clear Down].
Once the report has completed click [Accept].

The system will now post a journal against each P&L Nominal Code to clear the balance and post the opposite entry to Profit to Date 'Z995'. This equals your profit for the financial year.

Balance Sheet

Go to " Nominal Ledger Balance Sheet"

Press <Alt+P> and choose your PDF printer, usually '92'.
Select [Balance Sheet]
Select [Audit Trail & Clear Down].
Once the report has completed click [Accept].

Moving on to the new Financial Year

When you are ready to close the year and move into the next year :

Go to " Reports & Settings End of Year".

This is irreversible. If you intend to post any adjustments to the final figures please be aware you cannot post back into a closed financial year.

You will see the message : "Current Financial Year is 01/<start month>/<year> to 31/<last month>/<year>. Continue (Y/N)".

If it informs you that Your Vat will be cleared down please do not concern yourself as this is an internal process and in no way affects your VAT reporting or ability to submit VAT returns.

Press "Yes" to close off the year.

Unprocessed Data Found

If you are presented with a message that says "Unprocessed data found in the Sales, Purchase or Nominal Ledger" please see the article entitled Clearing any unprocessed transactions at a year end.

Follow the article carefully to process the data then repeat the steps to process the year end from the top of this article. It is important to redo the final reports in case any figures have altered in anyway. You need to ensure your accountant has the correct closing values.