Processing Fiscal Year End

Overview

This article covers the process and details that should be handled in Softbase Evolution to open a new Fiscal Year and close out a previous Fiscal Year.  

Details

Opening a new Fiscal Year

When ready to open a new Fiscal Year, which will allow you to post transactions into that fiscal year, you will go to; 

• Accounting Menu -> Journal Entry and select the Fiscal Year End Button.   

This will bring up the GL Year End Roll and should default to the start of the next Fiscal Year.  

• Ensure the Start Date of the Fiscal Year you want to open is selected and then press the Ok button.  

For example if your Fiscal Year is Calendar year based and will start in 01/01/2026 then to open the Fiscal Year starting on 01/01/2026 you will want to make sure that is set as the Fiscal Year Start Date in the GL Year End Roll box.

Once you click the OK button the following will happen;

• GL Summary MTD and YTD records for each GL Account for each month of the next Fiscal Year will be created to allow you to post into them.  
  • Sales, Cost of Sales and Expense Accounts will be updated to start at 0 for the Fiscal Year
  • Assets and Liabilities balances will be carried forward from the previous Fiscal Year to the new Fiscal Year.  
• Retained Earnings that is calculated based on the Profit/Loss from the Previous Fiscal Year will be carried over to the new Fiscal Year.  
  • See the below article for examples and more details on the Retaining Earnings
  • Retained Earnings Entries when closing a Fiscal Year

In addition to opening up the new Fiscal Year you will to do the follow to allow transactions to be posted into the new Fiscal Year

• Settings -> Administration -> Company -> Accounting Tab and then update the Cut off Date fields to allow you to post into that date ranges.
  • This will control the date range that GL Postings can be posted into.

• Settings -> Administration -> Department - Docs and Dates Tab and then update the Transaction Date Range.  
  • This controls the dates that Parts, Labor, and other details can be posted to on a Work Order
  • **** Once you update one Department and click Save, then use the  Set button in the lower right hand corner to quickly update all other departments with the same Transaction Date Range.  

Closing a Fiscal Year

When the Fiscal Year comes to an end ensure that you have ran and saved a copy of any reports you need from a year end perspective.  Those generally include but aren't limited to the following

• AR Aging
• AP Aging
• Parts Inventory Valuation

As you work on closing out your prior Fiscal Year you will likely be making GL Entries back into the prior Fiscal Year.  In order to allow for that ensure that your Cut Off Start Date in the Accounting Tab of the Company Page from above is set to a value in the previous Fiscal year that allow you to do so.  See below screen that displays the Cut Off Date in 2023 when the Current Fiscal Year started on 1/1/2024.  

When you have completed all of your GL Entries into the prior Fiscal Year and you are ready to close it in order to prevent any additional entries into it then take the following steps

• Go to Accounting Menu -> Journal Entry -> Fiscal Year End -> Set the Fiscal Year Start to the start of the Prior Fiscal Year and click OK.  
  • This is done to ensure that all entries you made back into the Prior Fiscal Year while in your Current Fiscal Year update the GL MTD and YTD correctly for the Prior Fiscal year
• Go to Accounting Menu -> Journal Entry -> Fiscal Year End -> Set the Fiscal Year Start to the start of the Current Fiscal Year and click OK.  
  • This is done to roll the final Retained Earnings from the Prior Fiscal Year into the Current Fiscal Year as well as bring forward any updates to Assets or Liabilities account balances made back into the prior Fiscal Year into the current Fiscal Year 
• Settings -> Administration -> Company -> Accounting Tab and then update the Cut off Date fields to not allow you to post into the prior Fiscal Year and choose Save
• Settings -> Administration -> Department - Docs and Dates Tab and then update the Transaction Date Range to not allow you to post details to Work Orders in the prior Fiscal Year and choose Save.  
  
  • **** Once you update one Department and click Save, then use the  Set button in the lower right hand corner to quickly update all other departments with the same Transaction Date Range.  

Once the above steps have been taken you have closed out the Prior Fiscal Year!