Performing a Hard Accounting Close
What are the main reasons to Hard Close periods in WinNetStar?
- When performing a Hard Close, the system performs some maintenance items related to storing data that will enhance the speed of the system in retrieving data.
- There are two important checks performed by the system when doing a Hard Close – it checks for Item Receipts not converted to Bills and it checks for negative inventory quantities that need to be cleaned up.
- The financial data in the system is subject to change until you perform a Hard Close (note: you can use a Soft Close to protect periods from activity/modifications. But this is not 100% protected since a user could have the permission necessary to make changes in a Soft Close period).
- We will be coming out with future enhancements to the system that will heighten the importance of a Hard Close as it relates to system performance. If you don’t keep up with Hard Closes, you could start to see some significant slowdowns in system performance with future releases.
To perform a Hard Close you will navigate to Company>New>Accounting Close as shown here.
Hard Closes must be performed one month at a time and in order. To close the next available month, simply click on the Hard Close button. The system will perform a check to ensure that all Item Receipts have been converted to Bills before allowing a Hard Close. If any Item Receipts exist, you will see the pop up message above and will need to find those Item Receipts and convert them to Bills before the system will allow you to Close (Note: for multi-location companies, you may have to search for Item Receipts in each location).
The system will also perform a check to ensure that you have no negative quantity on hand related to inventory items. We will illustrate that example later in the help document.
To find the Item Receipts that need to be converted to Bills, navigate to Supplier>Find>Item Receipt/Bill as shown here.
On the IR/Bill list you can select a date range to include the period you are attempting to close and filter the data to show only those of the type Item Receipt. You will then double click each line on this list to open the IR/Bill document and convert it to a Bill. Ensure that the amount is accurate and that it is a valid Bill. You should generally have received the Bill in the mail from your Supplier and matched the dollars to this document before converting. If you have not received the Bill from the Supplier but need to Close anyway, you can still convert the document to a Bill and make any necessary adjustments in the next accounting period when the Bill is received.
You may also receive this pop up message telling you that you have negative inventory quantities as of the month end you are attempting to close. If you get this pop up, you should print the report and resolve those negative quantity issues prior to closing. You can bypass this requirement if you set the company preference that allows you to close with negative inventory.
This is the print preview of the inventory items that have negative quantities as of the close date. You can either click on the print icon to print the report or you can export this to a spreadsheet which will allow you to copy and paste the item numbers for research purposes.
To enter an Inventory Adjustment, navigate to:
Inventory>New>Inventory Adjustment
After resolving all negative quantity issues, you can navigate back to your accounting close screen to click on the Hard Close button again. If you have successfully resolved all issues, you will see the pop up below. If you are ready to close, select Yes.
