Set Accounting Period

The accounting period utility is used to specify the default accounting period for the current work session. It is also used to open or close accounting periods in order to permit or prevent further postings.

Default Accounting Period

Enter the financial period or click on to select the accounting period you wish CAPITAL to treat as the default. The specified period will remain in effect until the program is restarted or the utility is run again.

For Year

Use this option to select prior financial years for the currently selected company. If no prior financial years exist you will only be given the option of reselecting the current financial year.

Run this function if you have started a new year but have not yet completed work on the prior year's records. By selecting the prior year you will be able to continue to work with the financial periods of the old year.

Strictly speaking, CAPITAL GL Controller does not "close" financial years. It merely transfers what it assumes are final balances into a new set of records for the next year. You will be able to reselect the prior year or years if necessary and continue adding or adjusting balances, and/or printing reports for those periods.

When a company is selected, CAPITAL will always open the last available set of yearly records that it can find for that company.

Pay careful attention to the fact that changes made to prior years do not automatically flow into the current year's opening balances. Any changes you make to the prior year must also be made again to your opening balances for period 1 of the following year. In certain circumstances you may find it useful to enter your journals temporarily into a standing journal batch. This will allow you to create two general journal batches by copying the contents of the standing journal batch. One can be posted into the final period of the prior year and the other to the first period of the current year. There would be no need to re-type the journals. If you are making changes to revenue and expense accounts in the prior year, keep in mind that you will manually have to calculate your adjustments to retained earnings and make the appropriate adjustments to your assets/liabilities and retained earnings account for period 1 of the current year.

Default System Date

The default system date may be changed by entering a different date here. CAPITAL uses the date supplied via your computer's internal clock, or perhaps your network server clock, to determine the default system date.

Opening & Closing Periods

Use the scroll bar to select the accounting period you wish to open or close. Double click the highlighted period to open the period (ticked) or to close it (unticked). Closed periods cannot be posted to in the general ledger. If CAPITAL's security system is activated, then users in CAPITAL Office will no longer be able to add, edit or delete transactions that fall within the date range specified by this period.