Running a year end is closing the current financial year to move into a new one and generating the values you or your accountant need to submit to Companies House. You can run the year end for the following ledgers:
Sales
Purchase
Nominal
We recommend running your year end when no one else is logged into the database. If a user is locked into a database record at the time of your year end, it fails.
Delete transactions
When you run a period or year end, you can choose to remove transactions. Only the transaction headers remove as the detail lines update the nominal ledger.
You can remove the detail lines during the nominal ledger year end. The default option is set to DO NOT Remove Transactions. We recommend leaving this option.
There is a legal requirement to retain records for six years. This includes electronic data. We recommend that where possible, you retain the transactions for at least this period.
Option | Description |
Transactions cannot be deleted | Even when you fully allocate, you can't delete them until you update them to the VAT report. |
All allocated transactions | All transactions that you fully allocate remove from the system. |
Only allocated transactions up to transaction date | All your fully allocated transactions with a date before or equal to the date you enter remove from the system. Transactions after this date won’t delete. |
Deletion of allocated transactions | It's possible to delete one half of an allocated transaction if the two halves you post are in different periods. This may result in there being a transaction in the system without a full allocation history. |
DO NOT Remove Transactions | Doesn’t delete any transactions. |
Differences between the ledgers
Ledger | Description |
Sales | The toolbar has the option to produce a report of goods delivered not invoiced. |
Purchase | The toolbar has the option to produce a report of goods received not invoiced. |
Nominal | The toolbar has the option to produce a list of outstanding orders. You don't have the option to delete transactions unless you choose year end. |
At the end of the nominal ledger year end process, depending on the version of software you’re using, you may need to confirm if you want to advance your year end and period dates when your year end is complete.
If you select Yes, your year start date, end date, and period range dates advance by one year.
If you select No, the year end completes, but you must alter your financial dates manually.
Run your year end
In all three of the ledgers, the period and year end window looks broadly the same and they all have the same options.
Carry out a period end
You only need to conduct a period end if the current period isn't set to the final period of the financial year.
Note: If you're not sure whether you should have a period 13, please check with your accountant or auditors.
Run the year end
When running a year end, you must run it for the sales and purchase ledgers first then the nominal ledger. The sales and purchase ledgers period numbers must at all times be equal or greater than the nominal ledger period number.
If the nominal update period is already in the next year, then it isn't possible to do a year end in the sales or purchase ledgers, until a year end is done in the nominal ledger.
To perform a year end:
Click into the relevant ledger then click Period End.
Select Year End then click the tick icon.
Select Yes three times to the messages that appear.
Once complete, click OK.
Once you complete the year end, you can view the Year End Journal report.