I’m surprised to see so much confusion among my clients about the year/month end closing process.

Virtually everyone hesitates to close their books for fear of not being able to go back and make an entry when their accounting staff or CPA eventually give them the journal entries needed to close out their old fiscal year.

Here’s my tip(s):

• Close your books regularly. – Before you do so ALWAYS turn on the maximum history retention in every module. Simply increase the # of months to the maximum in every setup. You can always get rid of history but it will never come back.
• Print and tie out the records monthly – AP and AR aging tie to GL control account total – TB and GL Detail in balance (and printed)
• Use Papeless Office (free in v4.3+) to print these reports
• Use the COPY function in company maintenance to make a “dummy” company to hold your old data at year end – just in case.
• Remember that 1099 forms must be printed (and closed) from the AP reports menu.

Starting with 4.2 1099 forms are less of a hassle because the totals are tracked for multiple years, but I still recommend you print and close the 1099 processing in a timely fashion. And remember that you won’t be able to take advantage of the latest software improvements if you are on an old MAS 90 version.

What so many people fail to realize is you can re-open the general ledger very easily. I recommend not developing crazy “workarounds” for year end. Close the period (most people strive to do it by the 10th or 15th of the following month) regularly and do away with worrying about keeping months open.

Want A More Stress Free Closing in MAS 90 or MAS 200?

Stay on the latest version – it’s really tempting (but a bad idea) to cling to the older versions. If you avoid moving to version 4.3 you give up the ability to go paperless with monthly closings as well as productivity features (like the ability of 1099 forms to track information for unlimited years instead of just two) that greatly enhance the speed with which you can print reports.

Close your system each and every month – pick a date by which your books will be closed out each month. And close. Don’t be concerned about having to go back and make an entry into a closed period. It’s been our experience that many more people worry about closed periods than actually ever have to re-open them to post entries.

Plan for year end – realize the consolidating 15 different entities into one is probably best accomplished outside of your annual closign process. Instead take non-year end work — out of year end. Test and implement major changes during your normally slower times of the year.

Did I miss a tip — or get something wrong? Let me know in the comments below.