Close Your Year End

Before anything else, the one thing to know about this screen. You cannot change your first Year End date after you have closed it. So get it right before you close, not after.

Now, if this screen looks blank, nothing is broken. It means one of two things. Either this is a new business and no Year End date has been set. Or your first Year End has simply not arrived yet.

You set it in G/L Control Settings, under Accounting Settings. First Year End. Current Year End fills in from it, and Last Year End Closed stays empty until you actually close one. And here is why closing matters, beyond tidiness.

A closed year is protected. Invoices and Journal Entries cannot post into it. The numbers you filed on stay the numbers you filed on. Which is exactly what you want the day somebody asks about a figure from two years ago. Close Current Year End, confirm, and the date moves forward.