Fiscal years

Every set of books is divided into fiscal years, and every year into 12 monthly periods. Here you open the next year before it starts, lock a month once its returns are filed, and close a year at year end (or reopen it to correct it).

Where to find it

Open a set of books from Accounting > Books and choose the Fiscal years tab. The Periods and locks link on the Books overview also brings you here.

You need the View permission on Books. Every action on this tab needs the Edit permission on Books; in the default roles that is the Administrator and the Finance Lead.

What you see

The tab opens with: "Postings need an open fiscal year and an unlocked period. Lock a period once its returns are filed; close the year once the next one is open and no drafts remain."

Below that is one card per fiscal year, newest first. Each card shows:

• "FY <name>", for example "FY 2026-27" (or "FY 2026" when the year doesn't cross a calendar year);
• a Current badge on the year that holds today's date, and "Closed <date>" on a closed year;
• the year's start and end dates;
• "N of 12 periods locked";
• Close year on an open year, or Reopen year on a closed one (shown only with the Edit permission on Books).

Click the year's heading to show or hide its periods. The current year starts open. Each period shows "P01 <month>" to "P12 <month>" with a switch. A locked period is shaded and reads "Locked: no postings"; an unlocked one shows its date range.

What you can do

Open next year

Asks "Open the next fiscal year?": "The year after FY <last> (from <end date>) will be opened with 12 monthly periods. Opening balances for it are entered under Opening balances." Click Open year, or Cancel.

• Who: anyone with the Edit permission on Books. Without it the button isn't shown.
• What happens next: "Fiscal year <name> opened with 12 periods." A new card appears at the top.
• It always opens the year straight after the latest one. There is no way to open an earlier year or to remove a year.

Lock or unlock a period

Switch a period on to lock it, or off to unlock it.

• Who: anyone with the Edit permission on Books.
• Greyed out: without that permission, in a closed year, and for a moment while the change saves. No reason is shown on hover.
• What happens next: "Period <n> locked." or "Period <n> unlocked." From then on, nothing dated in a locked month can be posted: not manual vouchers, and not the automatic postings from demands, receipts, payouts, accruals or commissions. They are refused with "Period <n> of <FY> is locked".
• If it's refused: a period of a closed year can't be unlocked. A pop-up message reads "That fiscal year is closed." Reopen the year first.

Close year

Opens "Close FY <name>?", which explains: "Income and expense balances of <start> to <end> are closed into Profit & Loss Account with a journal on the last day, the closing balance-sheet balances become the next year's opening balances, and every period is locked."

A checklist shows whether the year is ready, each line marked Ready in green or Blocked in red:

• "Next year FY <name> is open", or "Next year not opened yet (open it under Fiscal years)".
• "No draft vouchers in the year", or "<n> draft voucher(s) to post or cancel first". The Show link opens the voucher list filtered to these books' drafts.

Closing journal narration is the text on the closing journal; it starts as "Year-end close FY <name>" (up to 255 characters). Click Close year, or Cancel.

• Who: anyone with the Edit permission on Books. Without it the button isn't shown.
• Greyed out: Close year in the dialog stays greyed out until both checklist lines are Ready. No reason is shown on hover; the checklist is the reason.
• What happens next: the app posts a Journal voucher on the year's last day that moves every income and expense balance into Profit & Loss Account. It then writes each asset, liability and equity ledger's closing balance as the next year's opening balance, locks all 12 periods and marks the year closed. You see "FY <name> closed: <profit or loss> of <amount>, <n> opening balances written."
• If it's refused, the message appears at the top of the dialog:
  • "Close the earlier fiscal year first." An older year is still open; close it before this one.
  • "Open the next fiscal year before closing this one."
  • "Post or cancel every Draft voucher of the year before closing it."
  • "This fiscal year is already closed." (the page was out of date; refresh it)
  • "These books have no active JRNL voucher type" or "These books have no active ledger copied from template 3200; sync templates". The closing journal needs the Journal voucher type and the Profit & Loss Account ledger; reactivate them.

Reopen year

Opens "Reopen FY <name>?": "Reopening reverses the closing journal (<voucher number>), removes the next year's opening balances and unlocks the periods. The following year must still be open." If the following year is closed, a warning adds "FY <name> is closed; reopen it first."

Click Reopen year, or Cancel.

• Who: anyone with the Edit permission on Books. Without it the button isn't shown.
• What happens next: the closing journal is reversed on the year's last day, all 12 periods are unlocked, the closed mark is cleared, and every opening balance of the next year is removed. You see "FY <name> reopened; <n> periods unlocked."
• If it's refused: "Reopen the following year first." when the next year is closed.

Statuses

• Year: open or Closed. Close year moves a year to Closed; Reopen year moves it back.
• Period: unlocked or locked. The switch changes it. Closing a year locks all 12 periods; reopening unlocks all 12.
• Current isn't a stored status. It marks the year whose dates include today.

Things to know

• Open the next year before it starts. Every posting needs a fiscal year that covers its date. Without one, vouchers and automatic postings are refused with "No fiscal year covers that date. Open the next fiscal year under Books first."
• Why lock a period. Once the GST or TDS return for a month is filed, locking the month stops anyone, and any automatic posting, from changing the figures you filed. Unlock it only to post a genuine late entry, and lock it again afterwards.
• Close years in order. A year can be closed only after every earlier year is closed and the next year is open.
• The app doesn't check the calendar. Close year is allowed before the year's last day, as long as the checklist is ready. Close a year only once all its entries are in.
• Closing replaces the next year's opening balances. Any opening balances you typed for the next year on Opening balances are removed and replaced by the carried-forward closing balances.
• Reopening leaves the next year without opening balances until you close this year again. Post your corrections, then close the year again to carry the balances forward.
• The Journal voucher type and the Profit & Loss Account ledger must stay active. The closing journal uses them. Keep them active on Voucher types and Ledgers.
• Document numbers follow the April year. Numbers such as demand and receipt numbers carry the Indian April-to-March year, even when these books' fiscal year starts in another month.
• Your organization can rename the tab labels, so your screen may use different words.

Related

• Books overview
• Opening balances
• Vouchers
• Voucher types
• Period balances
• Profit & loss
• Balance sheet