Dear AccountMate Clients,
Since most companies’ fiscal years match the calendar year, we’re already fielding calls about the year end process and always dedicate our December edition of the NexLAN/AccountMate NewsLine to providing as much info in one place as we can—so here goes!
Keep in mind that you won’t have beginning balances for the following fiscal year until you close the current fiscal year, but since you have a three-year posting window of “Prior Year,” “Current Year,” and “Next Year” it’s not a problem to go ahead and close 2018 now and then later post your adjusting entries (Section 179, etc.) into the prior fiscal year. In fact, AccountMate has a neat feature in The Magic 13th Period you can then make use of for exactly that purpose so as not to obfuscate your final period operational performance.
You have to close all modules through their final respective fiscal period of the current year (check out the free checklists available here and also scroll down to the first tech tip below) in order to close the fiscal year—which is then quick and easy. In a nutshell, hit <Utilities><Data Manager> and “Recalculate Account Balances,” then in the GL module hit <Housekeeping><Fiscal Year-End Closing> and pay attention as there’s one prompt where you hit <No> to continue—and then the actual year-end closing process is QUICK, typically only a second or two.
Closing the fiscal year is unrelated to closing the payroll year—which resets the YTD numbers for W-2 reporting. The quick overview is that, after the last payroll of 2018 but before the first payroll of 2019, in the Payroll module you need to hit <Housekeeping><W-2/1099 Year-End Closing> and then get the 2019 payroll tax update installed—which is released at the very end of December and typically installed by us here at NexLAN. We’ll be in touch very soon asking what your “window” is between the last run of 2018 and first run of 2019 so we can get you scheduled.
For videos on Closing the Fiscal Period, Closing the Payroll Tax Year, and Closing the Fiscal Year—plus numerous white papers on these topics—login in at https://accountmate.com/enduser (use your Support # as shown in <Help> <About>) where you’ll find “Year-End Closing Procedures” on the “Technical Support” tab.
A question that still comes up is: Do I need to make a copy of my company so I have detail of the prior year’s payroll? Not anymore! Once upon a time, closing the payroll year summarized the prior year’s payroll data so you didn’t have line item detail—but that changed many years ago. If you’d sleep better with a full company backup (not a bad idea as you’ll then have a complete “as of” data snapshot for Validating the Balance Sheet) then let us know and we’re happy to make one, but it’s not necessary for payroll detail purposes.
Still have a question not covered above or in the videos and whitepapers? Hit us for a healthy holiday helping of free telephone and e-mail support!
Regards,
https://nexlan.com
Got’cher AM/SQL V10.4?
For AccountMate/SQL end-users with an active Lifecycle Support Plan, you should have received the latest release in the mail from us by now—and hopefully you made it to the online webinar last week regarding the latest features (now available as a recorded webinar in the AccountMate “end user” section of the website under <Education><Webcasts on Demand>).
I know year-end will be hectic, but many clients are seasonal so that first quarter 2019 offers an excellent opportunity to close any database-level security holes. Thus it’s time to start discussing implementation for V10.4—especially for installations running AM/SQL V8.2 or earlier which are (or soon will be) using an unsupported Microsoft SQL Server back-end.
Tech Note: Setting Up and Printing Report Batches
One of the many useful features in AccountMate is the “Print Batch” feature, which allows you to organize various reports (and specific macros thereof) into groups that can then be easily generated and printed with just a couple clicks. Handy examples are batches like “Month End Reports” to include financial reports and the subsidiary module validating detail reports, or “Sales Reports” to include reports grouped and filtered specifically for the person reviewing them—and using macros for the criteria ensures you get consistent report criteria so you’re comparing apples-to-apples.
Thus, we’re happy to provide Article #1083: How to Set Up and Print Reports by Batch as a guide for this handy shortcut!
Tech Note: How to Amend Assigned Lot Numbers
When erroneous lot numbers have been assigned to inventory items or when you decide to use a new lot numbering convention for your existing inventory, there’s certain procedures to be followed to amend the lot numbers—which are different “prior to AM/SQL V10.4” and “after AM/SQL V10.4” as the process has recently been simplified.
For details on both options, please see Article #1053: How to Amend Lot Numbers Assigned to Items On Hand.
Technical Tips
Versions: AM10 for SQL and Express
AM9 for SQL, Express, and LAN
AM8 for SQL, Express, and LAN
Module: GL
Q: Our company’s fiscal year has twelve (12) fiscal periods with a monthly period interval; however, I have noticed the existence of Period 13. What is Period 13 for, and how can I record transactions in this period?
A: Period 13 is for prior year-end adjustments only. You can record prior year-end adjustments in the General Ledger using the Journal Entry Transactions function. You must select the Prior Year-End Adjustment option in the Journal Entry Transactions > Information tab > Journal Entry Type area for the transaction to be posted in Period 13. You can post prior year-end adjustments though you select the Standard journal entry type; however, it will be posted not in Period 13 but in the period the transaction date falls into. For example, if the transaction date is 12/31/xx and this date falls within Period 12, the transaction will be posted in Period 12.
In the subsidiary modules you cannot post transactions in Period 13. Same as the standard journal entry or adjusting entry recorded in the General Ledger, you can post prior period transactions in the subsidiary modules but these will be posted in the period the transaction dates fall into.
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Versions: AM10 for SQL and Express
AM9 for SQL and Express
AM8 for SQL and Express
Module: AR
TIP: Realization of revenue over a certain period is possible starting in AccountMate 8.3 for SQL and Express. To activate this feature, you must mark the AR Module Setup > General (2) tab > Enable Revenue Amortization checkbox. This setting is a one-time setup and is available regardless of whether IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) is activated for the company.
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Versions: AM10 for SQL and Express
AM9 for SQL and Express
AM8 for SQL and Express
Module: AR
TIP: The Inventory Maintenance and Inventory Type Maintenance > Settings (2) tab is accessible only when the following conditions are met:
- The AR Module Setup > General (2) tab > Enable Revenue Amortization checkbox is marked.
- The Inventory Maintenance/Inventory Type Maintenance > Settings (1) tab > Update On-hand checkbox is unmarked.
- The Inventory Maintenance/Inventory Type Maintenance > Settings (1) tab > Cost Method is not Avg with S/N.
Note: Starting in AccountMate 10.1 for SQL and Express in which the Sales Configurator and Manufacturing Configurator modules are available, the Inventory Maintenance > Settings (2) tab is always accessible. The Revenue Amortization area, however, is enabled only when the inventory item is not set to update on-hand and the cost method assigned is other than Avg with S/N.
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Versions: AM10 for SQL and Express
AM9 for SQL and Express
AM8 for SQL and Express
Module: AR
TIP: The Contract Costs, Contract Obligations, and Contract Discounts GL Account ID fields will be displayed in Inventory Maintenance and Inventory Type Maintenance > GL Accounts tab only when the following conditions are met:
- The AR Module Setup > General (2) tab > Enable Revenue Amortization checkbox is marked.
- The Inventory Maintenance/Inventory Type Maintenance > Settings (1) tab > Update On-hand checkbox is unmarked.
- The Inventory Maintenance/Inventory Type Maintenance > Settings (1) tab > Cost Method is not Avg with S/N.
Note: The Contract Costs, Contract Obligations, and Contract Discounts fields in Inventory Type Maintenance display default GL Account IDs from the AR Module Setup > GL Accounts (1) tab. In Inventory Maintenance these fields display default GL Account IDs from the inventory type record, if an inventory type is assigned to the inventory item record; otherwise, the default values come from the AR Module Setup > GL Accounts (1) tab.
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Versions: AM10 for SQL and Express
AM9 for SQL and Express
AM8 for SQL and Express
Module: AR
TIP: You can no longer amend any of the Revenue Amortization settings in the Create Invoice > Line Item Details tab once the first revenue amortization is realized or the invoice is transferred to General Ledger though nothing has been amortized yet.
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Versions: AM10 for SQL and Express
AM9 for SQL, Express, and LAN
AM8 for SQL, Express, and LAN
Modules: AP, BR
Q: How can I include in bank reconciliation a cash disbursement directly recorded in the General Ledger module?
A: If you have posted a journal entry for the cash disbursement in the General Ledger module and you want to include the cash disbursement in bank reconciliation, then perform the following:
- Access the Record Checks/Other Disbursements function in the Bank Reconciliation module; then, record the disbursement.
- Be sure to unmark the Transfer to GL checkbox.
- Save the disbursement transaction.
Note: For future reference, we recommend that you post this type of transaction in the Bank Reconciliation module instead of the General Ledger module. In this way, the transaction will be recorded in a one-step process with the bank balance updated and the journal entries created instead of a two-step process.
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