Accounting Periods and Processing Cycles
An accounting period is a consistent unit of time that is used to record business activities and monitor profits. It provides a framework for measuring business activity and evaluating your enterprise's financial position.
Set up a processing calendar, which defines accounting periods, in . When you set up your processing calendar, indicate whether your accounting periods are monthly (12 periods per fiscal year) or every four weeks (13 periods per fiscal year). By knowing when new periods begin and end, DPS ensures that transactions are posted in the appropriate sequence and in the appropriate period.
Open and Close Accounting Periods
At the end of one accounting period and at the beginning of a new accounting period, you must open the new period to begin processing in that period.
- To open a new period, click +New Period in . This utility lets you modify both accounting and fiscal periods. When you open a new period, the current period becomes the prior period.
- To close a period, use the Period Setup utility. Although it is not necessary to close a period, it is a good practice to close a period after you process all data and print all reports for the period.
Audit Trail Implications
When you open a new accounting period, DPS records the opening of the period on the Posting Log Review report. The entry appears as an AL transaction type, indicating an audit log posting. Use this information to track all changes that update your database during an accounting period.
The AL transaction is recorded for the period in which you perform the action. For example, if you open a new period on June 30, 2019, for July 1, 2019, the AL transaction appears on the June Posting Log Review report (because you opened the new period in June, not July).