Accounting periods define segments of your fiscal year. Sage 50 permits you to operate within two open fiscal years. The Change Accounting Period window serves two purposes. First, it informs you of your company's current fiscal year and payroll tax year setup. Second, this window permits you to move to an alternate account period. Typically, you'll do this at the beginning of each new accounting period.
To open the Change Account Period window, do one of the following:
- From the Tasks menu, select System, then Change Accounting Period.
- Click the Accounting Period button on the on the Button Control Bar at the top of the main Sage 50 window.
If the Change Accounting Period option is not available, then your user profile does not have security access to this area. Tell me more about user security.
Open Accounting Periods: A list of accounting period numbers and dates for your company's two open fiscal years. Accounting period dates are defined during the New Company Setup process and cannot be changed once they are set up. Most companies operate with twelve accounting periods per fiscal year. To move to a new accounting period, select the period from the drop-down list box. You can change this to any other period in the one or two fiscal years for which you have set accounting periods. How do I change accounting periods?
You can create or edit transactions in a prior period without changing the Accounting Period. However, the transaction date cannot be prior to the first period of the first open fiscal year.
Note: If you have security rights activated in Sage 50, a lock icon appears next to prior accounting periods. You can restrict users from editing transactions in prior accounting periods by giving them View Only access to Transactions in Prior Periods. This setting is made in the Selected Access window, under the Company/Tasks program area; choose Company in the menu at left, and then find the Tasks subarea.
Current Accounting Period: Identifies the accounting period number and dates Sage 50 is currently operating in. If the current system date is within the current accounting period date range, Sage 50 dates new transactions automatically based on your system date.
It also displays the current dates for the first and second fiscal years as well as the first and second open payroll tax (calendar) years.
Open Fiscal Years: Identifies the two open fiscal years in which you can enter new or edit old transactions. The first fiscal year is typically referred to as the current year, the second is referred to as the next fiscal year. To change the dates, you must close a fiscal year using the Year-End wizard.
Open Payroll Tax Years: Identifies the two open payroll (calendar) tax years used in payroll transactions and reports. To change the dates, you must close a fiscal year using the Year-End wizard.
The toolbar at the top of the window contains the following buttons: OK, Cancel, and Help.
Note: If you are using the batch posting method, you must post all your transactions before Sage 50 will let you continue.
Tip: Print invoices and/or checks before you change the accounting period.