The period end dates for all ledgers are held in the System Periods table within Nominal Ledger parameters. When the system date passes beyond the end of a period, the purchase ledger will allow postings in two periods (referred to in this guide as the ‘current period’ and the ‘previous period’). When the purchase ledger is running with two periods open, invoices may be posted into the current period whilst there are still transactions to be posted in the previous period. This would typically be at the beginning of a new calendar month. The Month End process within the purchase ledger is used to effectively close the previous period, thus preventing any more processing from taking place. To access the Month End process within the purchase ledger, select the option from the left hand menu.
The month end process cannot be carried out until the reports specified have been printed. The Aged Credit, Daybooks (unless parameters have been set to state otherwise) and Transaction reports must all be printed from purchase ledger reporting. Anyone logged into the system period to be closed are displayed and must be logged out of the period before it can be closed.
Once the reports have been printed, tick the boxes shown above and then select the ‘Next’ option. If there are any daybooks still to be printed, a warning message will be displayed. The previous period will be closed and all cleared transactions archived (they can then only be viewed via Purchase Ledger Enquiry by selecting the ‘Historic’ option as discussed previously). A message will confirm that the month end process is complete.
It is essential that the purchase ledger balance is reconciled to the purchase ledger creditor balance sheet nominal codes prior to running the month end. The month end program cannot be run in the middle of the month.
For further information on month end procedures, see the Month End Section at the end of this guide.