2015 Year-End Tips and Tricks

December is a time of reflection and preparation for a new beginning. 2016 is only days away and for most there is much to do! Planning for the New Year, finishing up a busy 2015, and meeting the reporting requirements can be daunting.

Below are some tips to help alleviate some of your stress around closing GP for 2015:

1. Ensure you have a back-up of your GP company databases prior to performing any year-end processing.
2. Microsoft recommends performing the year-end closing routine for sub-ledgers in a specific order:
   1. Inventory
   2. Receivables Management
   3. Payables Management
   4. Fixed Asset Management
3. Year-end closing sub-ledgers is optional for some modules. The main function of the routine is to update SmartList objects, Summary Reports and ‘Amounts since last close’ queries. Optional modules include:
   1. Receivables Management
   2. Payables Management
   3. Inventory
4. Year-end closing is mandatory for the following core modules:
   1. Fixed Assets
      1. Depreciation must be run through the last day of the current year prior to closing the FA module
      2. Year-end closing must be done before running depreciation for the new fiscal (or calendar depending on your setup) year
   2. General Ledger
      1. Reconciles and summarizes the GL balances that accumulated throughout the year
      2. Moves all profit and loss account balances to the retained earnings account
      3. Summarizes balance sheet accounts and brings the balances forward as the beginning balances in the new fiscal year.
5. Post all transactions for current year prior to closing each module
6. Run validation reports before and after year-end close (optional, but recommended)
   1. AP Aging
   2. AR Aging
   3. Inventory Stock Status
   4. Fixed Asset Inventory (or other)
   5. General Ledger Trial Balance
7. Verify GL accounts have the correct posting type (balance sheet or profit and loss). GP uses this setting to determine how to handle the balances in each account.
8. Timing of year-end closing can vary for each module
   1. Transactions can be posted to a closed/historical year. Once you close a module you may receive an invoice that is dated for the prior year, or your accountant has provided you with year-end adjustments to make. You do not have to wait for these items in order to close GP. GP allows posting to prior periods.
   2. You determine in setup whether this is allowed. Keep in mind the GL close routine is different from marking the periods in Fiscal Period setup as ‘closed’.
9. Payroll requires an entirely different routine to close the year.
   1. Ensure you have the year-end update installed prior to generating your w-2’s
   2. Complete all payroll transactions for the current year
   3. Install the 2016 tax updates prior to processing payroll for 2016
10. Are you ready for the Affordable Care Act requirements? Microsoft has added functionality relating to these requirements. Form 1094-C and 1095-C are included in the 2015 year-end update if you haven’t upgraded this year.
11. Online documentation is available! See our previous Year-End blog that includes links and more details relating to year-end closing and the Affordable Care Act.
12. Tidestone Solutions is here to help you!

Call today to make an appointments with one of our consultants to walk you through your Year-End routine!

207-761-2133  |  info@tidestonesolutions.com  |  PMB 9715-805, Portland, ME 04104