Guidelines for fiscal period/year changes with Fixed Assets in Microsoft Dynamics GP 10 and 2010.

Hello,

Requirements to change calendars from one type to another are fairly common these days and impose certain challenges in regards to Fixed Assets.  Below are some guidelines that can make your calendar conversion a success. 

Version Considerations:

1. Changing calendars will require either a short or long conversion year. Prior to SP4 of GP 10.0, there was a known depreciation issue with short of long years.  As such, accomplishing any calendar where there is a short or long year will require that 10 SP4 or later be installed. 
2. How are the calendar changes implemented in Fixed Assets?
3. Changes are made to the Dynamics GP calendar setup through Microsoft Dynamics GP >> Tools >> Setup >> Company >> Fiscal Periods.
   The calendar for Fixed Assets are then made through Microsoft Dynamics GP >> Tools >> Utilities >> Fixed Assets >> Build Calendar.  Use the ‘Build’ and ‘Replace’ options.

Timing:
Ideally, you would be able to make the short or long calendar year prior to running depreciation in that year. In this scenario you can run the Fixed Assets Year End as normally done and then run depreciation in the short or long year.

If depreciation has already been run in the year that will be converted to a short or long year, steps need to be taken to avoid incorrect depreciation values. Below are examples of a short and long year where depreciation has been run.

Short Year Example 1 – Depreciation in the short year.
Calendar is currently 7/1/2011 to 6/30/2012, but the required calendar is 1/1 – 12/31.  So the new calendar is as follows:

o   2010     7/1/2010 -6/30/2011

o   2011     7/1/2011-12/31/2011  (short year)

o   2012     1/1/2012-12/31/2012

Depreciation has been run somewhere between 7/1/2011 and 12/31/2011 before the calendar modification.

In the above scenario the following would be recommended:

1. Run depreciation to 12/31/2011.
2. Make the calendar adjustment to the fiscal calendar (Microsoft Dynamics GP >> Tools >> Setup >> Company >> Fiscal Periods) 
3. Make the calendar changes to the Fixed Assets calendar through Microsoft Dynamics GP >> Tools >> Utilities >> Fixed Assets >> Build Calendar. Use the ‘Build’ and ‘Replace’ options.
4. Close the 2011 Fixed Assets year. (Microsoft Dynamics GP >> Tools >> Routines >> Fixed Assets >> Year End)
5. At this point you should be ready to depreciate in the 2012 year.

Short Year Example 2 – Depreciation past the short year.
Calendar is currently 7/1/2011 to 6/30/2012, but the required calendar is 1/1 – 12/31.  So the new calendar is as follows:

o   2010     7/1/2010 -6/30/2011

o   2011     7/1/2011-12/31/2011  (short year)

o   2012     1/1/2012-12/31/2012

Depreciation has been run somewhere between 1/1/2012 – 6/30/2012 before the calendar modification.

In the above scenario the following would be recommended:

1. Make the calendar adjustment to the fiscal calendar (Microsoft Dynamics GP >> Tools >> Setup >> Company >> Fiscal Periods) 
2. Make the calendar changes to the Fixed Assets calendar through Microsoft Dynamics GP >> Tools >> Utilities >> Fixed Assets >> Build Calendar. Use the ‘Build’ and ‘Replace’ options.
3. Go to Microsoft Dynamics GP menu >> Tools >> Setup >> Fixed Assets >> Book and change the year to 2012 for each book. (NOTE that this is typically not a supported action as this window should normally be used for setup only.)
4. Run a Reset Year against all assets.  The following article has detailed steps on this process:
   861544        How to Reset Life on an Asset or a Group of Assets in Fixed Assets
   https://mbs.microsoft.com/knowledgebase/KBDisplay.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;861544

At this point you should be able to continue depreciation into the 2012 year.

Long Year Example 1
Calendar is currently 1/1/2010 to 12/31/2010, but the required calendar is 7/1 – 6/30.  So the new calendar is as follows:

o   2010     1/1/2010-12/31/2010

o   2011     1/1/2011-6/30/2012  (long year)

o   2012     7/1/2012-6/30/2013

Depreciation has been run somewhere between 1/1/2011-12/31/2011 before the calendar modification.

In the above scenario the following would be recommended:

1. Make the calendar adjustment to the fiscal calendar (Microsoft Dynamics GP >> Tools >> Setup >> Company >> Fiscal Periods) 
2. Make the calendar changes to the Fixed Assets calendar through Microsoft Dynamics GP >> Tools >> Utilities >> Fixed Assets >> Build Calendar. Use the ‘Build’ and ‘Replace’ options.
3. Run a Reset Year against all assets.  The following article has detailed steps on this process:
   861544        How to Reset Life on an Asset or a Group of Assets in Fixed Assets
   https://mbs.microsoft.com/knowledgebase/KBDisplay.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;861544

At this point you should be able to continue depreciation into the 2012 year.

Long Year Example 2
Calendar is currently 1/1/2010 to 12/31/2010, but the required calendar is 7/1 – 6/30.  So the new calendar is as follows:

o   2010     1/1/2010-12/31/2010

o   2011     1/1/2011-6/30/2012  (long year)

o   2012     7/1/2012-6/30/2013

The Fixed Assets Year is 2012 and depreciation has been run between 1/1/2012 and 6/30/2012

In the above scenario the following would be recommended:

1. Make the calendar adjustment to the fiscal calendar (Microsoft Dynamics GP >> Tools >> Setup >> Company >> Fiscal Periods) 
2. Make the calendar changes to the Fixed Assets calendar through Microsoft Dynamics GP >> Tools >> Utilities >> Fixed Assets >> Build Calendar. Use the ‘Build’ and ‘Replace’ options.
3. Go to Microsoft Dynamics GP menu >> Tools >> Setup >> Fixed Assets >> Book and change the year to 2011 for each book. (NOTE that this is typically not a supported action as this window should normally be used for setup only.)
4. Run a Reset Year against all assets.  The following article has detailed steps on this process:
   861544        How to Reset Life on an Asset or a Group of Assets in Fixed Assets
   https://mbs.microsoft.com/knowledgebase/KBDisplay.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;861544

At this point you should be able to continue depreciation into the 2012 year.

It is very important to note that in all of the above scenarios. I would recommend that we get the live data into a test company and thoroughly test the calendar change and solution to confirm that the correct depreciation figures come out.

Known Issues:
There is a known problem with any additions in the short years when the following conditions are true:

1. The asset is placed in service any day other than the first day of the year.
2. The asset/book record uses any of the Month type averaging conventions  (Full Month, Next Month, Mid-Month 1st , Mid-Month 15th)
3. The workaround to this problem is to change the Averaging Convention to ‘Full Period’ and use the ‘Reset Year’ recalculate option. This can be done on an asset by asset basis or as a group of assets per the following article:
   861544        How to Reset Life on an Asset or a Group of Assets in Fixed Assets
   https://mbs.microsoft.com/knowledgebase/KBDisplay.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;861544

Enjoy!