Microsoft Dynamics GP Year End Release 2013: General Ledger Year End Close

Hello Everyone!   This is the final article in the 2013 Year End Close blog series.  I hope this information has been helpful to you.  This article focuses on the Year-End Close procedures for General Ledger.

Does the Year-End Update include any changes for the General Ledger Year-End Closing process?

No, there are no changes in the Year End Update for the General Ledger year-end closing process.  

Is there any new functionality in Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 for the GL YEC process?

Yes, there is some new functionality for the GL YEC process in Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 that may be useful to you.  The new features around the Year-End close process include:

• The Year-End Closing window now has a checkbox for Maintain Inactive Accounts.  If this is unmarked, then any inactive GL accounts without any activity or a balance will be removed during the YEC process (See KB 2452542 for criteria).  If you mark this checkbox, then you have the option to keep All Inactive Accounts, or just those With Budget Amounts. 
• The Year-End Closing window now has a progress bar on it with 7 steps.  Hopefully having a progress bar will allow the user to see that it is still running, so they can just let it run to completion.
• In the Unit Account Maintenance window, there is a new checkbox to Clear Balance During Year-End Close, so you can have the unit account balances automatically cleared for you.  (KB 857582 will still work as well.)  

When should the Year End Close for General Ledger be done?

The Year-End Close (YEC) process for General Ledger should be done after you have completed the Year End close process for all other modules.  (See KB 888003 for the suggested order to close the modules.)

What does the Year End Close Process do and /or affect?

The GL Year-End Close process closes all Profit and Loss accounts to the Retained Earnings account.  All Balance Sheet account balances are rolled forward to the new year by having Balance Brought Forward (BBF) entries created.  All GL open records (GL20000) are moved to the historical table (GL30000).   Inactive GL accounts without a balance and no historical transactions are removed.  The Year  that was just closed is marked as historical.   If installed and activated, the Analytical Accounting (AA) module is also automatically closed along with GL.

What steps should I take to close the year?

Print and follow the checklist available for the Year-End close process for General Ledger in KB 888003 - Year End closing procedures for General Ledger in MIcrosoft Dynamics GP.   This article provides great information for all aspects of the Year End Close process, links to sub-module KB articles, the suggested order to close the sub-modules, as well as a valuable Frequently Asked Question section at the end of the article which addresses many common customer concerns with YEC. 

Key points to remember:

• ALWAYS have a current backup before you close the year!  If you receive any errors during the year-end close process, make a screenprint of the error message, and restore to your backup immediately.

• Have all users out of Dynamics GP when you perform the YEC process.

• Perform the YEC process at the server. 

• Make sure there is enough room for the files to double in size at one point during the YEC process.  

• Follow the checklist and suggested order to close the modules as listed in KB 888003.  Review the FAQ section at the end of this document for common issues.

• By far the greatest numbers of support cases we see have to do with the Account Posting Types (ie. Balance Sheet or Profit & Loss) not being set correctly before the YEC takes place. It may be time-consuming task to review all GL account types beforehand, but this is essential to avoid an unwanted balance getting closed or carried forward or an incorrect Retained Earnings amount getting generated because of the incorrect account type.

• It is always recommended to perform a test run of the GL close in a TEST Company first to determine if there will be any unexpected errors or warning messages during the close (such as running out of processing space or getting a message to Move Data to History in the Analytical Accounting module, etc.). It also lets the user gauge how long the actual close will take. The resulting YEC report can then be reviewed for accuracy and account balances can be verified by the accounting team.  If the close is not correct in the TEST company, the user can then adjust the Account Posting Type settings in the LIVE company and help avoid post-close account adjustments (or SQL corrections) that may raise inquiry in future audit-type activity.

• The second most common case we see in Support is the user not letting the YEC process run to completion.  The system might appear to hang or stop processing and the user may be unsure if the process is still running.  The majority of the YEC activity is being performed at the SQL server, where the table data is getting created, cleared and moved at a rapid rate.  The last step is to print the YEC report so is the best indicator that the process has completed.   So make sure users know to just LET IT RUN to completion no matter how long it may take.

• We have also see users click the 'Close Year' button twice on the YEC window and two years get closed by mistake.  Although the user is likely to get prompted by a default warning (open batches exist or the next fiscal year has not been created) that will allow them to stop the close, we do see several incidents where the second closing is accidentally started in error and then stopped by the user. This often leaves invalid data in the tables as well as incorrect historical year assignments that may need to be corrected with SQL data-fixing activities. In this circumstance it is best to immediately restore to the backup made before the close and restart the closing process again for the correct year and insure the second close-out is avoided.  If there is no backup, a consulting service will be needed to reopen the year.

• We do stress that Backups be made (and kept in a separate location) for the pre-close and post-close company databases. This recommendation is just in case something does go wrong during the close that may not be immediately recognized by the accounting team afterward.  Having the pre/post close databases will allow the user to recreate the close again in a TEST environment and better determine if there was a processing issue during the close or if there was faulty data present in pre-close environment that has just recently been detected in the LIVE data.

• Please note that there is not a utility or SQL scripting option available to “re-open” a closed year through the regular support channels to make a historical year change. Unfortunately, we have been seeing more instances of Bootleg-type of SQL scripting being made available to users to re-open the closed year independently. We need to stress this is not recommended or even supported through our regular support channels.

Microsoft does offer a ‘GL Year-End Undo' service for to reopen a closed year. As this is a billed consulting service, it is provided on a case-by-case basis and usually offered as a last-ditch effort to correct closed year issues or to perform audit adjustments to closed years. If needed, please make the request through a regular support case or contact the Partner Advisory Team at PAT@Microsoft.com .  (Please note that Partner Advisory Hours (PAH) will be decremented to pay for the service.)

• One additional GL YEC item I would like to point out is an issue we have been seeing in regards to Multicurrency. If you are not using Multicurrency and NOT closing to divisional accounts, you need to not only insure that Close To Divisional Account Segments is not selected in the General Ledger Setup window (Microsoft Dynamics GP menu | Tools | Setup | Financial | General Ledger), you need to insure the GL Setup Table (GL40000) holds this distinction correctly.  If you mark and unmark it, the SQL table may still hold the incorrect setting for this checkbox, which causes issues with the non-Multicurrency version of the YEC report and the Retained Earnings amount may display incorrectly (even though the actual YEC JE was created correctly). Please note that this issue was fixed in Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013.

In order to avoid such result in this circumstance, you can run the following SQL script against the company database to insure the GL40000 is set correctly before the close:

                  update GL40000 set DIVACTSG = 0

• Last, the YEC report does not have a reprint capability.  If the user needs to regenerate this report the best option would be to restore the backup made prior to the close into a TEST environment, repeat the close  in the TEST environment toregenerate the report. The report should be identical to the actual YEC report.

Assistance for General Ledger Year End Close

Microsoft Dynamics GP Blog - https://community.dynamics.com/product/gp/gptechnical/b/dynamicsgp/default.aspx
Microsoft Dynamics Community - https://community.dynamics.com/default.aspx
Microsoft Dynamics Support - https://mbs.microsoft.com/support/newstart.aspx

Reach the proper support team for your questions directly related to General Ledger by using the follow categories when logging the support incident:
   -Support Topic: General Ledger
   --Sub-Topic: Year End Closing

Please be sure to enter a detailed description of the issue you have or a screen print of the error received.

Resources:
A few additional KB articles that point out other common issues for the YEC process in GL are:

864913 – Changing the posting type on an account after you close the year in General Ledger in Microsoft Dynamics GP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/864913

871679 - How to set up an adjusting period in General Ledger in Microsoft Dynamics GP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/871679

850615 - How to use divisional retained earnings accounts in General Ledger in Microsoft Dynamics GP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/850615

850741 - Error message when you try to perform the year-end closing process in General Ledger in Microsoft Dynamics GP: "Retained Earnings account not found”
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/850741

857582 How to clear beginning balances for unit accounts in General Ledger in Microsoft Dynamics GP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/857582

856550 – Error message when you try to post a transaction in General Ledger in Microsoft Dynamics GP after the year is closed: “Year End Close is still in process and batches cannot be posted”
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/856550

2452542  - Inactive GL Accounts deleted during Year-End Close process for General Ledger in Microsoft Dynamics GP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2452542

YEC Links:

 To check out the Year-End Close blog schedule and other YEC information, please click HERE.

*** To check out the 2013 Year-End Video presentation, please click HERE: ***

We hope that you found this information helpful and that you have a successful Year-End!!  If there is any feedback or suggestions on this YEC blog series, please let us know.  Have a great year-end!

Thank you!
Cheryl W. | Microsoft Dynamics GP | Financials Support