Microsoft Dynamics GP Year-End Update 2017: General Ledger

Hello Everyone,

It's hard to believe another year-end is just around the corner!! Please review the information below to ensure you have a smooth and seamless year-end in 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 2017 Year-End Update that will affect the General Ledger year-end closing process.  

Is there any new functionality in Microsoft Dynamics GP for the General Ledger year-end closing process?

Nothing has changed this year in reference to new functionality related to closing the year in General Ledger.

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

The Year-End Close 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?

• Closes all Profit and Loss (P/L) account balances into Retained Earnings account(s).
• Balance Sheet account balances are rolled forward to the new year by having Balance Brought Forward (BBF) entries created.  All open General Ledger records (GL20000) are moved to the historical table (GL30000).  
• Inactive General Ledger accounts without a balance and no historical transactions are removed if you are not 'maintaining' inactive accounts.
• 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 General Ledger.

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 DETAILED 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 year-end closing. 

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, take a screenshot of the error message, and restore to your backup immediately.

• Have all users out of Dynamics GP when you perform the year-end close process.

• Perform the year-end close process at the server. 

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

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

• By far the greatest numbers of support cases we troubleshoot are associated with Posting Types (Balance Sheet or Profit & Loss) not being set correctly before the year-end close takes place. It may a be time-consuming task to review all general ledger account types beforehand, but this is essential to avoid an unwanted balance getting closed/carried forward, or an incorrect Retained Earnings amount getting generated because of the incorrect posting type. 

• It is recommended you perform a test run of the General Ledger year-end close in a TEST Company first!!  This determines 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.). Additionally, this allows the user to gauge how long the actual close will take. The resulting year-end close 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 associated with not letting the year-end close process run to completion.  With the release of GP 2013 R2, the Year-End Closing window has a progress bar, so be sure you complete all 7 steps!! Occasionally, users think Microsoft Dynamics GP is hanging and/or has stopped processing (Year-End Close window may show as 'not responding'), when in reality the table data is being created, cleared, and moved at a rapid rate on the SQL Server.  All in all: LET IT RUN to completion no matter how long it may take.

Note: If you use Analytical Accounting and/or 'Currency Translation': The General Ledger year-end closing process will take longer to complete (and this is completely normal due to the amount of data coming into play). Again, we recommend you 'test' the year-end process in a Test Company with a copy of live data to ensure you know how much time you'll need to allocate for the process in production.

• Some users elect to 'turn off' Currency Translation(Microsoft Dynamics GP >> Tools >> Setup >> Financial >> Multicurrency) prior to closing the year, and then set up currency translations again after the year is closed to speed up the year-end closing process.
  • MR Legacy Users: Click HERE for detailed currency translation information (specifically refer to the section pertaining to 'entering translated beginning balances')
  • MR Data Mart Users: Click HERE for detailed currency translation information
• The last step in the General Ledger Year-End Closing is to print the year-end close report. As such, printing the year-end close report is the best indicator that the process has completed!

• In support, we see users click the 'Close Year' button twice on the Year-End Closing window and two years get closed by mistake.  Although you should get prompted by a default warning (open batches exist or the next fiscal year has not been created) that will allow you to stop the close, we do see several incidents where the second closing is accidentally started in error and then stopped. 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.

• It is important backups are made (and kept in a separate location) both 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 to 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 no utility or SQL scripting option available to “re-open” a closed year prior to GP 2013 R2 through regular support channels to make a historical year change. In support, we've instances of bootleg types of SQL scripting being made available to users to re-open the closed year independently. We would like to stress that this is not recommended or even supported through our regular support channels.  Microsoft does offer a ‘GL Year-End Undo' Advisory Service for to reopen a closed year.  If needed, please make the request through a regular support case, and we can assist you with getting the Advisory Service started .  (Please note that Partner Advisory Hours (PAH) will be decremented to pay for the service.)

Assistance for General Ledger Year End Close

• Microsoft Dynamics GP Blog - https://community.dynamics.com/gp/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 related to the General Ledger year-end closing process 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

Year-End Close Resources:

Be sure to refer to the 2017 Year-End Blog Schedule to review current and upcoming blog posts and other helpful resource links related to Year-End Closing for Dynamics GP.

I hope this is helpful and that you have a successful Year-End!!  If you have any feedback or suggestions, please let us know. 

Have a wonderful Year-End!!!

Andrea Melroe | Sr. Technical Advisor | Microsoft Dynamics GP