Microsoft Dynamics GP Year-End Release 2015: Analytical Accounting

Year-End is fast approaching and you will want to be sure to give yourself plenty of time to review the Analytical Accounting (AA) data before you run the Year-End close process for General ledger.  This will be an important step if your financial reports pull any data from AA tables.  Please review the information below to help the year-end process for AA be smooth:

Does the Year-End Update include any changes for Analytical Accounting?

There are no changes in the 2015 Year-End Update specifically for Analytical Accounting. 

Is there a separate Year-End close process to run for Analytical Accounting?

The Year-End close process for Analytical Accounting is automatically integrated with the Year-End close process for General Ledger.  So no, there are no 'separate' steps that you need to run in Analytical Accounting to close it.

What should I be aware of for AA with Year-end procedures?

If your Financial reports need to pull data from AA tables, (such as Management Reporter Data Mart),  be sure to give yourself plenty of time to go through all the information in this article before you close the GL year.

What is the impact if the AA data does not match GL data?

If the AA data does not match GL data, and financial reports are pulled from AA tables, this could skew your Financial reports (if your AA tables are not consistent with GL) and you won't balance to the GL Trial Balance reports.   Missing or duplicated data in the AA tables would skew the beginning balance entries created in the AA tables.  So the first step is to determine if your Financial reports use the AA tables or not.   If you use AA tables or Management Reporter, it is recommended to run through KB 2910626 to help look for mismatched data between AA and GL that should be corrected before closing the GL year.  

Why wouldn't the data match between AA and GL tables?

There could be many reasons why your AA data doesn't match the GL data.  ALL transactions from other modules also update the AA tables, whether or not the GL accounts are linked to AA or whether or not you put AA codes on the transactions.  All transactions need to be present in the AA tables if you are doing your financial reporting from AA tables.   Discrepancies can occur if there are any posting interruptions, data is being imported, AA is not installed on all machines, GL was closed on a machine in the past where AA was not installed, users are disabling AA if any posting interruptions with AA messages, multi-currency issues, and many more reasons.  Therefore, you should be continually using the scripts in KB 2910626 to monitor if there are any ongoing issues in your environment to ensure the data between AA and GL stays in synch if you are doing any financial reporting from AA tables.

When should the Year End Close for Analytical Accounting be done?

Since there is no separate process to close AA, we recommend that you run through the following KB articles before closing the GL year:

• Run through the steps in KB 960356 - The Year End Close procedures for Analytical Accounting in Microsoft Dynamics GP. 

• If you are using Management Reporter (MR) for your reporting, you should also run through KB 2910626 -Financial Reports from Management Reporter do not match the General Ledger Trial Balance Reports in Microsoft Dynamics GP.     

Note:  If you have any of the scripts saved locally in the past from these KB articles, be sure to re-download the scripts again so you have the most up to date versions of these scripts.  

What does the GL year end close process do and/or affect in Analytical Accounting?

The GL Year End close process will affect the following in the AA tables:

• Moves AA data from open tables (AAG30000-AAG30003) to the history tables (AAG40000-AAG40003)
• Creates Balance Brought Forward (BBF) entries in the AAG30000 series tables
• Consolidates balances and ties AA codes to the BBF entries for the AA dimensions that were marked to be included in the year-end close

What steps should I take to have AA included in the GL Year-end close and BBF entries created in AA?

In order to have AA codes tied to your beginning balances created by the GL year-end close, you must first verify that the following options are selected:

1. In the Analytical Accounting Options window (Click Tools under Microsoft Dynamics GP |Setup | Company | Analytical Accounting | Options), mark the checkbox for ‘Include dimensions in the year end close’ and click OK.

2. In the Transaction Dimension Maintenance window (Click Cards | Financial | Analytical Accounting | Transaction Dimension), select the AA dimension code you want a balance carried forward for, and mark the checkbox for ‘Consolidate balances during Year End close’ and click Save.  Do this for each Transaction Dimension you wish to have linked to the beginning balance entries create by the GL year end close process.

Do I need to run the 'Move to History' utility every year for Analytical Accounting?

If this is the first time you are closing GL on a version of GP 10.0 SP2 or higher (with AA activated), you will be prompted to move AA data to history before the system will allow you to close the GL year.  The system will verify that the AA data is in the corresponding open/historical series of AA tables, as the GL data sits in the open/historical tables in GL.  If you run into this, you will receive a message stating You must consolidate transactions and transfer detail to history utility to close the year" during the GL Year End close, and then you can refer to the steps in KB 960356 on how to resolve this.  You should not need to run the Move to History Utility for AA more than the initial first time.  The Move to History utility was meant to be a one-time process to get the customer 'caught up' with getting historical AA tables populated, and then data should automatically close along with the GL year-end close process going forward.  

Is there any new functionality in Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 or Microsoft Dynamics GP 2015 for the AA YEC process?

There are no new features for AA in these versions.  However, the GL Year-End Closing window now includes a Reverse Historical Year button to reopen a GL year yourself.  If the beginning balances are incorrect in AA, or you find data discrepancies with data from your historical years with the scripts in KB 2910626, you can use this new feature in GL to reopen the year, fix the AA data, and then reclose the year again to have the BBF entries recalculated correctly in the AA tables.

Key points to remember:

•Follow the steps in KB 960356 titled “The Year-End close procedures for Analytical Accounting in Microsoft Dynamics GP”.  This KB includes steps and SQL scripts to make sure the AA data matches GL data.  It also has steps to verify that the AA dimensions that you wish to be consolidated during the year-end close process are properly marked to create BBF entries, and steps on how to move data to history.  You should determine if your reporting tool uses AA tables or not.  Data Mart with Management Reporter now reads from AA tables, so it is more important than ever to make sure your AA data matches GL data.

•New to Microsoft Dynamics GP 2015, the user can determine the data that is available to the Microsoft Dynamics Management Reporter Data Mart to help improve the performance and give the user control over the data selected.  Note that the latest release of Data Mart (CU10) does have the option to report with or without AA data. 

•Make sure the GL year-end close is performed at a workstation that has AA installed and activated, and that users know not to disable AA if they receive any messages.  Restore to the backup immediately, and make a screenprint of the AA error message if assistance is needed with the GL year-end close process.    

Where can I ask questions or get more assistance for Analytical Accounting 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

Assistance with year-end close issues directly related to Analytical Accounting should be logged under the categories below to ensure you reach the correct Support team:  (Please include a detailed description of the issue and a screenprint of any error messages received.)

   --Support Topic Selection:   Financial – Analytical Accounting

   ---Sub-topic Selection:         Other

Resources:

• The year-end close procedures for Analytical Accounting in Microsoft Dynamics GP can be found in KB 960356.

• The scripts to use to verify that your AA data matches GL data before you close the GL year can be found in KB 2910626.

• Here is a link to the 'standard' Year-End Close Procedures (ppt) that generally do not change from year to year.

Be sure to check back to the 2015 Year-End Blog Schedule page to review current and upcoming blog posts and other helpful resource links related to Year-End Closing for Dynamics GP.

I hope this information is helpful to you and gives you enough time to plan.  Ensuring your AA data is consistent with GL prior to closing the year will help ensure correct financial reporting going forward!  Have a great year-end!

Cheryl Waswick | Microsoft Dynamics GP | Sr. Support Engineer