Sage BusinessWorks Year End Module Closing Procedures

The order in which certain modules are closed is very important to avoid issues with your data. Modules should be processed and closed in the following order:

  • Accounts Receivable
  • Inventory Control
  • Order Entry
  • All other modules
  • General Ledger (last)

Accounts Receivable

Before you close the Accounts Receivable module:

  1. Make sure all appropriate recurring invoices are entered and active.
  2. Verify entry of all invoices, debit memos, credit memos, deposits, and checks.
  3. Calculate finance charges, if required.
  4. Print the reports for the current month:
  • Detail Report
  • Aging Report
  • Transaction Registers
  • Open Invoice Report
  • G/L Reconciliation Report
  • Any other reports you need
  1. Back up your data files.
  2. Close the month with Close Current Month (or Company Close in System Manager).

When you close a month:

  • Transaction detail is removed, depending upon the number of months you have selected to keep history (1 to 60 months).
  • Current month advances to the next month; if the current month is the last month in your fiscal year, year-to-date totals are reset. Current month advances to the first month of the new fiscal year and any active recurring invoices are posted to the new month.

Inventory Control

Note: Do not perform month-end or year-end close in the Inventory module during any phase of the Physical Inventory process.
Before you close the Inventory Control module:

  1. Verify that you have entered all purchase orders, receipts, issues, returns, and adjustments.
  2. Print the following reports for the current month and any other reports you need:
  • Transaction Detail Report
  • Transaction Summary Report
  • Stock Status Report or On Hand Detail Report

 

  1. If this is the last month of your fiscal year, you should also print:
  • Inventory Performance Report
  • Margin Analysis Report
  1. Reconcile Stock Status Report or On Hand Detail Report to the inventory balance in the General Ledger to assure accuracy.
  2. Back up your data files.
  3. Close the month with Close Current Month (or Company Close in System Manager).

When you close a month:

  • Transaction detail is removed, depending on the number of months you have selected to keep history (1 to 60 months).
  • Month advances to the next month.
  • Period-to-date totals are reset.
  • YTD totals moved to prior year totals if the current month is the end of your fiscal year.

Order Entry

Before you close the Order Entry module:

  1. Verify entry of all quotes and sales orders, and invoicing of all shipped orders.
  2. Make sure you’ve processed all returns.
  3. Produce the following reports:
  • Detailed Quote Report
  • Detailed Sales Order Report
  • Invoice Detail Report
  • Any other reports you need
  1. If this is the last month of your fiscal year, print the Sales Analysis Report.
  2. Back up your data files.
  3. Close the month with Close Current Month (or Company Close in System Manager).

During close:

  • Current month advances to the next month.
  • The system purges detail depending on the number of months you set to keep history.
  • Period-to-date and year-to-date totals are reset.
  • If the current month is the end of your fiscal year, Sage BusinessWorks automatically zeros all appropriate totals.

 
Accounts Payable And Cash Management

Before you close the Accounts Payable and Cash Management modules:

Make sure recurring invoices are entered and have an active status.

  1. Verify that you have entered all invoices, debit memos, and credit memos.
  2. Make sure you have paid all vendors you want to pay this month.
  3. Produce an A/P Aging Report for the current month and reconcile the balance with your balance in General Ledger.
  4. Produce the following reports:
  • Check Register
  • Bank Transaction Report
  • Open Invoice Report
  • Aging Report run with current date
  • Flash Report
  • Accounts Payable Detail Report
  • Purchases and Adjustments Journal showing year-to-date
  1. Print vendor 1099 Forms before you close. This is very important because when closing December the 1099 payments field is zeroed out. Beginning with Version 7, Sage BusinessWorks has the ability to print 1099 forms in the 4-up format and to create a magnetic media file for 1099 reporting. This option is found under A/P > Vendors > Enhanced 1099 Reporting.
  2. Back up your data files.
  3. Close the month with Close Current Month (or Company Close in System Manager).

During the closing process:

  • When Accounts Payable is closed the Cash Management module will also be closed.
  • The system verifies that you printed vendor 1099 forms and warns you to print them if you did not.
  • Transaction detail is removed, based on the number of months of history you keep.
  • The current month advances to the next month.
  • If the current month is the last month of your fiscal year, the year-to-date totals are reset, and the current month advances to the first month of the new fiscal year.
  • Because vendors’ year-to-date 1099 totals are tracked by calendar year, they are reset.
  • Active recurring invoices are posted to the new month on the due date.

Payroll

Before you close the Payroll module:

  1. Print all payroll reports containing year-to-date information for your permanent records. We recommend you print the following:
  • Check Register for the current open month and for the year
  • Tax Deposits Register
  • Employee Master List
  • Employee Earnings Report
  • Employee History Report
  • Employee Vacation/Sick Pay Report
  • Employee Overtime Report
  • Company Totals Report
  • Any totals reports you may need
  1. Print your liability and deposit information reports:
  • Unemployment Worksheet
  • 941 Worksheet
  • State Tax Reports
  • Tax Deposit Register
  1. Print W-2 Forms for all employees and W-3 information report. Version 7 has the ability to print the 4-up W-2 form through the Enhanced Tax Reporting option. Note that if you change figures for any employees, you must reprint W-2s for all employees, not just for employees whose W-2s changed, in order to correct the electronic reporting file and the W3 Report

Important Note: Printing W-2 forms before doing the year-end close is not mandatory, but you will not be able to make any changes to W-2 figures after closing. When you are ready to print W-2s, Sage BusinessWorks will ask whether you want to print Current or Previous W-2 information. If you are already in the new year, select Previous for all employees, as choosing Current will generate the information only for data entered in the new year, and the data you wanted for the previous year will be lost. Note: You must be on either Version 6 Service Pack 11 or Version 7 prior to creating the W-2 Reporting file.

  1. Reconcile W-3 and 941 forms. The W-3 compiles all the totals for each box on the W-2. The W-3 should match the total amounts on each line of the 941 report for all four quarters.

Note on Magnetic Media Filing: When you access the Create W-2 Reporting File option and enter your company-specific information, Sage BusinessWorks will create the W-2 report file in the federal magnetic media format and save it in the location you specify.

Note: If your state does not accept the federal magnetic media format you also can file magnetically through the eFile Service, an add-on for Sage BusinessWorks Version 7 and higher.

  1. If you are using General Ledger, print a Payroll Journal with Journal Report in General Ledger and keep this report as part of your permanent records.
  2. Back up your data files.
  3. Close the month with Close Current Month (or Company Close in System Manager).

The following occur during the closing process:

  • Current month advances to the next month and period-to-date totals are reset.
  • Appropriate wage, tax, commission, other pay, deduction, piece rate, and task code totals are zeroed out.
  • Check detail older than the Years to Keep history is cleared.

After closing Payroll, if you have rate changes for SDI or SUI, update your rate tables using Maintain Tax Tables. Modify the tax rates for SDI and SUI using Activate States (these rates vary from company to company). Download and install the Tax Table Update (TTU). The early Tax Table Update (TTU) is available for download from Sage Software Online in mid-December. Note: Wait to install the tax table update until after the W-2s have been printed and verified.

General Ledger

Before you close the General Ledger module:

  1. Close all other modules.
  2. Post recurring journal entries.
  3. Review the Working Trial Balance and make correcting or adjusting entries.
  4. Produce the following reports:
  • Journal Report for all journals
  • Balance Sheet
  • Income Statement
  • Statement of Cash Flows
  • Detailed Trial Balance
  • Other desired reports
  1. Verify that the Trial Balance is correct. If you need to post any more correcting journal entries, reprint the Trial Balance Report and the Journal Report after you make your corrections.
  2. Back up your data files.
  3. Close the month with Close Current Month (or Company Close in System Manager).

Note: Closing the last month of the fiscal year automatically closes the year.

When you close the last month of the fiscal year, the following takes place in the General Ledger:

  • Sales data transfers to Year-to-Date Earnings.
  • Comparative data is updated.
  • Transaction detail is removed, based on number of months to keep history (up to nine years).
  • The current month advances to the next month.
  • Year-to-date earnings are transferred to retained earnings, year-to-date totals are reset, and the current month advances to the first month of the new fiscal year.
  • Reversing entries set up to post to the next month post to the new current month.

As always, Blytheco is glad to help! Give us a call with your year-end preparation and processing questions. If this is your first time closing Sage BusinessWorks, you might consider one-on-one training with a Blytheco Certified Consultant for you or your staff.  Please contact us at solutions@blytheco.com or call (800)425-0943 to schedule your year-end processing training.

Contact Blytheco at solutions@blytheco.com or 800-4BLYTHE for more information or with any questions.