Year-End Close
At the end of each fiscal year, accountants close the books. The year’s profit or loss is moved into retained earnings, the equity account that holds the profit the business has kept over its life. Every income and expense account then starts the new year at zero, and the closed year is locked so it cannot change by accident.
You do this under Accounting → Year-End Close.
Before you start
Section titled “Before you start”- You need a role with access to Year-End Close. See Team and roles.
- Your workspace needs a Retained Earnings account set on Chart of Accounts → Control Accounts. The standard chart has one. See Chart of Accounts.
- Get the year into shape first. Before you close, check that:
- every transaction is posted to the general ledger,
- every bank account is reconciled,
- all accruals and adjustments are recorded, and
- your Trial Balance balances.
Fiscal years
Section titled “Fiscal years”Each fiscal year appears on the page as a card once something has been posted with a date inside it. There is no step to open a year. Each card shows the year’s status (Open, Closed or Reversed), its net income and, once closed, the close date and when it was closed.
Fiscal year start month controls which twelve months count as a year. For example, with April, FY2025 runs from April 2025 to March 2026; with January it is the calendar year. It defaults to the setting saved in Company Settings. Changing it on this page only affects what you preview and close here.
If you have just posted something into a new year, click Reload fiscal years to refresh the list.
Close a year
Section titled “Close a year”- On the year’s card, click Preview & close.
- Review the preview. It lists each Income Statement category with its total for the year, and the Net income that will move to retained earnings.
- Read the Before closing, verify checklist.
- Type the confirmation phrase shown, for example
CLOSE FY2025. This prevents an accidental close. - Click Confirm close.
Bokapsys posts a closing entry that moves the year’s net income into retained earnings and brings every Income Statement account for that year to zero. It then locks every accounting period in the year.
What a closed year means
Section titled “What a closed year means”- No new entries can be posted into the year. Items dated in a locked period are held back rather than posted. Financial reports shows how many items could not post because their period is closed.
- Your reports are unchanged. The closing entry is used only to carry the balance forward; the Income Statement for the closed year still shows its full revenue and expenses, and the Balance Sheet shows the profit within equity.
- Entries in the closed year show the status Closed in the General Ledger.
Reverse a close
Section titled “Reverse a close”If you need to correct a closed year, reverse the close.
- On the year’s card, click Reverse close.
- Read what reversing will do: reopen all accounting periods for the year, remove the retained earnings closing entry, and restore the Income Statement balances.
- Type the confirmation phrase shown, for example
REVERSE FY2025. - Click Reverse close.
The year’s status becomes Reversed and you can post corrections. The audit trail of the original close is kept. When the corrections are done, close the year again with Preview & close.
If the preview fails
Section titled “If the preview fails”If Bokapsys cannot build the preview, make sure all transactions are posted and that the year actually has accounting data.