End of Year Close
for IPM 10
The End of
Year in IPM 10 is as easy as we can make it: change the date; Happy new year!
Once you've made all your entries for the previous year, and your CPA's all done,
you can lock down that year so no one can accidentally change anything.
That's all there is to it! (And yes, you can unlock the previous year if you
need to make changes later).
We're
NOT Accountants, so we cannot offer any advice about Accounting issues.
What we can do is tell you how to use our software.
Here are the major things
you need to understand about the closing:
1. Know Your database.
A database is the physical file on your PC that
contains your checkbooks, properties, tenants, owners etc. You need to
know the name and location of your database (hint: it's shown on the title bar
at the top of IPM). IPM uses Microsoft Access databases that can be identified
by the file extension of ".mdb" at the end of the name.
2. A backup backs up the entire database.
A backup is nothing more than a
compressed copy of your database, with a different name. So if you have a
database named "mydata08.mdb" you can create a backup named "Pooky.bku" or
"EOY10.bku" or anything else, and it still will contain a compressed version of
"mydata10.mdb".
A backup is a good idea at least weekly, and at the end of the year.
3.
Make sure you're on the latest update of IPM
10
The current release is always free to maintenance plan members, and can be
installed by clicking on Help/Check for Updates. The update number shows in IPM on the "About" screen accessible from Help/About.
4. Check your defaults.
Before you Close the previous year, remember to check the
Checkbook screen's 'Account Defaults' and make sure you've
got a 'Retained Earnings'
account, and any other defaults your business requires. Without those defaults
set, the close won't work.
Remember to check the 'Balance Sheet' option on the "Other Accounts" tab
of the Checkbook screen to make sure that accounts you want
zeroed out among assets, liabilities and equity are included (i.e.,
many zero
out Owner withdrawl)
5. Changing the date doesn't quite change your fiscal year,
but it's close.
You don't really need to worry about the fiscal year much in IPM 10. When ever
you change the posting date to a new fiscal year, IPM will ask if you want to
close the previous year. If you have any doubt, just click "Change and
Calculate".
You can always go back to the previous year, so it's not a big deal.
When you go back, IPM will ask "Do you want to reopen...", and just click ok.
If you make changes to the previous year, when you change back to the new year,
"Change and Calculate" again. That's really all there is to it. You can also do
all this from the Accounting menu's "Close Previous Fiscal Year", but you don't
need to.
6. After the close...
It's February, you've just found a problem that's been in
someone's bottom drawer since November, and now you have to deal with it! No
biggie.
Change your date back to the previous year, and click "Re-open". Then,
when you're done, "Change and calculate" when you change back to te new year.
When you re-run the close, all the figures will reflect the changes you
made to the previous year!
Relax! The End of the Year isn't the End of the World!>
If you would like assistance with your end of year close, please make an
appointment - email us here.
(Technical.support@
fullhousesoftware.com)
We'll connect remotely to your PC and walk through the process with you.