How to Close an Accounting Period

Closing an accounting period helps protect your clinic's financial records by preventing changes to invoices and payments after a period has been finalized.

Clinics commonly close accounting periods after completing month-end, quarter-end, or year-end reporting and reconciliation.

This article explains when to close an accounting period, what happens when a period is closed, and what to do if you need to make a correction afterward.

When to Use This

Close an accounting period when:

• Month-end or year-end reporting has been completed
• Your bookkeeping has been reconciled
• Your accountant has finalized reporting period
• You want to prevent accidental changes to finalized invoices 
• You are preparing for year-end taxes or an audit

There is no required schedule for closing accounting periods. Many clinics choose to close periods monthly, quarterly, or at fiscal year-end.

What Happens When You Close an Accounting Period?

Closing an accounting period locks invoices within the selected date range.

Once a period is closed:

• Invoices cannot be edited
• Invoices cannot be voided
• Payments cannot be deleted
• Payment amounts cannot be changed

You can still:

• Apply payments to invoices
• Change the payment method on an existing payment

For example, you can change a payment method from Cash to Visa, but you cannot change a payment amount from $50 to $75.

What You Need

• Close Accounting Periods must be enabled in your General System Settings 
  • Go to Settings 
  • Under System & Company Settings, select General
  • Select Modules
  • Under Advanced, find Close Accounting Periods and set to Enabled
  • Click Save 

Permissions 

• Access to your General System Settings (if enabling Close Accounting Periods) 
• Must have an Admin Level 2 profile

Contact your clinic administrator if you don't have the required access. 

Closing an Accounting Period

1. Go to Accounting
2. Under Administrator Actions, select Close Period

3. The Accounting/Closed Periods window will open 

4. Enter the Start and End date of the accounting period you would like to close
5. Type YES to confirm closing the accounting period  
6. Click Close Period 

7. Verify the date range on the pop-up is correct 
8. Click OK 

The accounting period is now locked.

Viewing Closed Periods

To view all previously closed periods:

1. Go to Accounting
2. Under Administrator Actions, select Closed Periods

You will see a list of all date ranges that have been closed in your system.

Result

The selected accounting period is closed. Invoices within the closed date range are protected from editing and voiding, and payment amounts cannot be changed or deleted.

Things to Know

• Make sure all expected invoices and payments have been entered before closing a period
• Complete your financial reports and reconciliations before closing the period
• Once a period is closed, correcting an invoice requires a different workflow
• Only trusted administrators should have access to Close Accounting Periods.
   

Troubleshooting

I can't edit or void an invoice

• The invoice is likely within a closed accounting period. Invoices in a closed period cannot be edited or voided.

I need to correct an invoice in a closed period

• You cannot edit the original invoice
• Create a Quick Invoice, process a refund against the original invoice, and then recreate the invoice correctly

I can still change the payment type

• This is expected behaviour. Payment methods can still be updated in a closed period, but payment amounts cannot be changed.

I'm an Admin Level 2, but don't see the option to close accounting periods 

• Close Accounting Periods may need to be enabled 
• Go to Settings > General > Modules > Advanced > Close Accounting Periods > Enabled