Preventing changes to previous reporting periods

One of the advantages of QuickBooks is the ability to post new transactions, edit an amount on a previous transaction, void a transaction or delete a transaction at any time because the transactions are never removed from the data base through a year end close. This feature allows users to create very detailed and customized reports for previous and current periods with real time, down to the minute financial information to help manage their businesses. Because QuickBooks users can create, edit, void and delete transactions in a previous period, you will need to begin your year end work by making sure the beginning balances for the period agree to your records such as last years tax return or financial statements. You can perform the following steps to prevent changes occurring to previous reporting periods and reverse changes the users make to previous reporting periods.

Step 1: Set a Closing Date

Click EDIT, PREFERENCES, ACCOUNTING, COMPANY PREFERENCES. At the bottom of the screen you will see the Closing Date section.  The closing date prevents users from adding, voiding or deleting transactions dated on or before the closing date. Please note that only the administrator working in single mode can set the closing date. You can set the closing date for any day of the year but the strategic options include the last day of the previous fiscal year, previous quarter or previous month. The closing date should not be set before the year end adjusting entries and the last month’s bank reconciliation.

Step 2: Set a Closing Date Password

QuickBooks strongly recommends setting a password to protect the transactions dated on or before the closing date. When a user attempts to add, edit or delete a transaction in the closed period, QuickBooks will display a message, prompting the user to enter a Closing Date Password.

Step 3: Edit Users Permissions to Prevent Users from bypassing the closing date

When setting up non-administrator users in the data file, you can prevent users from recording, editing or deleted transactions dated on or before the Closing Date. If a non-administrative user attempts to post an entry prior to the closing date a warning message will appear stating the action is not allowed due to the permissions assigned to this user.

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