Fiscal years: controlling the period in which records belong

A fiscal year defines a reporting period for financial records. Open, current, locked and closed describe different aspects of how a period is being managed. A current year is the working reference; closure is a broader decision that follows review of the period's records.

A period should not be closed merely to remove it from a list. Outstanding transactions, reconciliations and required adjustments need to be considered under the organisation's accounting process.

Fiscal-year controls in DNA

DNA's Fiscal Years form requires a name and start and end dates. Its validation checks that the end follows the start, that date ranges do not overlap loaded years and that the name is unique. These checks help keep the period definitions coherent.

The interface has separate requests for setting a current year, locking, unlocking, closing and reopening. Unlocking and reopening require an explanatory reason in their reviewed flows, and reopening is also represented by a special permission control.

Closure options

The close request can include options for year-end procedures, carrying balances forward and creating opening balances. These are requested operations. Their selected values do not independently prove that all resulting accounting records were created correctly.

After closure, the returned year status and the relevant opening and closing records should be reviewed. A success message is not a substitute for reconciliation of the financial outcome.

Controlled reopening

A later correction may justify reopening under an authorised process. The reason should explain the actual business need and affected records, rather than a generic phrase entered only to satisfy a form.

Reopening and unlocking are not interchangeable descriptions of every operation. Use the appropriate period control and verify the result. The objective is a reliable period record with understandable corrections, not simply making a blocked transaction editable.