Dynamics GP Year-End Close: General Ledger

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It’s year-end time again! Time to prepare for our Microsoft Dynamics GP year-end update.

The General Ledger closing process is similar to what it has been, but it’s worth going over a few reminders.

  • If you’re closing the year for Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 R2 or higher (and by the way, older versions are no longer supported by Microsoft) you’ll have the ability to Reverse Historical Year in the closing window. We showed this feature when the functionality was first unveiled but it’s good to know it’s available. Note: Microsoft’s position on this feature is that it may not always play nice in all environments and configurations. It can be a life-saver, but don’t let this feature lull you into not making a proper backup before your GL close.
  • Later versions of GP now have a “Maintain Inactive Accounts” checkbox. If checked, any GL accounts with zero balance and no activity will be removed. You do have the option keep the accounts if the account is budgeted against, however.
  • Unit Accounts (aka “Stat Accounts”) have checkboxes to Clear Balance During Year-End Close. If you use Unit Accounts to push headcount or other non-financial numbers to financial statements for calculations you might want to revisit those unit accounts to see if clearing the balance makes sense.

The year-end updates are now distributed by Microsoft directly. Handy download links are here for the supported versions, once released.

(Again, those on older versions may want to contact us about an upgrade plan.)

Last GP Year-End Close Tips

One of the most common support-cases logged related to the Microsoft Dynamics GP year-end close occurs when GL accounts are set up as the wrong posting type. If an account is supposed to be set up as a P&L account instead of a Balance Sheet account your financial statements can look perfect all year until you close the year. This is when the accounts unexpectedly carry their balance forward instead of closing to retained earnings.

It’s true that the later versions of GP will allow you to reverse your close, make the correction, and then re-close the year.  Similarly, a Knowledge Base article from Microsoft also gives instructions on how to fix the issue for older versions or when reversing the close isn’t an option. But the best tip is to take a moment to open the Accounts Smartlist and scan the posting types of your accounts before the close.

Since accounts are typically grouped it only takes a moment prior to closing to scan the list of accounts and correct any mistakes before starting the year-end process.

Best of luck with your Microsoft Dynamics GP 2016 Year End Close!