Year-end checklist

A short list to follow before and after you close a fiscal year, in the order that avoids rework: finish entries, reconcile, review the reports, prepare next year, close, then check the opening position and lock.

Accounting Period end
5 min read
Updated October 20, 2026

For Accountant Owner or manager

On this page

Before you close
Close the year
After you close
Common questions

Before you close

Do these in this order. Each step links to the article that explains it.

Finish the year's entries
Who
Accountant and the clerks
What changes
Enter every late invoice, return, receipt, payment and contra of the year. Deposit the cheques and provisional cash you received on time (Record and deposit cheques, Record cash you have not banked yet). Approve what is waiting for approval: an unapproved voucher is not in your reports (Approvals for purchases and vouchers).
Post the year-end adjustments
Who
Accountant
What changes
Record depreciation (Depreciate fixed assets), accruals and write-offs with journal vouchers (Make adjustments with a journal voucher), and check that the TDS you held back has been paid (Deduct TDS when you book or pay an expense).
Reconcile every bank account
Who
Accountant
What changes
Reconcile each bank account to its statement at the year end date (Reconcile a bank account with its statement).
Check the stock
Who
Store keeper and accountant
What changes
Count the stock and correct differences with a stock adjustment before you close, because the closing stock figure is taken from your stock records at the year end date.
Review the reports
Who
Accountant and owner
What changes
Print the trial balance, profit and loss, balance sheet, cash flow statement and the customer and supplier ageing at the year end date (Check the books with trial balance and ledger reports, What we owe: outstanding and supplier ageing). The trial balance's debit and credit totals must be equal.
Prepare next year
Who
Accountant or administrator
What changes
Create the next fiscal year and its numbering series, and read the warning about when the new year becomes active (Start a new fiscal year, Close a fiscal year).
Take a backup
Who
Administrator
What changes
Take a backup of your data now, before the closing.

Example: the checklist on a calendar

For a fiscal year from 1 Shrawan to the last day of Ashad (your own dates decide; The fiscal year), the steps fall like this. One rule sets the order: once the new year is active, no document can be dated in the old year.

When	Do	Why then
Before the last day of Ashad	Create next year's fiscal year, not active, and its numbering series (Start a new fiscal year)	So selling goes on without a break on 1 Shrawan
By the end of the last day of Ashad	Enter the year's late documents; post depreciation, accruals and write-offs; approve what is waiting; deposit the cheques and provisional cash received in time; count the stock and adjust; reconcile the banks and enter any charge or interest the statement shows; review the trial balance and correct what is wrong	Each of these may need an entry dated in the old year
1 Shrawan	Make the new year active (Start a new fiscal year)	From now on entries go in the new year
After that	Print the year-end reports, take a backup, then close the year (Close a fiscal year)	They make no entries, and closing on or after the new year's first day does not stop selling
Right after closing	Opening Trial for 1 Shrawan shows a Difference in Opening Trial of 0, and the Active year is the new one
When the auditor signs off	Lock the closing (Lock a closed year)

Close the year

Follow Close a fiscal year. It brings the balances of your balance-sheet ledgers and the year's profit or loss into the new year, and makes the new year the active one.

After you close

Check the opening position
Who
Accountant
What changes
Open the Opening Trial for the first day of the new year: the Difference in Opening Trial must be zero. Open the trial balance as at a date in the new year and compare a few ledgers with the old year's closing (Check the books with trial balance and ledger reports).
Enter new entries
Who
Everyone
What changes
New entries go in the new year. A new entry dated in the old year is refused once the new year is active.
Lock the old year when you are sure
Who
Accountant
What changes
When the auditor has signed off, lock the closing so that the old year's vouchers cannot be edited or deleted (Lock a closed year).

Common questions

Can I close the year before it ends?

Do not. Closing makes the new year active at once, and from then on entries dated in the old year are refused.

Do I need to enter opening balances for the new year?

Not for the ledgers: the closing carries them. Customer and supplier balances stay in the books and show on their statements as before.

We found a mistake in the closed year.

If the year is not locked, correct it with the voucher and edit and save the closing again. If it is locked, unlock it, correct, edit and save the closing and lock it again (Lock a closed year).