Fiscal Year and Accounting Periods

#Understanding fiscal years and accounting periods

A fiscal year is your organization's accounting year, which may differ from the calendar year. An accounting period is a subdivision of the fiscal year (typically monthly) during which transactions are grouped for reporting and closing purposes.

#Navigating accounting periods

1. Go to in the sidebar
2. The page displays fiscal years as collapsible sections
3. Expand a fiscal year to see its accounting periods
4. Each period shows columns for Period (month name), Start date, End date, and Status

The fiscal year labels reflect your configuration:

• Calendar year: "2025" (Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2025)
• Fiscal year: "FY2025/2026" (e.g., Apr 1, 2025 – Mar 31, 2026)
• Partial year: "2025 Jan–Jul" (e.g., Jan 1 – Jul 31, 2025)

The status column shows how many closing tasks have been completed (e.g., "2/4 tasks done", "0/4 tasks done").

#Configuring fiscal years

When generating accounting periods, you can configure your fiscal year to start and end on any month boundary.

1. Click + Generate next period on the Accounting periods page
2. Use the month range picker to select your fiscal year start and end months
   • Light constrains the range to 12 consecutive months across two adjacent calendar years
   • As you select months, the live preview shows how your fiscal year will be labeled
3. Choose your period interval (typically Monthly)
4. Click Generate period

Examples:

• April to March fiscal year: Select Apr 2025 – Mar 2026 → labeled "FY2025/2026"
• Calendar year: Select Jan 2025 – Dec 2025 → labeled "2025"
• Partial year: Select Jan 2025 – Jul 2025 → labeled "2025 Jan–Jul"

#Generating accounting periods

1. Navigate to
2. Click + Generate next period
3. Select your fiscal year start and end months using the month range picker
4. Light automatically generates monthly periods based on your selection

Your fiscal year can start in any month—not just January. For example, you can generate an April to March fiscal year or an October to September fiscal year.

#Period closing tasks

Each accounting period has a set of closing tasks that must be completed before the period can be closed. To view and manage tasks:

1. Click on a period in the accounting periods list
2. The Tasks view opens, showing the required closing tasks:
   • Account Payables: Close or reopen accounts payable for the period
   • Journal Entries: Close or reopen journal entry posting for the period
   • FX revaluation: Run foreign exchange revaluations for the period
   • Account Receivables: Close or reopen accounts receivable for the period
3. Each task shows a Required badge and an action button:
   • Close: Locks the task area for the period
   • Reopen: Unlocks a previously closed task area
   • Run revaluations: Executes FX revaluation calculations

#Closing a period

Once all four closing tasks are completed:

1. Navigate to the period's Tasks view
2. Ensure all tasks show Reopen buttons (meaning they've been closed)
3. Click the Close period button at the bottom of the page
4. Confirm the closing

A closed period prevents new transactions from being posted.

#Reopening tasks

If corrections are needed after closing a task:

1. Navigate to the period's Tasks view
2. Click Reopen on the relevant task
3. Make the necessary corrections
4. Close the task again when complete

#Fiscal year structure

Fiscal years are displayed in reverse chronological order on the Accounting periods page. Each fiscal year's status depends on the progress of its accounting periods and their closing tasks.

#Best practices

• Complete all four closing tasks promptly after month-end to enable timely reporting
• Run FX revaluations before closing Account Payables and Account Receivables
• Plan period closing tasks in advance and assign responsibilities
• Reopen periods only for legitimate corrections
• Close periods in chronological order to maintain accounting integrity

#Related articles

• Managing Entities
• Chart of Accounts Setup
• Tax and VAT Configuration