> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.nyumbazetu.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Accounting periods and period close

> Open, close and reopen accounting periods, and run the guided month-end close.

**Finance → Accounting → Accounting Periods → `/accounting-ledger/accounting-periods`**
**Finance → Accounting → Period close → `/accounting-period-close`**

An accounting period is a month (or a defined period) that can be **open** or **closed**. Posting
is only allowed into an open period. Closing is what makes a reported number stop changing.

## Why periods matter

Without period control, a journal posted today can silently change last quarter's profit — after
it was reported to a board, a lender or a tax authority. Closing a period draws a line: history
becomes read-only, and corrections have to be made deliberately and visibly in the current period.

## Managing periods

The periods list shows each period with its status. From here you can:

* **Close** a period once its activity is complete.
* **Reopen** a closed period, when a genuine correction requires it.
* **Select a period** as the context for a close run or a report.

<Warning>
  Reopening a closed period changes numbers that have already been reported. Treat it as an
  exception requiring sign-off, not a routine convenience. Both the close and the reopen are
  recorded.
</Warning>

## The guided period close

The **Period close** screen walks a formal close rather than leaving it to a checklist in
someone's head.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Before you start">
    Confirm your **branch context** and the period you are closing. Closing in the wrong branch is
    the most common mistake here.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Select the accounting period">
    Choose the period to close.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Continue to readiness">
    Move to the readiness stage.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Run the readiness checks">
    The screen runs a set of checks and reports what is not yet ready. **Refresh checks** re-runs
    them after you fix something.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Submit close">
    When the checks pass, submit. The close is performed and confirmed as **Close completed**; the
    period shows **CLOSED**.
  </Step>
</Steps>

The close is **idempotent** — submitting the same close twice does not double-post. The screen
labels this as idempotent replay, which means a retry after a network failure is safe.

## Month-end sequence

The close is the last step, not the first. In order:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Finish billing">
    Recurring invoices generated, IoT billing runs posted, one-off invoices issued.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Capture all receipts">
    Every payment recorded, with references.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Allocate everything">
    Filter payments for available amount greater than zero and clear it. Unallocated cash distorts
    both receivables and the debt-aging report. See [Allocations](/guides/allocations).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Record and pay expenses">
    Including attributing them to units and blocks so owner statements are complete.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Process adjustments">
    Credit notes, debit notes and any approved write-offs.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Reconcile the bank">
    Every bank line matched to a payment, expense payment, refund or disbursement.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Submit outstanding tax documents">
    Check the eTIMS queue for unsubmitted or rejected invoices. See
    [Tax & eTIMS](/guides/tax-and-etims).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Review the trial balance">
    Look for accounts with unexpected balances or wrong-side balances before you close, not after.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Generate owner statements">
    Owner statements read the period's data; generate them before the close so the figures are
    final. See [Owner statements](/guides/owner-statements).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Close the period">
    Run the guided close.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Posting after a close

Once a period is closed:

* Postings dated into it are rejected.
* A correction to a closed period is normally made **in the current period** with a clear
  description, rather than by reopening.
* Where the correction genuinely belongs in the closed period — a statutory restatement — reopen,
  post, and close again, with the reason documented.

## Reversals and corrections

Posted journals are never edited in place. Corrections go through supported paths — credit notes,
refunds, reversal-and-repost — so the audit trail shows what happened and what was done about it.
The journal screens show the **reversal journal** link where one exists, and every posting carries
a **posting key** so a duplicate event returns the existing journal instead of posting twice.

## Common problems

| Symptom                           | Cause and fix                                                                                    |
| --------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Cannot post an invoice or payment | Its date falls in a closed period. Post in the current period, or reopen with authorisation.     |
| Readiness checks will not pass    | The checks name what is outstanding. Fix it, then **Refresh checks**.                            |
| Numbers changed after close       | Someone reopened the period. Check the audit trail.                                              |
| Trial balance does not balance    | Report an issue — a genuinely unbalanced ledger is a system-level problem, not a data-entry one. |

## Next steps

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card title="Financial statements" icon="chart-column" href="/guides/financial-statements">
    What you produce once the period is closed.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Chart of accounts" icon="list-tree" href="/guides/chart-of-accounts">
    Where postings land.
  </Card>
</Columns>