Last reviewed: 2026-06-16

Financial Periods

Purpose

Financial periods define the time boundaries for reporting, posting, and controls.

A financial period belongs to one company.
A financial period has a start date and end date.
A period may be planned, open, soft-closed, hard-closed, or reopened.
BooksPlus fiscal calendars are period-driven.
A company sets a fiscal year end date and fiscal period pattern before BooksPlus generates fiscal periods.
Fiscal quarters and fiscal year boundaries are derived from generated fiscal periods.
Monthly fiscal periods are the default launch pattern.
Monthly fiscal year end days may be day 1-27 or the final day of the selected month.
For a standard 12-period calendar, each fiscal quarter consists of three fiscal periods.
The fiscal year end date must equal the end date of the final fiscal quarter and final fiscal period.
Soft close supports review and reporting.
Hard close prevents ordinary posting except through authorized correction procedures.
Reopening a period requires authority, reason, and audit trail.
Activated fiscal calendars are controlled records.
Once accounting activity exists in a fiscal period, period boundaries may not be changed without administrative authority, audit trail, and period-impact review.

Users post transactions to an open period.
Users choose the fiscal year end date and fiscal period pattern, then review generated periods before activation.
Soft close signals that the period is under review.
Hard close means normal posting is blocked and corrections need authorization.

Validate company ownership and non-overlapping dates.
Generate fiscal months first, then derive fiscal quarters and fiscal year boundaries from those periods.
For standard generated calendars, fiscal months and fiscal quarters are direct children of the fiscal year.
Respect period status during posting and reversal flows.
Record reopen authority and reason.