Preparing for the end-of-financial year

Transcription

1 Preparing for the end-of-financial year MYOB Technology Pty Ltd 2013

2 MYOB NZ LIMITED Website: myob.co.nz Disclaimer Information supplied by the member companies of the MYOB group (whether in user documentation and other literature, video or audio material, training courses, websites, advice given by staff, or provided by other means) is intended only to illustrate general principles, and may not be complete, accurate or free of error. As accounting standards, taxation requirements, legislation and the circumstances of individual businesses vary widely, this information cannot be considered authoritative and may not apply to your specific situation. You should obtain competent advice from a qualified accounting, taxation, information technology or legal professional before acting on such information. To the extent permitted by law, member companies of the MYOB group are not liable for any special, consequential, direct or indirect damages arising from loss of function, profits or data resulting from your application of such information. In the event that any of the above limitations are found to be unenforceable, the MYOB member company's liability is limited to the return of any fees or monies paid for the purchase of the product or service Trademarks MYOB, AccountantConnect, AccountantsEnterprise, AccountantsOffice, AccountEdge, AccountRight, AccountRight Basics, AccountRight Standard, AccountRight Plus, AccountRight Premier, AccountRight Enterprise, Accounting, Accounting Plus, Atlas by MYOB, MYOB BusinessBasics, BankConnect, MYOB CashBasics, ClientConnect, ClientConnect Plus, Exo, FirstEdge, LiveAccounts, Love Your Work, Mind Your Own Business, MYOB Making Business Life Easier, MYOB Atlas, MYOB ClientConnect, MYOB Enterprise, MYOB Exo, MYOB M Powered, MYOB M Power, M Powered Services, M Powered Bank Statements, M Powered Invoices, M Powered MoneyController, M Powered Payments, M Powered Superannuation, ODBC DeveloperPack, ODBC Direct, PowerPay, Premier, Premier Enterprise, RetailBasics, RetailHospitality, RetailManager, RetailManager Enterprise, RetailManager Professional, RetailManager Standard, RetailReady, Smarter Connections are registered trademarks or trademarks of MYOB Technology Pty Ltd and their use is prohibited without prior consent. Ceedata, Solution 6 MAS and Xlon are registered trademarks or trademarks of Solution 6 Holdings Limited, a member of the MYOB group. Adobe, Acrobat, Acrobat Reader, Adobe Reader, PDF, and PostScript are trademarks or registered trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated. AddressBook, Apple, imac, AirPort, ical, Macintosh, and QuickTime and the QuickTime logo are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. MobileMe SM is a service mark of Apple Inc. Mac and the Mac logo are trademarks of Apple Inc., used under licence. Brio Intelligence and Hyperion Intelligence are trademarks or registered trademarks of Hyperion Solutions Corporation, Ctree use by permission from Faircom, Dapper used under licence with Apache Software, NiXPS used under licence, WinForms control set and DevExpress controls used under licence from Developer Express Inc. Crystal Reports is a registered trademark of Crystal Decisions, Inc. in the United States or other countries. FlexNet Connect is a registered trademark of Flexera Software Inc. Google Maps card links included with permission. MasterCard is a registered trademark of MasterCard International Inc, xerces is licenced under Apache Software. Microsoft, Access, Azure, Excel, Internet Explorer,.Net Framework,Office, Outlook, Smart Tags, Ribbon Control Library, SQL Azure, SQL CE, Windows, Word and WFPToolkit, are registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States or other countries. DotNetZip is licensed under the Microsoft Public Licence. Fluent.Net is licensed under the Apache 2.0 Licence. N Log is licensed under the BSD Licence. LLBLGen is used under licence from Solutions Design bv. New Relic is a registered trademark of New Relic, Inc. JSon.Net is licensed under the MIT licence. Quicken and QuickBooks are registered trademarks of Intuit Inc. SM2DGraphView Copyright Snowmint Creative Solutions LLC snowmintcs.com. VISA is a registered trademark of Visa International Service Association. RightNow CX is a registered trademark of RightNow Technologies Inc. Sentry Spelling Checker Engine for Windows, copyright Wintertree Software Inc. BankLink is a trademark of Media Transfer Services Inc. Other products mentioned may be service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. MYOB Technology Pty Ltd All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced, utilised, transmitted, or distributed in any form by any means including photocopying, recording, mechanical, electronic or otherwise by any other party, without the prior written authorisation of MYOB Technology Pty Ltd. Edition: February PREPARING F OR T HE E ND OF FINANCIAL Y EAR

3 End-of-period and end-of-financial year checklist End-of-period checklist Before preparing and lodging your GST Return, you should perform a series of tasks to check that your data is accurate and up to date. Make sure you have completed the following steps at the end of each reporting period: Step Procedure 1 Use the Company Data Auditor to start the end of period process 2 Reconcile your bank account/credit card accounts 3 Reconcile your accounts receivable 4 Reconcile your accounts payable 5 Reconcile your inventory 6 Reconcile your GST 7 Reconcile your PAYE liability account to your payroll records 8 Review standard reports to look for figures that seem out of the ordinary or unexpected. (Examples of reports you may review are: Accounts List, Balance Sheet and Profit & Loss) 9 Back up your company file 10 Complete the GST Return 11 Pay the IRD 12 Print your end of period reports 13 Back up your company file [all data]. This includes your BAS reports 14 Lock the period that has been finalised End-of-financial year checklist In addition to completing all the steps in the end of period checklist, at the end of the financial year, you should also complete the following: Step Procedure 15 Print end of year reports 16 Provide your financial information to your accountant (you may also provide information to your accountant at the end of the period and should always consult them for accounting advice when needed) 17 Enter any end of financial year adjustments 18 Closing a financial year PREPARING FOR THE END OF FINANCIAL YEAR END OF PERIOD AND END OF FINANCIAL

4 Reconciliation Process Overview Step Procedure 1 Enter all data for the period 2 External Reconciliation: Do your Bank Reconciliation and make sure that you check your data agrees with your Bank Statement 3 Internal Reconciliation: Check Ledger data agrees with Control Information 4 Internal Reconciliation: Check Tax Code Information 5 Report Control Account A Control Account is a summary account in the general ledger. The details that support the balance in the summary account are contained in a subsidiary ledger a ledger outside of the general ledger. The main Control Accounts include: Trade Debtors Trade Creditors Inventory Control GST Control Using the Company Data Auditor The Company Data Auditor is a tool which enables you to efficiently and effectively check the integrity of your data file. It is designed to assist you in verifying and finalising your company data file at the end of a period. It is essential that prior to submitting your GST Return, or finalising your end of year reporting, that you review your company file for accuracy. The Company Data Auditor is a central location from which you can easily identify areas of concern with the integrity of your data. The Company Data Auditor will directly display reports or launch reconciliation features to review the details of any problems, streamlining your end of period procedures. The Company Data Auditor empowers the business operator to efficiently find and fix any areas of concern within their data file. The user can now confidently perform a complete health check on their file before they send data files to their accountant, saving both time and money. 4 PREPARING FOR THE END OF FINANCIAL YEAR USING THE COMPANY DATA AUDITOR

5 The Company Data Auditor is divided into 4 sections: Company File Overview Account Reconciliation Transaction Review GST Exception Review. To use the Company Data Auditor 1 In the Accounts command centre, click Company Data Auditor. The Company Data Auditor window opens, showing the Company File Overview section. Company File Overview This section provides you with the information that might affect the integrity of your company file as a whole, such as when your last backup was performed. Providing this information in one central location saves you time searching for this information yourself. You can perform important maintenance functions from this section, such as backing up and locking periods. 1 Once you ve reviewed your Company File Overview, click Next. The Account Reconciliation Review window appears. TIP : Alternatively, to move between the four sections of the Company Data Auditor, you can click on the relevant option in the left hand panel, instead of clicking Next. PREPARING FOR THE END OF FINANCIAL YEAR USING THE COMPANY DATA AUDITOR 5

6 Account Reconciliation Review The Account Reconciliation Review lists all of the accounts set up as account type bank or credit card, and shows when the last reconciliation of each account was performed. Reconciling your bank or credit card accounts means matching the balances recorded in your company file to those on your bank statement. You only need to reconcile those accounts such as the business account that correspond to physical bank accounts for which you receive bank statements. Other accounts, such as petty cash, undeposited funds, etc. are set up as bank clearing accounts. These clearing accounts do not relate to physical bank accounts, therefore you do not need to reconcile them and they will always appear in this window as Never reconciled. 1 Click Next. The Transaction Review window appears. Transaction Review The Transaction Review window checks your transactions for any inconsistencies with the data. If the review finds any exceptions, you can directly open the appropriate report from this window to help you track down the source of the exception. 1 In the Start Date and End Date fields, enter the date range for the period you want to review. 6 PREPARING FOR THE END OF FINANCIAL YEAR USING THE COMPANY DATA AUDITOR

7 2 Click Run Review. Once the Run Review routine is performed, any areas of concern within the company file are marked with a red question mark. A tick indicates the process has been successful. A question mark indicates there are inconsistencies with the data. You can display a report outlining this information. By clicking Display, you are able to review the respective Exception reports. 3 Click Next. The GST Exception Review section appears. GST Exception Review The GST Exception Review section checks all your transactions, based on a variety of GST related criteria, for the selected date range. If the review finds any exceptions, you can directly open the appropriate report from this window to help you track down the source of the exception. 1 In the Start Date and End Date fields, enter the date range for the period you want to review. PREPARING FOR THE END OF FINANCIAL YEAR USING THE COMPANY DATA AUDITOR 7

8 2 Click Run Review. By clicking Display to review the respective Exception reports. 3 Click Finish. You also have the ability to print a report which provides you with a summary of the results of the Company Data Auditor. 4 Click No, as we do not want to print this report. 8 PREPARING FOR THE END OF FINANCIAL YEAR USING THE COMPANY DATA AUDITOR

9 Reconciling Receivables If you use the Sales command centre you need to reconcile your accounts receivable to ensure the balance of all your outstanding customers equals the balance of the linked receivable account (Trade Debtors). To determine how to reconcile your receivables in your software it is important to understand which accounts are affected when recording a transaction and what reports you can use to view your receivables reconciliation. Sales linked accounts Linked accounts determine which accounts to assign transaction amounts (debits and credits) to. We are now going to look at the linked accounts for sales. To view the sales linked accounts 1 Go to the Setup menu, choose Linked Accounts then Sales Accounts. The Sales Linked Accounts window appears. Note that the Asset account for tracking receivables is linked to the Trade Debtors account. This account is updated automatically when you record sales transactions. 2 Click OK. PREPARING FOR THE END OF FINANCIAL YEAR RECONCILING RECEIVABLES 9

10 Reconcile the accounts receivable You should reconcile your accounts receivable after you have entered all the sales invoices and customer payments for the current period. To run the Receivables Reconciliation [Summary] report The Receivable Reconciliation [Summary] report compares the Trade Debtors general ledger account with the balances of your individual debtors, based upon their open invoices. 1 Go to the Reports menu and choose Index To Reports. 2 Click the Sales tab to display the sales reports. 3 Click he Receivables heading, select the Reconciliation [Summary] report. 4 In the As Of field, type 31/03/2015 then click Display. The Receivables Reconciliation report displays all customers with an outstanding balance on their account, as well as the balance of the receivables account ( Trade Debtors) from your accounts list. If there is a difference between the account for tracking receivables, and the total accounts receivable balance for your customer cards, an out of balance amount will be displayed. The out of balance amount is the GST exclusive amount. If an out of balance amount does not appear, your receivables account is reconciled. If an out of balance amount does appear, you need to fix the out of balance before you can reconcile the account. This report does not identify the cause of the out of balance. In previous versions you would have needed to determine the date the imbalance occurred and then manually locate the transaction using Find Transactions. However, in the current version, we recommend the alternative, which is using the Company Data Auditor. This method is explained in the following procedure. 5 Click Close. 10 PREPARING FOR THE END OF FINANCIAL YEAR RECONCILING RECEIVABLES

11 What causes a receivables out-of-balance amount? The following are some possible causes: An incorrect allocation account was used for a sale. If you allocate a sale to the trade debtors account instead of an income account, an out of balance will occur. In this situation, a posting similar to the following is created: Such an entry creates a zero affect on the control account, however your software will still increase the customer's outstanding amount. This results in a difference between the receivables account in your accounts list and the receivables balance of your customer cards. Recording customer payments through the Receive Money window (posting to the control account). If a sales invoice is recorded, the payment must be recorded through the Receive Payments window. This ensures that both the Trade Debtors account and your customer receivables balances are updated correctly. Using the Receive Money window affects the Trade Debtors account but will not update the individual customer's account, resulting in an out of balance. Entering a journal entry that is allocated to your linked Receivables Account (Trade Debtors). As with Receive Money transactions, journal entries do not update the individual customer accounts. Only one of the two finance charge transactions have been deleted. If you delete a customer payment with an amount applied to the Finance Charge field, remember to delete the corresponding entry for the finance charge in the Sales journal. A customer payment has been dated prior to the customer invoice. If the date of a sales invoice is after the date of the Receivables Reconciliation report, that transaction will not be included in the report. In some cases this could be viewed as a false out of balance, if the dates entered on the transactions were correct. The report will come back into balance on the date of the sale. To run the Transaction Review in the Company Data Auditor The Transaction Review runs all the reconciliation reports for you, allowing you to reconcile your accounts and identify any errors quickly. 1 In the Accounts command centre, click Company Data Auditor. The Company File Overview window appears. 2 Click Next, then Next again to go to the Transaction Review window. NOTE : Alternatively, click the Transaction Review option in the left hand side panel. 3 In the Start Date and End Date fields, enter the date range for the period you want to review. PREPARING FOR THE END OF FINANCIAL YEAR RECONCILING RECEIVABLES 11

12 4 Click Run Review. The results of the review appear. As you can see there is a question mark next to Reconcile invoices with linked receivables account, indicating that the account did not reconcile. Identifying and correcting receivables out-of-balance amounts Fixing the receivables out of balance amount involves the following steps: 1 Identifying the cause of an out of balance amount 2 Correcting the incorrect transaction 3 Reconciling the account Step 1 Identify the cause of an out-of-balance amount (data exception) The Exception reports display the transactions that may be causing the accounts receivables to be out of balance. 1 In the Transaction Review window, next to the Reconcile invoices with linked receivables account, click Display. 12 PREPARING FOR THE END OF FINANCIAL YEAR RECONCILING RECEIVABLES

13 The Receivables Reconciliation Exceptions report displays any transactions that may be causing the out of balance. The value of each transaction listed is the tax exclusive amount. 2 Under the Possible causes of exceptions area, click the Pat Cole transaction. The original transaction appears in the Receive Money window. In this example, the receipt of payment from a customer has been recorded incorrectly as a Receive Money transaction from the Banking command centre. This direct posting to the Trade Debtors account without a corresponding reduction in the customer s outstanding balance has resulted in the out of balance. This customer payment should have been recorded originally in the Receive Payments window against the original invoice. PREPARING FOR THE END OF FINANCIAL YEAR RECONCILING RECEIVABLES 13

14 Step 2 Correct the incorrect transaction Now that we ve found the incorrect transaction, we will reverse it, then re enter the payment correctly, through the Receive Payments window. To reverse the incorrect transaction 1 Go to the Edit menu, and choose Reverse Deposit Transaction. The Receive Money transaction appears with the amount in negative. 2 Click Record to record the reversal. 3 In the Report window, click Run Report to refresh the report details. The message There s no information to display appears. 4 Click Close. NOTE : Without closing out of the Transaction Review window, you can access any of the command centre functions from the menu bar. To re-enter the transaction correctly 1 In the Sales command centre, click Receive Payments. 2 Re enter the payment for Pat Cole as per the following, assigning the payment to the original invoice: 3 Click Record and then Cancel. 14 PREPARING FOR THE END OF FINANCIAL YEAR RECONCILING RECEIVABLES

15 Step 3 Reconcile the account again Once again, you can reconcile the account through either the Company Data Auditor or by running the Receivables Reconciliation [Summary] report. NOTE : It is recommended that you check both reports to ensure that no Out of Balance exists. The exception report is transaction based, therefore it will fail to display out of balances that relate to previous financial year transactions or alterations made to the Trade Debtors account opening balance. 1 From the command panel, click Reports. 2 In the Sales tab, click the Receivables heading and select the Receivables Reconciliation Summary report. 3 In the Receivables As Of field, type 31/03/2015 then click Display. Your out of balance amount should now be zero. 4 Click Close and Close again. PREPARING FOR THE END OF FINANCIAL YEAR RECONCILING RECEIVABLES 15

16 Reconciling Payables Now that we have been through receivables, the same concept and steps are followed for both payables and inventory. For payables ensure control account for Trade Creditors = Supplier Cards balances For inventory ensure inventory accounts = Total value of items What causes a payables out-of-balance amount? The following are some possible causes: Recording supplier payments through the Spend Money window. If a purchase/bill is recorded, it must be paid through the Pay Bills window. This ensures that both the Trade Creditors account and your supplier payables balances are updated correctly. Using the Spend Money window affects the Trade Creditor s account but will not update the individual supplier's account. Entering a journal entry that is allocated to your linked Payables Account (Trade Creditors). As with Spend Money transactions, journal entries do not update the individual supplier accounts. A supplier payment has been dated prior to the supplier invoice. If the date of the bill is after the date of the Payables Reconciliation report, that transaction will not be included in the report. In some cases this could be viewed as a false out of balance, if the dates entered on the transactions were correct. The report will come back into balance on the date of the bill. An incorrect allocation account was used for a purchase. If you allocate a purchase to the trade creditors account instead of an income account, an out of balance will occur. In this situation, a posting similar to the following is created: Such an entry creates a zero affect on the control account, however your software will still increase the supplier s outstanding amount. This results in a difference between the payables account in your accounts list and the payables balance of your supplier cards. 16 PREPARING FOR THE END OF FINANCIAL YEAR RECONCILING PAYABLES

17 Reconciling Inventory If you use your software to track your inventory quantities and values, you will need to reconcile your inventory to ensure the total value of your stock equals the balance in your linked inventory accounts. NOTE : Unlike receivables and payables which can only have one linked account each, when reconciling inventory it is important to remember that you can have multiple linked asset accounts. You should reconcile your inventory after entering all inventory transactions for the current period. Reconciling inventory is the process of making sure the value of the items matches the value of the inventory asset account. A physical stocktake should be performed as part of your end of period procedures. Your stocktake count can be entered and finalised through the Count Inventory window. Reconciling Inventory refers to reconciling the balances of each item against the balance of the Inventory in the Accounts List. What causes an inventory out-of-balance amount? The following are some possible causes: Entering one of the following transactions a journal entry, a non item sale, a non item purchase or a banking transaction, which is allocated to your linked inventory account. These types of entries will not update the individual stock quantities and values. Inventory adjustments that both debit and credit the inventory account. Although this type of entry will have a zero effect on the inventory account, it will alter the individual inventory quantity and value. Reviewing and reconciling GST Assigning a GST code to each transaction will determine: the GST to be calculated the account to track your GST liability how to sort the transactions to simplify your GST Return. To determine which GST code needs to be allocated on a transaction, you need to know how information is used for the GST Return. PREPARING FOR THE END OF FINANCIAL YEAR RECONCILING INVENTORY 17

18 Most commonly used GST codes The following GST table outlines the most commonly used tax codes.i GST Code Description When used? E Exempt supplies This is the GST Exempt tax code. It is set to zero percent and used to record your GST exempt purchases and sales. E: Goods & Services Tax (Tax Type): 0% S15 Goods & Services Tax This is the Goods and Services Tax code. It is used to record your sales, purchases, cheques and deposits on which you have either collected or paid GST. GST: Goods & Services Tax: 15% N T Business transactions not subject to GST This is the Not Reportable Tax code and is used to record transactions outside the GST net, such as cash transfers, depreciation and recording stock movements. It is useful for auditing purposes to make sure all your transactions are allocated a tax code and you can use this code when no other will do. N T: Goods & Services Tax: 0% Z Zero Rated Supplies Use this code for exported goods and services, internet sales and services performed outside of New Zealand. Z: Goods & Services Tax: 0% IMP IMP Use this code for imported goods when Customs have charged 100% GST IMP: Import Duty: 100% You are able to assign GST codes to the individual records in the accounts list, items list or cards list. By assigning a GST code to one of these lists you are specifying which GST code should be set as the default. Therefore, this tax code will be allocated to the transaction automatically. This will enable you to speed up your data entry as you do not have to select the tax code each time a particular account, item or card is used. You are also able to override the tax code on the transaction itself if it needs to be altered. When you record a transaction that has a GST component, the tax amount is allocated to the GST code s linked account, or control account for example, GST Collected or GST Paid. If these linked accounts have been used incorrectly, the GST reports and your control accounts will not balance. 18 PREPARING FOR THE END OF FINANCIAL YEAR REVIEWING AND RECONCILING GST

19 As displayed in the following window, this type of imbalances can be identified by using the GST Exception Review of the Company Data Auditor. What can cause an account to be out of balance in this report? Transactions have been allocated directly to a GST code s linked account: You should not allocate transactions directly to the GST Collected or GST Paid accounts because they will not appear in the GST reports or in GST Return. A GST code s linked account has been changed part way through the reporting period: The GST Code Reconciliation report is categorised by the GST code s linked accounts. Therefore, the linked accounts are used as report sub headings, under which the associated GST code(s) activity is listed. Where a GST code s linked account has been changed and that change is within the report s period, the GST code s entire activity for that period is reported against the account to which it is currently linked. As only a portion of the tax code s activity was actually posted to its current linked account, an out of balance for the account will be reported. The opening balance of the GST code s linked account is incorrect: When you set up your company file, you would have entered your account opening balances. Specifying an incorrect opening balance for a GST code s linked account for example, GST Collected or GST Paid, will ultimately affect the account s actual account balance in the GST Code Reconciliation report. PREPARING FOR THE END OF FINANCIAL YEAR REVIEWING AND RECONCILING GST 19

20 Simplifying GST Reporting Step Procedure 1 Print the GST Detail reports 2 Check for accuracy 3 Prepare the GST Return (GST101) 4 Compare the balances to the GST Detail reports 5 Print a hard copy and file GST Return 6 Remit GST to IRD and record Spend Money transaction 7 Lock the period Working with your accountant Depending on how you work with your file will also determine how you work with your accountant. Your accountant will help you finalise your financial information so you can complete your end of period reporting requirements. If you work with a local file, and your accountant needs to check the information in your company file, you should provide this only after all transactions for the current year have been entered and the previous procedures have been completed. Talk to your accountant and prepare the necessary reports they require, after you have performed the necessary reconciliation checks. Alternatively if you work online you can share your company file with your accountant. This gives them access to work with your file without any disruption to you. The Company Data Auditor Your accountant will find the company data auditor a useful tool to quickly identify what position your data is in. 20 PREPARING FOR THE END OF FINANCIAL YEAR SIMPLIFYING GST REPORTING

21 We have already used the Company Data Auditor to review data and reconcile accounts in the previous sections. From this information the accountant could see that most of the data has been reconciled, but some areas need further investigation. By viewing the GST Exception review the accountant can also identify what areas require further investigation in relation to tax information. Sending information to your accountant There is a number of ways you can provide financial information to your accountant. You should talk to your accountant to discuss their preferred method. They may prefer to receive: PDF reports by your company file exported data from the company file. NOTE : If you have an AccountRight Live subscription, you can invite your accountant to work with your company file. PREPARING FOR THE END OF FINANCIAL YEAR WORKING WITH YOUR ACCOUNTANT 21

22 Sending reports by The following are the minimum reports you should provide your accountant: Step Procedure Profit and Loss Statement Bank Reconciliation Balance Sheet and Trial Balance General Ledger (Detail) Receivables Reconciliation Summary Payables Reconciliation Summary Inventory Reconciliation For the financial year. Copy of each bank and credit card account reconciliation report dated the last day of your financial year. As at the last day of the financial year. Make sure you include zero balances. If you use the software for invoicing. Set the ageing date to the last day of the financial year. If you use the software for purchasing. Set the ageing date to the last day of the financial year. If you use the software to track inventory. Print on the last day of the financial year, after all sales and purchases for the current financial year have been entered and before any transactions are entered in the new financial year. GST Reports (for the relevant period) Supply the GST detail report and the. Sending a backup of your company file If your accountant uses AccountRight software in their own practice, they may request that you send them a backup of your company file. TIP : file. Set up a User ID ACCOUNTANT and password, to provide the accountant with access to your company Once your accountant has received your company file and made the necessary updates, they will either provide you with a list of adjustments to enter into your software or with an updated company file. IMPORTANT : If your accountant provides you with an updated copy of your company file, it will replace your existing file. In this case, make sure you do not use your software until you have received your updated file. If you are given a list of adjustments to enter into your software, you can keep using your company file as normal. It is important that you speak with your accountant regarding your requirements and a preferred method of transferring information. Depending on the size of your file, save your backup onto a CD, USB drive, etc. then send it to your accountant. 22 PREPARING FOR THE END OF FINANCIAL YEAR WORKING WITH YOUR ACCOUNTANT

23 Exporting data from the company file Using the AccountantLink feature, you can export information from your software in a format that your accountant may be able to use. You can access the AccountantLink feature from the File menu or the Send to Accountant feature in the Accounts command centre. NOTE : Speak to your accountant so you can be advised on what software they use to determine if this option is applicable to you. Working online with your accountant By sharing your company file with your accountant it gives them access to your online file throughout the year to either: analyse your data and provide you with business advice review your information and provide you with real time financial reporting, and post end of period adjustments to finalise reports and tax returns and generate your GST returns. Your accountant needs two separate sets of access details to work with your online company file. Company file sign on details to open the company file my.myob login details for logging in to the Live Service where files are stored. Before a user can work with an online company file you will need to: 1. Set up a user s company file sign on details 2. Set up a user s online access Step 1 - Setting up company file access You need to set up each person who will work with your company file, as a company file user. This means giving them a User ID and password, which they will use to sign on to the company file each time they open it. Only a valid user can sign on to your company file, and depending on the user role you assign, they can only access the areas of your file (command centres and windows) that you give them access to. NOTE : Only users that are set up with an Administrator role can create, edit and delete user IDs. Before you begin, open the online company file. PREPARING FOR THE END OF FINANCIAL YEAR WORKING ONLINE WITH YOUR ACCOUNTANT

24 1 Go to the Setup menu and choose User Access. The User Access window appears. NOTE : If your company file is not stored online, the Online Access section of the window will not appear. 2 Click New User. 3 In the User ID field, enter Mark. 4 For training purposes leave the Password and Confirm Password fields blank. NOTE : You will need to advise the user of these sign on details before they can access the file. They will have the option to change their password the first time they sign on. 5 In the Roles list, select the Accountant/Bookkeeper role. NOTE : It is important to only select the Roles you want the user to have access to. 6 Click Save. A message will appear to invite the user to work online. NOTE : If you have an online company file, a message appeas asking if you want to invite this user to access this file online. 24 PREPARING FOR THE END OF FINANCIAL YEAR WORKING ONLINE WITH YOUR

25 Step 2 - Setting up online access With AccountRight Live, you can give others access to your company files online. You do this by inviting them. Note that online access is different to company file access. Depending on who you are giving access to, you can set up two types of online access: Access Online file user Online Administrator Description Can access any of the online company files they have accepted an invitation to use. This is the level of access you would grant most of your users, who you just need to work with the file. Can work with any company file that is listed under the owner s software serial number. In addition to this, an online administrator can: You can invite anyone to have online access to your file. But they also need to be a company file user, to open the file online. You can invite your bookkeeper or accountant to help you set up your file online or manage users for you. To invite a user to work online purchase additional online files invite file users to use a company file online manage your AccountRight Live subscription. Note: You might give administrator access to a person you need to perform these additional functions for you, for example, your office manager or your bookkeeper. 1 Click Yes to the message that appears. Your internet browser opens and you are prompted to log in to my.myob. 2 Log in using your AccountRight Live administrator details. The Manage online access page appears. PREPARING FOR THE END OF FINANCIAL YEAR WORKING ONLINE WITH YOUR ACCOUNTANT

26 3 Click Invite new online file user. An invitation page appears. 4 Enter the user s address, first name and last name in the fields provided. 5 Click Invite. The Manage online users page reappears with a confirmation showing at the top, and the user appears as Invited in the relevant list. What happens now? Your accountant will be sent an invitation via . When they accept the invitation, they will be prompted to either: set up their my.myob login details or confirm their existing my.myob details. Using their my.myob login details along with the company file sign on details you have provided them, your accountant will now have access to your online company file. They also need to have AccountRight installed on their computer. Entering end-of-year adjustments One of the benefits of sharing your file with your accountant, is that they can access the file online and enter any end of period adjustments that need to be posted, without any disruption to you. Otherwise, if you work on a local file, after reviewing your information, your accountant may provide you with a number of adjustments to enter into your company file. You will either receive them on disk, in which case you can import them; or on paper, in which case you will need to manually enter them into your company file. To enter end-of-year adjustments manually In this example, we will enter an adjustment for the depreciation of office equipment. 1 In the Accounts command centre, click Record Journal Entry. The Record Journal Entry window appears. 26 PREPARING FOR THE END OF FINANCIAL YEAR ENTERING END OF YEAR ADJUSTMENTS

27 2 Record the general journal entry using the details as displayed below, ensuring that you select the option Year End Adjustment. 3 Click Record and then Cancel. Back up your company file after end-of-year adjustments have been entered You should back up your company file after the end of year adjustments have been entered and before rolling over your financial year. Once you have backed up your company file, make sure you name and label the file appropriately so it can be identified easily. Remember, you should know exactly what the last cheque or invoice number was in that file. Make sure you store your backups in a secure location. It is recommended to make two sets of backups and keep at least one away from your place of business. PREPARING FOR THE END OF FINANCIAL YEAR ENTERING END OF YEAR ADJUSTMENTS 27

28 Locking the previous financial year Once you have provided the necessary information to your accountant, you should lock the financial year so that no changes or entries are made in the previous year. NOTE : You can also access the Lock Periods preference from the Company File Overview section of the Company Data Auditor. 1 Go to the Setup menu and choose Preferences. The Preferences window appears. 2 Click the Security tab and select the Lock Periods option. 3 In the Lock Periods: Disallow Entries Prior to: field, click the calendar icon and select or enter the relevant date. This will mean that you will not be able to record any new entries prior to this date. 4 Click OK. 28 PREPARING FOR THE END OF FINANCIAL YEAR LOCKING THE PREVIOUS FINANCIAL YEAR

29 Closing a Financial Year It is important that you finalise the current year s transactions and back up your company file before closing a financial year. As you can have two financial years open at the one time, you are able to continue working into the new year, without rolling over the previous year. However, once the Close a Financial Year procedure has been performed, you will not be able to make or change any entries from the previous year. Before you close a financial year, you should ensure that you have completed all your end of year procedures, as listed in the checklists. Closing a financial year will: Replace last year s historical monthly totals (those from 2 years ago) with the monthly totals of the year just completed. Transfer the balance of the Current Earnings account to the Retained Earnings account, and as at the beginning of the new financial year, reduce the balance of all income, cost of sales and expense accounts to zero. Prevent you from entering or changing transactions from the last financial year. To close a financial year 1 Go to the File menu and choose Close a Financial Year. The Close a Financial Year assistant appears. PREPARING FOR THE END OF FINANCIAL YEAR CLOSING A FINANCIAL YEAR 29

30 2 Click Next. The Financial Year window appears. 3 Click Next. If you use the Audit Trail feature, you can remove the audit trail entries. 30 PREPARING FOR THE END OF FINANCIAL YEAR CLOSING A FINANCIAL YEAR

31 4 Click Next. The Close Financial Year window appears, warning you that this process cannot be undone and you have the option to backup your company file before proceeding. 5 Click Close the Financial Year. Once the process is finished the Conclusion window appears advising you of whcih financial year has been closed and what has been set as your current financial year. 6 Click Close. NOTE : To check the Current Financial Year of your company file go to the Setup menu and choose Company Information or alternatively go to the Company File Overview section of the Company Data Auditor. PREPARING FOR THE END OF FINANCIAL YEAR CLOSING A FINANCIAL YEAR 31