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How to use the Close Books feature to close an accounting period and lock the journal entries in Occupier.
Utilizing the Close Books feature not only closes an accounting period but also secures the journal entries within Occupier. This process mirrors the closure of periods in an ERP system.
Prior to Closing Books in Occupier
Closing an accounting period in Occupier changes its status from Open to Closed, indicating that all journal entries for that period have been finalized. Once Closed, no further journal entries or measurements can be made to leases for any dates within the closed period. It is crucial to close a period only after thorough review and reconciliation of accounts to ensure accuracy.
How to download all lease schedules
As part of your review process prior to closing the period, you may find it beneficial to download a detailed list of all journal entries along with their corresponding lease schedules. To do this, simply click on the download icon labeled "Review Template."
Closing an Accounting Period
1. Navigate to the Close Books page from the side nav bar.
2. From the Close Books Tab, select the Fiscal Period you'd like to close.
3. If there are any subsidiary legal entities, they must be closed before closing the parent legal entity. Click on "Get Started" to initiate the closing process for the first subsidiary entity.
4. The Close Books wizard will display and it will guide you through the necessary steps to finalize the closing process. In Step 1, it will confirm the readiness to close and notify you of any leases that are not yet approved, which could impact the selected fiscal period for closure. You can choose to Review & Update to check the unapproved leases or simply save and proceed with closing the books.
Legal Entities without Foreign Exchange (FX) Rates
5. Proceed with Step 2 "Save & Continue" if there are no FX rates present for the legal entity you are closing.
6. In the following step, you can review the Journal Entries before finalizing them. Click on "Save & Continue" to move on to the next step.
7. In the final step, you will see a preview of the Trial Balance. You can choose to "Close & Lock Entries" to complete the Close Books process or cancel to go back to the Close Books page.
8. You will see a confirmation message asking, "Are you ready to close?" Choose 'yes' to confirm and continue, or 'no' to return to Step 4 in the Close Books wizard.
9. To close the remaining subsidiaries or parent entity, repeat the process steps above until all entities are closed.
Legal entities with Foreign Exchange (FX) Rates
Proceed with the same steps outlined above in process Steps 1 through 9. One of the variations will occur in the Close Books wizard during Step 2 when foreign exchange (FX) rates are identified, these will need to be converted to the reporting currency at the parent entity level. For instance, if you have a subsidiary with leases in Euros and the parent entity reports in USD, the journal entries must be converted from Euros to USD at the parent entity level.
Step 2 FX - Input the Average and Period End exchange rates for the fiscal period, as this will calculate the FX translation and any gain/loss journal entries that may apply.
If foreign exchange (FX) rates are identified for the fiscal period being closed, the exchange rate will display in the designated field(s) and cannot be modified within the Close Books wizard. Should an adjustment to the FX rate be needed, simply cancel out of the wizard and head to the FX Rates page to update the necessary rates for the respective fiscal period.
Closed Periods
To view the closed periods, navigate to the Closed Periods tab. Here, you will find a list of all closed periods along with details such as the closing date, associated legal entity, the total number of journal entry line items created, and the user who completed the closing process.
If you wish to download a record of the journal entries for a specific closed period, simply click on the download arrow to obtain a CSV file.
History
To access the audit trail for closed or reopened periods, navigate to the History tab. This section provides a comprehensive list of all closed and reopened periods, detailing information such as the closing date, fiscal period, associated legal entity, and the user responsible for completing the closure.
Opening Closed Periods
See the knowledge base article "How do I open a closed Period?".