Set up a financial year
/visma-net-erp/help/general-ledger/set-up-a-financial-year
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# Set up a financial year
Set up a financial year - overview
/visma-net-erp/help/general-ledger/set-up-a-financial-year/set-up-a-financial-year-overview
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One of the first tasks of system configuration is setting up the financial year and financial periods.
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# Set up a financial year - overview
One of the first tasks of system configuration is setting up the financial year and financial periods.
One of the first tasks of system configuration is setting up the financial year and financial
periods.
The system provides flexibility for setting up the financial year and its periods
because the start date and required number of periods of the financial year vary across
businesses and countries.
The following topics provide information and step-by-step instructions on
initial configuration of the financial year and financial periods in the system.
## Topics
+ [About the financial year and financial periods](/visma-net-erp/help/general-ledger/set-up-a-financial-year/about-the-financial-year-and-financial-periods/)
+ [Configure week-based financial periods](/visma-net-erp/help/general-ledger/set-up-a-financial-year/configure-week-based-financial-periods/)
+ [Configure a fiscal year and its periods](/visma-net-erp/help/general-ledger/set-up-a-financial-year/configure-a-fiscal-year-and-its-periods/)
+ [Configure a financial year that matches the calendar year](/visma-net-erp/help/general-ledger/set-up-a-financial-year/configure-a-financial-year-that-matches-the-calendar-year/)
+ [Shift the first year one year earlier](/visma-net-erp/help/general-ledger/set-up-a-financial-year/shift-the-first-year-one-year-earlier/)
+ [Add an adjustment period](/visma-net-erp/help/general-ledger/set-up-a-financial-year/add-an-adjustment-period/)
About the financial year and financial periods
/visma-net-erp/help/general-ledger/set-up-a-financial-year/about-the-financial-year-and-financial-periods
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Parent topic: Set up a financial year - overview
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# About the financial year and financial periods
Parent topic: Set up a financial year - overview
For more information: [Set up a financial year - overview](/visma-net-erp/help/general-ledger/set-up-a-financial-year/set-up-a-financial-year-overview/).
## The financial year
Generally, a financial year is defined by its start date and lasts twelve months.
The
financial year may be set as a calendar year starting January 1, or it may be
different.
For example: The company's financial year begins on
October 1 of the previous calendar year and ends on September 30 of the year that
gives the financial year its number—so the financial year 2020 ran from October 1,
2019, to September 30, 2020.
You select the **Belongs to next year** option in the [Financial year (GL101000)](/visma-net-erp/help/general-ledger/general-ledger-windows/financial-year-gl101000/) window when the financial year starts late in the
calendar year and gets its number from the next year. The system calculates the end
date of the financial year automatically as the end date of the last period.
For
details, see: [Configure a financial year that matches the calendar year](/visma-net-erp/help/general-ledger/set-up-a-financial-year/configure-a-financial-year-that-matches-the-calendar-year/)
and [Configure a fiscal year and its periods.](/visma-net-erp/help/general-ledger/set-up-a-financial-year/configure-a-fiscal-year-and-its-periods/)
If you have configured a financial year, and then you have discovered that this is not the year that you need, the system allows you to delete your financial year setup by clicking **** in the window toolbar and create the new one.
You can delete the financial year setup only if there are no financial periods generated for this year in the [Financial periods (GL201000)](/visma-net-erp/help/general-ledger/general-ledger-windows/financial-periods-gl201000/) window.
## The first financial year
The first financial year usually designates the year when the company starts
processing its operations in Visma Net.
However, if you plan to transfer beginning balances for the accounts, activate
at least one period that precedes the first period of actual operations.
For
example: If you plan to start using Visma Net from the first period of a new financial year, select the previous year as the
first year, generate all periods, activate only the last period of that year, and
enter initial balances in the last period of the "first" year.
If your company starts operations in Visma Net after the year's first financial period, activate only the period when you actually start entering transactions.
You cannot post transactions with dates earlier than the start date of the first active period of the first financial year in Visma Net.
You should not change the start date of the first financial year if any financial
periods have been generated and transactions have been posted to them.
Nevertheless,
if needed, during system implementation and initiation, you can shift the start date
one year earlier. For details, see [Shift the first year one year earlier](/visma-net-erp/help/general-ledger/set-up-a-financial-year/shift-the-first-year-one-year-earlier/).
## The financial year periods
The financial year is divided into financial periods, which may have equal or
different durations.
The total length of all periods may or may not be equal to the
year.
When setting up periods, you can select an option based on months or weeks, or you
can define custom-length periods.
If you select one of the options based on months
(**Month**, **Two months**, or **Quarter**), the periods will start and
end on the same dates each year, and each successive financial year will start and
end on the same date.
However, if you define periods by using an option based on weeks ( **Week**, **Two weeks**, **Four weeks**, **4-4-5 weeks**, **4-5-4 weeks**, or **5-4-4 weeks** ), the start and end dates of same-name periods will vary with the year, and the number of periods per year may vary. Financial periods based on weeks start on the same day of the week and end on the same day of the week. However, a calendar year has 365 or 366 days, while the maximum length of the a year's periods based on weeks is 364 days. For a financial year based on the **4-4-5**, **4-5-4**, or **5-4-4** option, the system automatically adds an additional week to the last period if the gap between the end of the financial year and the end of the last period exceeds three days.
For a financial year with week-long periods, to process the difference between the length of a calendar year and the length of all week-long periods, you can select one of the following year-end calculation options:
Last day of the financial year
: The system adds an additional (53rd) week-length period if the last period ends four or more days earlier than the financial year ends. If the last period ends fewer than four days earlier, no additional period is added.
Include the Last <Day of week> of the financial year
: You can select a specific day of the week (Sunday, Monday, or any other day of week) for this method, and the system will add an additional (53rd) week-length period if the year's last period doesn't include the last in the financial year specific day of the week, and adds no additional period if the last period includes the last in the financial year specific day of week.
Include <Day of week> nearest to the end of financial year
: The system defines the end of the year so that its last period includes the selected day of the week that is nearest to the end of the financial year. An additional (53rd) period is added if the specific day of the week is closer to the end of the year than to the end of the last period.
The financial periods for each new financial year can be generated in the [Financial periods (GL201000)](/visma-net-erp/help/general-ledger/general-ledger-windows/financial-periods-gl201000/) window.
## Modification of the periods for the current year
Once financial
periods are defined, the same periods will be used for all subsequent financial years.
If needed, you can modify the financial periods of the upcoming year by using the
[Financial periods (GL201000)](/visma-net-erp/help/general-ledger/general-ledger-windows/financial-periods-gl201000/) window.
You can change the financial period settings if all previous financial years are closed and you did not post any transaction to any period of the current financial year. However, modifying periods is **highly inadvisable**, since it will affect all budgets and reports that compare information about the previous and current year. Such a change may result in reporting errors and formatting problems.
If you need to modify the periods of the upcoming year, generate the periods
for this year and select the **User-defined periods** check box.
After that, you
can edit the end date for any of the periods, with the start date of the next period
adjusted automatically.
It may happen that after you have modified the
periods, the last period ends on a different date than the financial year does.
Then, once you attempt to save the periods, the system lets you select a method to
make the year end on the end date of the last period.
You can select one of the
following options:
Modify start date of the next year
: To move the start date of the next financial year to the end of the last period.
Modify financial year settings
: To modify the settings of the financial year to make the last period end when the year ends.
Extend the last period
: To extend the last period so that it will include the end of the year.
If you modify one-week periods, the day of week on which the last period
ends may not be the same day of the week on which other periods of the year end, and
once you save the modified periods, the system will let you choose whether to move
the start day of the week for periods of the next year.
Make sure that you move the
start day of periods to another day of week only if it is absolutely necessary; the
change of the start day will affect budgets and reports that compare the data of
successive financial years.
## Adjustment period
An adjustment period is a special one-day period added after the last period in a
year. Its end date is the same as its start date.
An adjustment period can be used
for posting only adjustment transactions. If you need to, you can add an adjustment
period during the initial financial year setup.
For details, see: [Add an adjustment period.](/visma-net-erp/help/general-ledger/set-up-a-financial-year/add-an-adjustment-period/)
Later, you can add an adjustment period for a particular financial year or delete it
for a particular financial year (if it was configured) by using the
[Financial periods (GL201000)](/visma-net-erp/help/general-ledger/general-ledger-windows/financial-periods-gl201000/) window. To enable modification of periods, select the
**User-defined periods** check box and add an adjustment period (with the end
date the same as the start date) after the last period. Alternatively, you can
select the last period and select a check box in the **Adjustment period** column
for this period.
When you click ****,the last period will
become an adjustment period with the new end date equal to initial start date of
the period.
Parent topic:
[Set up a financial year - overview](/visma-net-erp/help/general-ledger/set-up-a-financial-year/set-up-a-financial-year-overview/)
Related pages
Concepts
Create a new financial year
/visma-net-erp/help/general-ledger/set-up-a-financial-year/create-a-new-financial-year
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# Create a new financial year
To go back to the main process, click outside this pop-up window.
## Before you start
Before a new financial year starts, you must create the new periods for this financial year.
Once this is done, account balances will be transferred and updated continuously while you still post into the old year.
The new financial year will be created with the same settings as the existing financial year.
1. At the top of the [Financial periods (GL201000)](/visma-net-erp/help/general-ledger/general-ledger-windows/financial-periods-gl201000/) window, click . The new financial year is created.
1. Click **Generate periods**. The periods for the new financial year are created.
1. Click .
Configure week-based financial periods
/visma-net-erp/help/general-ledger/set-up-a-financial-year/configure-week-based-financial-periods
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In Visma Net, you can configure a financial year with weeks as financial periods by using the Financial year (GL101000) window.
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# Configure week-based financial periods
In Visma Net, you can configure a financial year with weeks as financial periods by using the Financial year (GL101000) window.
For more information: [Financial year (GL101000)](/visma-net-erp/help/general-ledger/general-ledger-windows/financial-year-gl101000/).
## Configure a financial year
1. Go to the [Financial year (GL101000)](/visma-net-erp/help/general-ledger/general-ledger-windows/financial-year-gl101000/) window.
1. In the **Start financial year** field, specify the start date of the first financial year in which your company wants to keep records in Visma Net.
1. In the **First financial year** field, review the first year based on the start date. If you want to change the first financial year, change the start date, as described in Step 2.
If you plan to start recording operations
at the very start of the financial year, select the previous year as the
first financial year.
This will allow you to enter initial account balances
in the period before the first period of actual transactions.
1. Make sure the **Belongs to next year** check box is cleared if your financial year gets its name from the current year.
1. To define periods, in the **Period type** field, select **Week**.
1. In the **Periods start day of week** field, select the day of week on which periods will start.
1. In the **Year end calculation method** field, select one of the following options, which will be used to define the end of each financial year:
+ **Last day of the financial year**: To add an additional (53rd) week-length period if the last period ends four or more days earlier than the financial year ends. If the last period ends less than four days earlier, no additional period will be added.
+ **Include last <Day of week> of the financial year** (here, **<Day of week>** is the day of week that is the last in your week period): To add an additional (53rd) week period if there is a complete week between the end day of the last period and the end of the year.
+ **Include <Day of week> nearest to the end of financial year**: To add an additional period if the last period ends four or more days earlier than the financial year ends.
1. Click ****.
## Generate financial periods
1. Go to the [Financial periods (GL201000)](/visma-net-erp/help/general-ledger/general-ledger-windows/financial-periods-gl201000/) window.
1. In the table toolbar, click  to add a new year.
1. Click **Generate periods**. The system will display the periods for the newly added year, which are generated according to the settings of the financial year. Review the periods and the last date of the financial year.
1. If the periods have not been generated as you expected, click **** to remove the generated periods and return to the [Financial year (GL101000)](/visma-net-erp/help/general-ledger/general-ledger-windows/financial-year-gl101000/) window to select another method of end-year calculation.
1. If the periods have been generated as you planned, click ****.
Configure a fiscal year and its periods
/visma-net-erp/help/general-ledger/set-up-a-financial-year/configure-a-fiscal-year-and-its-periods
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You use the Financial year (GL101000) window to configure a fiscal year that has month-based periods (each consisting of one, two, or three months) in Visma Net.
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# Configure a fiscal year and its periods
You use the Financial year (GL101000) window to configure a fiscal year that has month-based periods (each consisting of one, two, or three months) in Visma Net.
For more information: [Financial year (GL101000)](/visma-net-erp/help/general-ledger/general-ledger-windows/financial-year-gl101000/).
If your financial year matches the calendar year, see [Configure a financial year that matches the calendar year](/visma-net-erp/help/general-ledger/set-up-a-financial-year/configure-a-financial-year-that-matches-the-calendar-year/).
1. Go to the [Financial year (GL101000)](/visma-net-erp/help/general-ledger/general-ledger-windows/financial-year-gl101000/) window.
1. In the **Financial year starts on** field, specify the start date of the first financial year in which your company wants to keep records in Visma Net.
1. In the **First financial year** field, review the first year based on the start date. If you want to change the first financial year, change the start date, as described in the previous step.
1. Select the **Belongs to next year** check box if the fiscal year gets its number from the year when the fiscal year ends.
1. Define the periods of the year. In the **Period type** field, select one of the following options:
+ **Month**: Each financial period lasts one month, and there are 12 periods per year.
+ **Two months**: Each financial period lasts two months, and there are 6 periods per year.
+ **Quarter**: Each financial period lasts a quarter (four months), and there are 3 periods per year.
1. Select the **Add adjustment period** check box if you want the system to generate an adjustment period.
1. Make sure the **Adjust to period start** check box is cleared.
1. Click **Generate periods**.
1. Click ****.
Configure a financial year that matches the calendar year
/visma-net-erp/help/general-ledger/set-up-a-financial-year/configure-a-financial-year-that-matches-the-calendar-year
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# Configure a financial year that matches the calendar year
1. Go to the [Financial year (GL101000)](/visma-net-erp/help/general-ledger/general-ledger-windows/financial-year-gl101000/) window.
1. In the **Start financial year** field, specify the start date as **January 1** of the first financial year for which your company wants to keep records.
1. In the **First financial year** field, review the first year based on the start date. If you want to change the first financial year, change the start date, as described in the previous step.
If you plan to start recording operations at the very start of the financial year, select the previous year as the first financial year. This will allow you to enter initial account balances in the period before the first period of actual transactions.
1. Make sure the **Belongs to next year** check box is cleared.
1. To define periods, in the **Period type** field, select one of the following options:
+ **Month**: To define 12 month-long periods
+ **Two months**: To define six equal periods per year
+ **Quarter**: To define four periods per year, with each period to last three months
1. Make sure the **Adjust to period start** check box is cleared.
1. Select the **Use adjustment period** check box if you want to add an adjustment period.
1. Click **Generate periods**.
1. Click ****.
Shift the first year one year earlier
/visma-net-erp/help/general-ledger/set-up-a-financial-year/shift-the-first-year-one-year-earlier
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When you start to use Visma Net, if you realise that some financial data (such as beginning balances for general ledger accounts) should be posted before the start date, you may need to shift the first financial year earlier.
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# Shift the first year one year earlier
When you start to use Visma Net, if you realise that some financial data (such as beginning balances for general ledger accounts) should be posted before the start date, you may need to shift the first financial year earlier.
You can shift the first year by using the [Financial year (GL101000)](/visma-net-erp/help/general-ledger/general-ledger-windows/financial-year-gl101000/) window.
## Shift the first year
1. Go to the [Financial year (GL101000)](/visma-net-erp/help/general-ledger/general-ledger-windows/financial-year-gl101000/) window. Review the information about the first financial year configured in the system.
1. Click **Shift the first year**. This brings up a message that warns you about the consequences of such an action. CAUTION: Shifting the first year to an earlier date can affect statistics and data on reports.
1. Click **Yes** to shift the first year and close the message window.
1. On the window toolbar, click ****.
## Generate periods for the first year
1. Go to the [Financial periods (GL201000)](/visma-net-erp/help/general-ledger/general-ledger-windows/financial-periods-gl201000/) window.
1. Click **Add year before the first**. This brings up a message that warns you about the consequences of such an action.
1. Click **Yes** to add the first year and close the message window.
1. Click ****.
1. Click **Generate periods**.
1. On the list of periods, select the **Active** check box only for the period or periods for which you will enter the data.
Now you can enter the required transactions to the active periods of the new first year. To be able to close any of the later periods, you should close the periods of the first year first.
Add an adjustment period
/visma-net-erp/help/general-ledger/set-up-a-financial-year/add-an-adjustment-period
section
In Visma Net, you can add an adjustment period for each year only during initial setup, when you configure your financial year and its periods.
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# Add an adjustment period
In Visma Net, you can add an adjustment period for each year only during initial setup, when you configure your financial year and its periods.
However, when you are generating financial periods for the next year, you can easily add an adjustment period for this particular year.
In Visma Net, you can add an adjustment period by using the [Financial periods (GL201000)](/visma-net-erp/help/general-ledger/general-ledger-windows/financial-periods-gl201000/) window.
1. Go to the [Financial periods (GL201000)](/visma-net-erp/help/general-ledger/general-ledger-windows/financial-periods-gl201000/) window.
1. Click **** to add a new year.
1. Click **Generate periods**. The system will display the periods for the newly added year, which are generated according to the settings of the financial year.
1. Select the **User defined periods** check box.
This brings up a message that warns you about the consequences of such an action: Modifying periods may affect statistics, budgets, and reports.
1. Click **Yes** in the warning dialog box.
You will see the list of financial periods in the table. Two new columns appear in the table ( **Adjustment period** and **Period length** ).
1. Click **** in the table toolbar. The system adds a new period as an adjustment period. Review the values that appear in the new row by default. The start and end dates of the adjustment period should be the same as the end date of the previous period.
1. Make sure the check box in the **Adjustment period** column is selected for the last period. Type a new description for the period that would indicate that this is an adjustment period.
1. Click ****.