Open, Close and Lock Fiscal Years and Periods
Veona only posts into an open accounting period, so the financial calendar is what governs when entries are allowed. This page shows how to create a fiscal year and its periods, how to close and lock a period at month-end, and how to close the year so its profit rolls into Retained Earnings.
Who / when: creating and closing periods is a controllership decision — only the Finance Manager can do it (the Accountant posts within the calendar but cannot change it; the Auditor only reads). You work here at the start of each year to open the calendar, and at each month- and year-end to close it.
We will follow the Finance Manager, opening the new financial year and later closing the month.
A few terms first
Section titled “A few terms first”- Fiscal year — the facility’s financial year (for example FY2026), with a start and end date.
- Accounting period — a slice of the year, usually a calendar month, that postings fall into by their posting date.
- Open / Closed / Locked — an Open period accepts postings; Closed stops new postings; Locked is sealed permanently.
- Year-end close — the entry that zeroes income and expense into Retained Earnings and rolls the year’s result into equity.
- Retained Earnings — accumulated profit kept in the business; where the year’s result lands.
Create a fiscal year and its periods
Section titled “Create a fiscal year and its periods”-
Finance Manager — open Finance & Ledger → Fiscal Years & Periods, then press New Fiscal Year.
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Finance Manager — fill in the Name (for example FY2026), the Start Date and End Date, and leave Generate Monthly Periods on to have Veona create twelve monthly periods spanning the year in one step. Press Create Fiscal Year.
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Finance Manager — the year appears with its periods listed, each marked Open. Postings whose date falls in a period now land in it. To add a period by hand (an extra or short period), press Add Period on the year, name it and give it dates.
Close and lock a period at month-end
Section titled “Close and lock a period at month-end”-
Finance Manager — once a month’s work is done and the Trial Balance is balanced, press Close on that period’s row. Veona stops new postings landing in it. (If a draft journal still dangles in that window, the close is refused until you submit or cancel it — so nothing is left half-posted.)
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Finance Manager — to seal a closed period permanently, press Lock. A Locked period is final.
Close the year
Section titled “Close the year”- Finance Manager — at year-end, press Close Year on the fiscal year. Veona posts the year-end close: it nets every income and expense account to zero and books the difference to Retained Earnings — a profit credits Retained Earnings, a loss debits it. The income and expense accounts start the next year fresh at zero, and the result is carried into equity on the Balance Sheet.
What happens next
Section titled “What happens next”With the calendar in place, you can layer on the dimensions that make the ledger sliceable — cost centers and projects — and the multi-currency machinery in Exchange Rates and FX Revaluation, which is a period-end routine you run just before closing.