Microsoft Dynamics GP Year End Release 2011 - General Ledger Year End Close

Hello Microsoft Dynamics GP Community!  It is now the time of year where nobody understands just where the time has gone.

It is also the time of year your phone may be buzzing a bit more than usual due to the Year End Closing (YEC) processes being performed by a great number of our GP Partners and Customers.

In this post we would like to point out the best documentation we have on the process as well as offer some additional insight from the support engineer perspective.

To begin with, the YEC process for GL is described in detail in the following KB article and I will not repeat the contents in this blog:

888003 - Year-end closing procedures for General Ledger in Microsoft Dynamics GP
 support.microsoft.com/kb/888003

The document is a great foundation for all aspects of YEC activity for GL, including some valuable FAQ information at the end of the article addresses common customer concern.

From a support perspective, by far the greatest numbers of cases we see have to do with the Account Types not being set correctly before the YEC takes place.  The sheer number of accounts companies have makes a manual check of the Balance Sheet/Profit & Loss settings before the YEC a very time consuming and labor intensive activity. However, this is essential process to avoid an unwanted balance getting closed or carried forward or an incorrect Retained Earnings amount getting generated.
 
To help avoid such surprise, it is always a good idea to establish a TEST company from the very latest copy of the LIVE data.  This allows the user to perform a test trial run of the GL close in the TEST Company first.  The resulting YEC report can then be reviewed for accuracy and account balances can be verified by the accounting team.

If the close is not correct in the TEST, the user can then adjust the Account Type settings in the LIVE and help avoid post-close account adjustments (or SQL corrections) that may raise inquiry in future audit-type activity.

The TEST close also can help a user determine if there will be an unexpected error or warning message during the close (such as running out of processing space or getting a message to run the Analytical Accounting Move Data to History Utility) that they can prepare to avoid (please see the AA blog on the AA Move Utility).  It also lets the user gauge how long the actual close will take before getting prompted to print the YEC report.

The last point is probably the second most common case we see on this end.  As there is not a progress notification during the closing activity, the system might appear to stop processing because the end user is not hearing the reassuring sound of data crunching from their hard drive letting them know there is processing afoot.  This is mostly because the majority of the YEC activity is being performed at the SQL server, where the table data is getting created, cleared and moved at a rapid rate.

The closing user must insure that they WAIT OUT THE FULL CLOSING PROCESS until the YEC report is printed in its entirety and the year has been decremented on the YEC window to avoid issue.  The full report print out is the very best indication that the process has been completed.

Another thing the closing user needs to be careful of is not selecting 'Close Year' again on the YEC window instead of just closing the window by selecting the corner 'X' on the window.  Although the user is likely to get prompted by a default warning (open batches exist or the next fiscal year has not been created) that will allow them to stop the close, we do see several incidents where the second closing is began in error and then stopped by the user.  This often leaves invalid data in the tables as well as incorrect historical year assignments that may need to be corrected with SQL data-fixing activities.

In this circumstance it is best to immediately restore from the backup made before the close and restart the closing process again for the correct year and insure the second close-out is avoided.

This brings us to our very best broken-record recommendation. 

Everyone, all in unison please: BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP!

We do stress that Backups be made (and kept in a separate location) for the pre-close and post-close company databases.  This recommendation is just in case something does go wrong during the close that may not be immediately recognized by the accounting team afterward.

Having the pre/post close databases will allow the user to recreate the close again in a TEST environment and better determine if there was a processing issue during the close or if there was faulty data present in pre-close environment that is just recently had been detected in the LIVE data.

If the user has completed the close and does need to make an account type adjustment, the following KB is the best document on how to carry out this activity:

864913 - How to correct accounts that were set up to use the wrong posting type after you close the year in General Ledger in Microsoft Dynamics GP
support.microsoft.com/kb/864913

Please note that there is not a utility or SQL scripting option available to “re-open” a closed year through the regular support channels to make a historical year change.  Unfortunately, we have been seeing more instance of Bootleg-type of SQL scripting being made available to users to re-open the closed year independently.  We need to stress this is not a very good idea and is definitely not recommended or even supported through our regular support channels. 

We do offer a closed year opening service through the Advanced Product Support Services (APSS) team. As this is a billed service, it is provided on a case-by-case basis and usually offered as a last-ditch effort to correct closed year issues.  If needed, more information on this process can be obtained from the APSS team or through a regular support case.

One additional GL YEC item I would like to point out is an issue we have been seeing in regards to a Multicurrency.  If not using Multicurrency and NOT closing to divisional accounts, you need to not only insure that Close To Divisional Account Segments is not selected in the General Ledger Setup window (Microsoft Dynamics GP menu | Tools | Setup | Financial | General Ledger), you need to insure the GL Setup Table (GL40000) holds this distinction correctly.

We have seen some cases recently where even if Close To Divisional Account Segments isn’t checked on the Dynamics GP window, the table will hold the incorrect setting.  This causes issues with the non-Multicurrecny version of the YEC report and the Retained Earnings amount may display incorrectly (even though the actual YEC JE was created correct).

In order to avoid such result in this circumstance, you can run the following SQL script against the company database to insure the GL40000 is set correctly before the close:

update GL40000 set DIVACTSG = 0

Last, the YEC report unfortunately cannot be regenerated.  If the user needs to regenerate this report the best option would be to restore the backup made immediately prior to the close into a TEST environment, repeat the close and regenerate the report from the alternate database.  The report should be identical to the actual YEC report.

A few additional KB articles that point out other common issues for the YEC process in GL are:
871679 - How to set up an adjusting period in General Ledger in Microsoft Dynamics GP
support.microsoft.com/kb/871679

850615 - How to use divisional retained earnings accounts in General Ledger in Microsoft Dynamics GP
support.microsoft.com/kb/850615

850741 - Error message when you try to perform the year-end closing process in General Ledger in Microsoft Dynamics GP: "Retained Earnings account not found”
support.microsoft.com/kb/850741

857582 How to clear beginning balances for unit accounts in General Ledger in Microsoft Dynamics GP
support.microsoft.com/kb/857582

856550 - General Ledger year end close still in process and batches cannot be posted
support.microsoft.com/kb/856550

Assistance for General Ledger Year End Close
Microsoft Dynamics GP Blog - blogs.msdn.com/b/dynamicsgp/
Microsoft Dynamics Community - https://community.dynamics.com/product/GP/default.aspx
Microsoft Dynamics Support - https://mbs.microsoft.com/support/newstart.aspx

Assistance with year-end close issues directly related to General Ledger should be logged under General Ledger, otherwise the request could be routed to the incorrect team.

Please be sure to enter a detailed description of the issue you have or a screen print of the error received.

****New for the 2011 year, there is a Year-End Video!!!!****
Check it out....SO COOL!
www.microsoft.com/showcase/en/us/details/91697dc7-4926-4144-8626-ca0eb8e284da

In close, we hope that you have found these Blog posts on the Year End closing process useful and informative.  I also hope you all have a wonderful end of 2011 and are excited for the new challenges of 2012 as we are in support.

Regarding our YEC bogs, we welcome and enjoy ALL feedback you have to provide on the content and are always looking for ways to make next year's material even more useful.  As such, be sure to let us know what you think!

Content provided by Jeff G. and posted by Dave B.