Introduction :
In this topic, “books” means the record of expense, income, and revenue summary reports.
Entrepreneur can close their books by focusing on their pay and business ledgers and afterward stopping net benefit (or deficit) into the monetary record.
Some accounting software will naturally close your pay and business ledgers at year-end before adding your net benefit (or deficit) to your held profit account. Bookkeeping programming might make a programmed shutting date as well as a secret word so exchanges from before the end date can’t be changed.
Purpose of the Book Closure.
The main purpose of closing the books at the end of account closure is to make sure that expenses or income from a previous accounting period don’t include the current accounting period, which can make the accounting figures inaccurate.
Books closure at the end of the financial year can give an idea of the business’s financial health to the business owners. Small businesses generate statements like a balance sheet and income statements at the end of the year to check the financial state of their business so they can make strategies and be prepared for the upcoming year.
To file their income tax returns properly, the business owner should close their books at the end of the financial year. Closing your books properly also ensures that your accounting system is in a good manner and this also creates accurate numbers to mention in tax returns.
Books closure on monthly basis is also a common practice. This process makes the task easier to do such as sending sales tax reports to the state, generating customer statements, reconciling your bank statements, paying your suppliers, etc…
Facts
Closing books by the end of the financial year is a task normally done by an accountant. But small business owners can do this task on their own using accounting software. This task is a little bit easier for small business owners as there are few monthly transactions. Many of these tasks can be automated by accounting software.
Still, if you allocate the task of closing your books to an accountant then you should be aware of some basic steps so you know what to expect from an accountant. In this article, you will read about double-entry bookkeeping as this is the most common system used by any small businesses or organizations.
1. Journal Entries to General Ledger.
The journal is the first step for the entry of all transactions. When entries are posted to an account, i.e account receivable. The journal entries are transferred to the general ledger.
To close the books, post the record aggregates from your money installments and your deals and money receipts diary to the suitable general record account. Cash installments (otherwise called “cash distributions”) incorporate any installments made with money, check, or electronic asset move. The equivalent is valid for your money receipts diary, however, this diary tracks the inflow, not outpouring, of assets.
Most little organizations close their books month to month, however, some just do as such at year-end. That implies you want to pick what entries you need to incorporate. For instance, you could pick all sections in 2017, or it very well may be for the long stretch of January 2017 as it were.
2. Some of the General Ledger Accounts
Include every one of the exchanges in each broad record account. For instance, include all sections in the records of sales. This gives you a fundamental closure balance for each record.
3. Make a Primer Preliminary Equilibrium
Total all of the primer closure adjusts from the last move toward making a preliminary equilibrium. A preliminary equilibrium is a report that includes every one of the credits and charges in your business. You maintain that your absolute credits should be a similar number as your all-out charges — if they aren’t, return and take a look at your work. If the credits and charges are equivalent, your records are equilibrium and you’re all set for the subsequent stage.
4. Enter Changing Journal entries
Changing entries record things that aren’t noted in day-to-day exchanges. These things incorporate amassing (known as “gathering” in bookkeeping) of land duties or accumulation of deterioration and should be kept to close the books. Changing things are made in the overall diary.
5. Make a Changed Preliminary Equilibrium
Total your overall record accounts again to consider the changed passages from the last step and afterward add them generally together to make another preliminary equilibrium, ensuring your charges and credits are again equivalent. If they aren’t something similar, return and take a look at your work.
6. Produce Financial statements
If the all-out charges and credits in your preliminary equilibrium are something similar, you’re prepared to deliver a monetary record and pay proclamation (otherwise called a “benefit and misfortune report” or “P&L”). These reports can be produced consequently in your bookkeeping programming. They offer an outline of a business’s monetary situation toward the finish of the relevant bookkeeping time frame, whether that is the earlier month or year.
7. Enter Closing Sections
Zero out your income and business ledgers by utilizing diary sections called “shutting passages.” Shutting passages move the equilibriums of these brief records to long-lasting records. For instance, the income account is discharged into the held profit account.
8. Produce the Last Preliminary Equilibrium
The last preliminary equilibrium report will just have monetary record accounts since you focused on your income and business ledgers in the last step. Once more, the all-out charges and credits should coordinate. On the off chance that they do, your overall record account adjustments are right and you’re good to go for the following bookkeeping time frame!
What Records Are Impacted by Shutting Entries?
The accompanying records are impacted by shutting passages
- Income accounts
- Business ledgers
- Profit accounts
The above accounts are brief or “ostensible” accounts that are focused out while shutting passages are added to a bookkeeping framework. Shutting sections reset these records so they don’t influence the following bookkeeping time frame. The records aren’t eradicated; rather their equilibriums are moved to held income, a long-lasting record.
Incidentally, income and costs are moved to a middle record called a pay synopsis. Profits are constantly moved straightforwardly to held income.
When Does the Accounting year end?
The expression “year-end” can be somewhat aggravating for some since it doesn’t necessarily relate to the scheduled year running from January 1 to December 31. Numerous organizations pick to utilize an alternate year time frame to best fit the necessities of their business.
A monetary year-end is any time of 12 continuous months. A few organizations pick a financial year that lines up with the scheduled year — January 1 to December 31. Others, be that as it may, may pick an alternate-year period. A few retailers, for instance, may find it hard to shuffle the surge of the Christmas season by adjusting and shutting the books. These organizations might pick an alternate timetable — e.g., a financial year that runs from February 1 to January 31.
You ought to pick the choice that turns out best for your business. As far as some might be concerned, the customary schedule year turns out great. For other people, a period that better lines up with business tasks — like completion the year after a time of weighty deals — might be more fitting.
Prepared to figure out how to close the books at year-end? Begin with these 8 simple tasks for shutting the books. These bookkeeping year-end methods assist you with planning for running year-end fiscal summaries and let you start the new year new with impeccably adjusted books.
Recomended : Know About Financial Risk
Conclusion
Any type of business needs to close its books doesn’t matter small business or large-scale business. This shows you your business’s financial condition and information so you can improve on your weak sides or points. It helps you to make decisions about your business’s finance, prevents you costly from making mistakes costly mistakes, and prepare your business for tax time.
