Peachtree Toolbox: The Year End Wizard

As you approach the end of your fiscal year, you may receive a prompt asking if you would like to use the Year-End Wizard. This is because Peachtree only allows for two years to remain “open” at any given time. If you are in period 24, you will have to close the accounting year in order to enter transactions next year. Generally, that means you are closing 2008. You should not be closing the current year or that will permanently prevent access to certain data.


Before starting the Year-End Wizard

Before you launch the wizard, there are a number of tasks you should perform. These include printing out any unprinted items such as invoices and payroll checks. You will also need to clear the Waiting on Bill from Vendor check box in the Purchases/Receive Inventory window for any outstanding vendor purchases. If you start the wizard before performing this task, the wizard will not be able to proceed. You will have to exit the wizard and clear the check box before you can complete year-end close.

Note: Since the close process may take quite a while to complete, we recommend that you start the process at the end of your business day, making sure you leave the computer running. Also, make sure that all other applications are closed before you begin.

The Year-End Wizard

The Year-End Wizard guides you through the process. It requires that you make a backup, and we recommend that you uniquely name the backup and consider putting it on removable media (CD, memory stick, external memory, etc.) for future reference. You are also prompted to run year-end reports, which you can do on paper or save/export to Excel or to a readable file if you wish. We maintain copies of all reports needed to prepare your financial statements and income tax returns; however, we recommend you retain a backup file of your Peachtree data for 7 years. Additionally, we recommend you save a PDF copy of the following reports for 7 years:

• General Ledger for the year you are closing

• Under general ledger, General Journal for the year you are closing

• Under accounts payable, Check Register for the year you are closing

• Under accounts receivable, Cash Receipts Journal for the year you are closing

• Under payroll, Payroll Journal for the year you are closing



You only need to save these reports if you have data in the specific areas.



The procedure of closing a year also allows you to purge inactive accounts or customers/vendors. This will decrease the size of your data file, and remove some of the clutter that may be in your records. We recommend purging certain old data, but you are not required to do so during the year-end close process.



To begin the process, go to TASKS / SYSTEM / YEAR END WIZARD to walk through the closing process. If you would like to purge inactive accounts prior to the closing, go to TASKS / SYSTEM / PURGE WIZARD and follow the prompts.



If you have any questions concerning the Year End Closing or your Peachtree data file, feel free to e-mail David Chermak at dchermak@komisarbrady.com.