The financial lock date is a utility to prevent data from changing in a period that may no longer be changed.
So it's an option by which you protect your accounting from changes. You want to do that because figures that have been officially passed on, such as to the IRS, may not change after that. That's where a financial lock date can help. Your Daxto assistant will then warn you if you try to book something in a period that you had closed using the financial lock date.
Where do I set it?
You will find your financial lock date under Menu → Environment → Settings, which takes you to the general settings. Right at the top under the heading 'General' you will find the 'Financial Lock Date' field. If you are logged in you can also just click here.
What times are perfect for raising?
At subsequent times, it is wise to raise the financial lock date to that point:
- After each annual statement.
- After each sales tax declaration.
- The time when more can be put under lock and key, for protection.
In fact, the goal is to avoid changes that affect sales tax or profit tax. Once those figures are forwarded, they should not change.
Do I need to think about the financial lock date myself?
No, your Daxto assistant will help you with this. It will automatically raise the financial lock date after each tax declaration and year-end closing. In this way you automatically protect the parts of your bookkeeping that qualify. You will also receive a notification about this, so that you know it has happened.
If, on top of those two moments, you want to protect your accounts even more by raising the financial lock date further, you can do so manually through the settings. It is then important to make sure that the following things no longer need to happen before that financial lock date:
- You will no longer create invoices with an invoice date, delivery date or delivery period that will be before the new financial lock date.
- You no longer make memorandum entries with a book date that will be before the new financial lock date.
- You have added all transactions on all your financial accounts up to the new financial lock date.
So in practice, it depends on your specific situation whether you can raise the financial lock date even more often. Usually it makes little sense. If you do, don't forget that you can always (temporarily) reset the financial lock date if necessary. Preferably discuss this with a financial professional. Do not forget, because this should be temporary, to change the financial lock date back afterwards.
So how do I arrange these things after the period is locked?
- But what if I want to accelerate depreciation of something later on?
Then you book it in the last quarter. Profit tax is calculated by fiscal year, so it doesn't matter if you book accelerated depreciation in December instead of July. As long as your fiscal year is not yet closed and declared, you can also temporarily reset the financial lock date if you would rather book it in an earlier month. - What if I still want to adjust an invoice, but a tax declaration has just been made?
As always, sent invoices may not be adjusted. You use a credit for that, which automatically falls into a later period. - What if a payment is received after a financial lock date?
All transactions must be updated to the financial lock date. However, linking those transactions can be done at any time, even within closed periods. - What if I have to mark an invoice as doubtful?
That's not a problem, because that entry will deduct the tax as input tax in the next tax return. There is no need to reopen an earlier period for that. - What if I need to mark an invoice as bad?
The same applies as in the case of marking it doubtful. Nothing to worry about, then.