The accounting period is a crucial concept in the world of finance and business. It serves as the time frame during which a company or organization reports its financial performance and position. This feature plays a vital role in general ledger management and is essential for preparing internal accounts to monitor performance effectively.

The period covered by financial statements, known as the accounting period, is fundamental for every business. It allows companies to track their financial activities, assess their profitability, and make informed decisions based on accurate financial data. Understanding and utilizing the accounting period is key to maintaining transparent and reliable financial records within an organization.

Setting Accounting Periods:

• In NetSuite you should enable the Accounting Periods feature.
• Enable this feature, Setup > Company > Enable Features > Accounting tab > Check Accounting Periods.

• After the feature is enabled, periods can be set up.
• Setup>Accounting>Manage Accounting Periods.

This page includes following columns:

• Period Name: Name you defined the accounting period. Periods are grouped in fiscal year, quarters and months. Use the + or – icon to expand or collapse the list of periods for a fiscal year.

• Checklist: Click the Checklist icon. (To enlarge image to view a list of tasks to be completed to close the period.) You can lock & unlock the periods from checklist.

• Period Close: A green check mark in this column indicates that all items on the Period Close Checklist have been completed and the accounting period is closed to all transactions and entry.
• A/P Transactions: a lock indicates that users cannot post A/P transactions in this period.
• A/R Transactions: a lock indicates that users cannot post A/R transactions in this period.

The Account Periods for Full Year page appears.

Setup periods for a full year at a time:

• Setup > Accounting > Manage Accounting Periods.
• On the Manage Accounting Periods page, click Setup Full Year.
• In period format field drop down list 3 options available.

1. Calendar Months: This sets up 12 periods, one for each calendar month in the fiscal year.

2. 4 Weeks: This setup is 13 periods. Each for every 4 weeks in the fiscal year.

3. 4–4–5 Weeks: This setup is you have two 4-week periods followed by one 5-week period. It means, the first accounting period of the year Jan 1st to Jan 28th. The last accounting period of the year ends on December 31st. Used this way 4-4-5 periods.

• Fill the required fields and save.

Setup Single Accounting Periods:

• Setup > Accounting > Manage Accounting Periods.
• Select the New Year Only, New Quarter Only, or Base Period option.

Setup a new year:

• On the Manage Accounting Periods page, click New Year Only.
• In the period name field enter the name for Ex: FY 2017
• Enter the Start date & End Date (for Ex: start date is 1/1/2017 & End date is 12/31/2017)
• Click Save.

Setup a new quarter:

• On the accounting period page select New Quarter Only.

• In the period name field enter the name for Ex: Q1 2017.
• Enter the Start date & End Date (for Ex: start date is 1/1/2017 & End date is 3/31/2017).
• In the sub period of field, Select the parent period such as FY 2017.
• Click Save.

Setup a new period:

• On the Accounting period page, click Base Period.

• Enter the name of the period Ex: January 2017.
• Enter the Start date & End Date (for Ex: start date is 1/1/2017 & End date is 1/31/2017)
• In the sub period of field, Select the parent period such as Q1 2017.
• Click Save.

Deleting an Accounting Period:

The rules for deleting a period are shown in the following.

• Base Period: You can delete this period at the time of base period has no transactions.
• Quarter: Delete the quarter only if the base periods attached to the quarter have no transactions.
• Year: Allowed only if the year has no sub periods.

Permissions Required:

• Edit or Full permissions are required to setup accounting periods, close periods & re open the period.
• Users with the View level of this permission can see the Manage Accounting Periods page but cannot make changes to periods.

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