How to Lock a Period

What this does

Locks a date range so that no new transactions, journals, or adjustments can be posted into that period. This protects months you have already reviewed and agreed with your accountant. You can grant temporary overrides for specific users, and run a year-end close to zero out P&L account balances into Retained Earnings.

When to use it

Lock each month after you have completed your reconciliation and VAT return, or lock the full year once your annual accounts are filed.

Step by step

Lock a period

1. Go to Settings and select the Period Locks tab
2. The current lock status is shown at the top — green means no periods are locked; amber shows the date locked through
3. Under Lock a Period (Year-End), pick a date using the date picker — all dates up to and including this date will be locked
4. Click Lock Period → and confirm the prompt
5. Any attempt to post into the locked period will now be blocked

Unlock all periods

1. On the Period Locks tab, click Unlock All Periods to remove the lock entirely
2. Confirm the prompt — this allows entries to be posted into previously closed periods

Grant a user override

If a specific user needs to post a correction into a locked period:

1. Under User Overrides, select the user from the dropdown
2. Set an expiry date and time for the override
3. Click Grant Override — the user can now post into locked periods until the override expires
4. The override expires automatically; click Revoke next to an active override to remove it early

Year-end close

Year-end close zeros out all P&L account balances into Retained Earnings and locks the financial year:

1. Under Year-End Close, set the Year-End Date using the date picker
2. Click Preview Close to see the journal entries that will be posted
3. Review the closing entries table — it shows the debit or credit for each P&L account and the net movement to Retained Earnings
4. Click Run Year-End Close
5. Confirm the modal — the closing journal is posted and the period is locked through the year-end date
6. The last close date is shown for reference; reversing a year-end close requires a manual journal entry