Changing Year End

Question

I have found and read this post and it is quite useful:- https://www.sagecity.com/gb/sage-50-accounts-and-sage-50cloud-accounts-uk/f/sage-50-accounts-and-sage-50cloud-accounts-uk-general-discussion/151181/changing-year-end However, I am not sure it entirely matches what I need to do. Our normal year end is 30/11. Our accounts which need to be in tomorrow by midnight following an extension to the deadline need to run to 31/05/2021. So, in Sage 50, I currently have a programme date of 01/12/2019. Our accountant asked us to print off opening and closing trial balances and export NOMACTX to Excel which I have done. However, having watched the above video about changing the year end I am unclear on a number of things. 1) Should I run the Year End routine first. I am guessing not with this method. However, there is another complication! The complication is I have never archived our accounts and it has now gotten to a stage where the size of the file is a little unwieldy for backing up. It takes forever and a day so our accountant suggested that we start clean from 01/12/2020 which we did so:- 
 2) is there a standard process for clearing down the system and starting afresh? Our Chart of Accounts is fine. I am just talking about balances and transferring profit and loss. I rebuilt data and then journaled the opening balances. What I am not entirely clear on is how I should handle unreconciled transactions that are made just BEFORE year end and then do not hit the bank statement until AFTER the year end. 3) So do I leave the year end in the 'first' set of accounts as it is, run the reports they have asked for and just ensure bank balances and 3200 match on the first day of the new but 6 month financial year? 4) And therefore do I change the date for the Financial Year to 01/06/2021? The issue with doing this is the profits look massively inflated to an impossible level. In the video, Sage state run a trial balance with Brought Forward figures but a report cannot be generated if I change the date in the 'second' set. For reference, 'first' set refers to the previous data and 'second' set refers to the clean sheet start. In hindsight, I should have asked for advice sooner as I think it may have been far simpler to simply archive the accounts! I've limited time and am stressing out about this.

Anth Richardson · Accepted Answer

Hi Roger, 
 You're right - the Suspense account would build up a balance when entering your opening balances, but when you've finished entering them all - It should then balance to 0. If it doesn't, check out this help file for further help with that as you'll need to check your information and run some reports to identify the cause of the discrepancy. 
 You'll need to move all of your applicable nominal ledger balances over to the new dataset from the date they were closed off on the older dataset, that way when you finish this process in the new company - It should be in the same starting position as the old dataset was at it's ending position if that makes sense? Then, by extending the year (as shown in the video you've been following) you should be where you want to be. 
 Regarding the balance sheet nominals you mentioned (0030, 0031, 1001) - When you run a year end, these ledgers would be rolled forward into the next year as a brought forward balance on the nominal accounts. This would also be the case for the 2101 - 3200 range you mentioned. Take a look at the " What happens when you run Year End " guide for more information on what happens to these and other nominal categories during year end. As you're moving these amounts between two datasets, this is more of a "manual year end" type of process I believe. But again, due to the complexity, it's recommended you get in touch via a real time channel so we can ensure the advice given is accurate, or seek advice from your accountant. 
 Our preparing for Year End guide has all of the info and checks we recommend you complete during the process - You can find this here > 
 Hope this is useful. 
 Regards, 
 Anth 
 Sage UKI.

Anth Richardson · Answer

Hi Roger, 
 Thanks for using Sage City. 
 Before I go further - I just wanted to let you know that due to the complexity of your query, and the number of variables involved, you might benefit from contacting us via a real-time channel, like web chat or telephone regarding this one as we'll likely need more information or potentially remote support to have a look through your current Sage 50cloud Accounts configuration. If you'd rather do that now, you can find your contact options here > 
 Looking into your query and to answer each point in order: 
 1. As your program date is in 2019 - You may have missed your 2019/2020 year end too. As the date is a little confusing, could you verify you've completed your last year end and the accounts currently look as you'd expect aside from the need to extend your next FY? 
 2. There is a process to clear down data and start a new company yes - You would need to export your COA so it can be imported into a new, blank company, along with any other info you want to retain like customers and suppliers etc. Here is more information > As for the unreconciled transactions - If they aren't reconciled at year end, then don't include them in the year end process. 
 3 & 4. The link here contains our full guide for financial year extensions - There's a defined process to follow to ensure your reports are not affected by the change. You should be performing this on a single, consecutive dataset - Not the two you're currently using. If you can restore a backup to before you made that change, and then work forward following the guide, you won't hit the same barrier with the brought forward values TB report. The guide does contain a full text description of each step required, you could work through these steps after restoring the data to before the 'clear down' and then try again. 
 I hope this is useful. 
 Regards, 
 Anth 
 Sage UKI.

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Changing Year End

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