Hello All,

I recently took over the accounts payable department at my job.  I learned that when they close the year out, they do close the current year, they actually close the prior year.  For example: 12/31/15, they closed out 2014 not 2015. 

My questions: 

• Are there any other businesses that follow this practice?  If so why?  In my previous experience, we closed out the current year on Dec 31st. 
• If I were to reset my system date to 12/31/15 and close out the year, would that mess up anything that has already been entered for 2016?

My issue with this whole thing is that now our financials look horrible because accounts that are supposed to close out at the end of the year did not and are carrying balances far higher then they should be.