Professional Services Tool Library – Fiscal Period Modifier
Posted on: April 8, 2016 | By: Craig Thompson | Microsoft Dynamics GP, Professional Services
This is post number eight in a series of blog posts that are centered on the specific features within the Professional Services Tool Library (PSTL). The PTSL is now a standard feature in GP that has many valuable tools available to users that used to only be accessible via Microsoft support or your implementation partner. Before you begin using the PTSL, there are a few things that you need to remember:
- Before you take any action in the PTSL, make a backup of your SQL Server data. Some of the tools will prompt you to make a backup before proceeding, but this should be standard practice for all of them.
- Most of the tools require that the person utilizing the PTSL is the only user logged into GP.
- Certain tools will require that you login as “sa.”
This screenshot shows all of the available tools.
The Fiscal Period Modifier allows a company to redefine the fiscal periods in GP. Changing the fiscal year end date can be a stressful process. There are lots of agencies to report this to, which include filing several special forms. However, GP tries to take some of the stress out of this process with the Fiscal Period Modifier tool.
When this powerful tool is run, it will erase all prior fiscal years that have been set up in GP. Therefore, it is necessary to reemphasize the need to make a backup of all company databases before proceeding. Your first step in this process is to retrieve a list of all periods that are setup in GP at the moment and whether those periods are historical or not. There are two steps needed in order to retrieve all of this information. First, navigate to Reports –> Company –> Setup. In the Reports field, choose Fiscal Periods. The report will show every fiscal period that is set up and whether or not it is closed.
However, this report does not list which years are historical. In order to retrieve that information, navigate to Microsoft Dynamics GP –> Tools –> Setup –> Company –> Fiscal Period. Scroll through each year that was printed on the report above and look for the checkbox in the red circle below. If the box is checked, it is a historical year. Make note of this on the printed report.
Next, navigate to the Fiscal Period Modifier in the PSTL.
Step 1 will ask you to set up new fiscal periods. Once you click the Setup Periods button, your current fiscal periods will be erased. The Fiscal Period Setup window will open and be completely blank. Enter your new fiscal periods here, which includes the first and last day, number of periods, and names and dates of the new periods.
Next, Step 2 will ask you if you would like to open any previously closed periods. Refer to your report that shows which years are historical and which are not. If any of these years need to be reopened, then choose the relevant year and click Open Year.
Lastly, reopen the Fiscal Period Modifier and click Process in step 3. Click Yes in the next window, which states that it will update current and historic information in the GL based on the new fiscal periods. This will run all relevant reconciliation processes. When this is done, a confirmation will pop up.
Since this tool is powerful, it may be useful to run this process on a test company first, as it will allow you to see the results before running the process on a live company.
Want more information on how Microsoft Dynamics GP and the PSTL can benefit your business? Reach out to us at Logan Consulting, your Chicago based Microsoft Partners for a consultation.