SAP Business One Period End Close Checklist

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11 critical items still open - these are the highest-risk gaps.

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1. Cut-off and open documents

All sales deliveries for the period have a matching A/R invoice, or are accruedCRITICALAll goods receipts POs have an A/P invoice, or a goods received not invoiced accrual is understoodCRITICALOpen sales orders and purchase orders are reviewed and stale ones closedDraft documents are posted, deleted or confirmed as not belonging to the periodReturns and credit memos for the period are enteredEmployee expense claims and petty cash are entered

2. Inventory and production

Open production orders are reviewed, and completed ones are closed so variances postCRITICALInventory valuation report ties to the inventory control account in the G/LCRITICALNegative stock by item and warehouse is investigated and correctedInventory transfers in transit are completed or reportedPhysical count or cycle count adjustments are posted for the periodLanded costs are allocated to receipts

3. Sub-ledgers and bank

Incoming and outgoing payments are posted and allocated to invoicesCRITICALBank reconciliation is done and differences explainedCRITICALA/R aging is reviewed and doubtful balances provisionedA/P aging is reviewed and unrecorded liabilities accruedPost-dated cheques and deposits are posted correctlyCustomer and vendor balances agree to their control accounts

4. Journals, FX and tax

Recurring journal entries for depreciation, prepayments and accruals are postedCRITICALFixed asset depreciation run is posted for the periodExchange rates for the period end date are entered, then the currency revaluation is runCRITICALTax accounts reconcile to the tax return workings (GST, VAT or sales tax)Intercompany balances are agreed with counterpartiesManual journals have support and a second reviewer

5. Review, lock and report

Trial balance and balance sheet are reviewed against prior period and budgetCRITICALUnusual movements are explained and documentedPosting period for the closed month is set to Locked in Administration, Setup, Financials, Posting PeriodsCRITICALOnly an authorized user can unlock a period, and the reason is recordedFinancial reports are exported and archivedYear end only: the period end closing is run to move P&L balances to retained earningsCRITICAL

Close in the order shown: cut-off, inventory, sub-ledgers, journals, then lock. Locking before inventory and production variances are posted is the most common reason for reopening a period.

Want a close exceptions report from B1?

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How to use this checklist

Run it on the same working day each month, with owners named next to each group. Tick items as you complete them, then export the PDF as the close file. Items marked critical are those where a miss tends to cause a misstatement or force a period to be reopened. Adapt the list for your tax regime and business: a company with no fixed assets can skip depreciation, and a single currency company can skip revaluation. Add your own lines for local statutory filings.

The B1 features it relies on

Posting Periods in Administration, Setup, Financials control which dates accept postings, with statuses such as Unlocked, Locked and Unlocked except sales or purchasing, depending on version. Currency revaluation is available as an exchange rate difference run. Inventory valuation reports can be compared with the control account. Period End Closing is a year-end function that closes income and expense accounts. Each of these is a place where setting is easy and unsetting is slow, so check before clicking.

Reconciling inventory to the ledger

In B1 with perpetual inventory, every stock movement posts to the G/L, so the inventory valuation by item should equal the inventory control account balance. Differences usually come from manual journals to the control account, items with the wrong group, landed cost timing or production variances not yet posted. Run the inventory audit report for the month and the G/L account balance for the same date, then trace the gap by document type. Fix by correcting the source, not by a plug journal.

Compare totals by item group first
Exclude manual journals when tracing, then add them back
Check receipts with no matching invoice
Check closed production orders with variances

Common mistakes

Teams reopen periods because of a short list of habits, each easy to prevent.

Locking the period before bank and tax reconciliations
Running revaluation before entering period end rates
Leaving drafts open that later post into a locked period
Doing the year-end closing before audit adjustments
Having no named backup when the controller is away

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I lock a period in SAP Business One?

Open Administration, Setup, Financials, Posting Periods, select the period and set its status to Locked. Make sure the period you lock is the one you closed, and restrict who can unlock it through authorizations.

What is Period End Closing in B1?

It is the year-end process that transfers profit and loss account balances to retained earnings and closes the fiscal year for those accounts. It is separate from locking a monthly posting period and should follow final audit adjustments.

How do I handle foreign currency revaluation?

Enter the exchange rates for the period end date, then run the exchange rate differences or revaluation function. B1 posts the unrealized gain or loss. Confirm the revaluation accounts are mapped before you run it.

Why does inventory not match the G/L?

Typical causes are manual journals to the control account, wrong item group account mapping, landed cost timing and unposted production variances. Compare by item group first, then by document type, and fix at source.

Many close delays come from chasing the same open items every month. We can build a read-only exceptions report from B1 data that lists them before day one of the close. Ask us about it.

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SAP Business One Period End Close Checklist for Month End and Year End