Lower or clear the hard close date
Lowering the hard close date opens months that were frozen, so you can correct something your accountant found after you locked them. It's an exception, not a routine step: fix what you need, then move the date back. Clearing the date removes the freeze completely.
To pull back a sign-off made by mistake on a month that isn't locked, use Reopen… instead. See Reopen a closed month.
Before you begin
- You need the Accounting → Period Hard Close permission (
accounting.period.hard_close), the same one that moves the date forward. Only the Admin role has it by default. - A hard close date must be set. The Lower hard close date… button appears only when there is one.
- Know which month you need to open, and why. You give the reason when you confirm, and it goes in the hard close date history.
- Nothing else can be running on the close. Wait for any close, re-sign-off or earlier move to finish in the job tray.
Steps
-
Go to Accounting → Close.
-
On the Hard close date card, below the Year board, click Lower hard close date….
You can also click Lower hard close date… on the banner of a Hard-locked month, or drag the Books locked through flag on the Year board to an earlier month end. While you drag, the flag reads Lower to and the month end it will snap to.
-
In Lower hard close date to, choose an earlier month end, or choose Clear the hard close date to remove it. The list includes every earlier date the hard close date has had, so you can return to any of them.
-
Read What will happen. It lists what lowering the date undoes, see What lowering undoes.
-
Read any warnings below it, and the line for each accounting connection.
-
In Reason (required), say why you're lowering it, for example Accountant asked us to correct December freight accruals.
-
Click Lower hard close date to and the date. If you chose to clear it, the button reads Clear the hard close date.
The dialog confirms Lowering the hard close date to the new date, and that progress shows in the job tray.
-
Click Done.
When the job finishes, the tray reads Books locked through and the new date, or The hard close date was cleared. The Year board marker moves back, and the months it uncovered read Closed again.
If you still can't click the lower button, hover over it: the tooltip names the first thing left to do, such as Enter a reason first. It goes in the hard close date history.
What lowering undoes
What will happen shows the effect of the date you picked before you confirm:
| Line | What it means |
|---|---|
| 2 months go back to Closed | The months that were Hard-locked become Closed again. They stay signed off and aren't reopened, so you don't have to close them again. |
| carry-forwards withdrawn | Inventory value changes that were held back and released on the first open day go back to their real dates, including ones already booked. |
| frozen day snapshots cleared | The daily figures saved for those months while they were locked are removed. Their sign-off packs are kept. |
| skipped postings re-queued | Postings that were skipped because of the lock are sent again. |
| The nightly rebuild may rewrite those months | Once the months are open, the nightly rebuild can update their entries. If the numbers then differ from the signed-off pack, those months read Closed – restated, and journals already in your accounting provider can change. |
Each line starts with a count, so you can see how much the move touches. Months that were locked but never closed (Locked, not closed) lose the lock too and go back to their open state.
Two warnings can appear under the list:
- Booked carry-forward journals. For example 2 carry-forward journals are already booked. Withdrawing reverses them, and the reversal syncs like any other change. A reversal on a document that's already paid can't reach your provider.
- Months within reach of the nightly rebuild. The warning names the months the nightly rebuild may rewrite once they're open.
If you enforce a provider's lock that still covers some of these months, those months stay frozen in SKU.io. The counts take that into account. See Keep your provider's lock aligned.
After you've made the correction
- Open each month you changed. Once SKU.io detects the change, the month reads Closed – restated and shows what moved since sign-off.
- Re-sign off each restated month. See Re-sign-off a restated month.
- Move the hard close date back to where it was. A month that still reads Closed – restated blocks the move, so re-sign off first. See Move the hard close date.
- If you changed your provider's lock to make the correction there, set it back to the same date. See Keep your provider's lock aligned.
Next steps
- How the hard close date works: what a locked month refuses.
- When a closed month changes: how SKU.io shows a change since sign-off.
- Move the hard close date: lock the months again.