Move the hard close date
Move the hard close date forward when you're ready to freeze a run of signed-off months, usually at quarter end or year end. SKU.io checks every month the move covers, asks for your reason, and then locks the books through the new date as a job in the job tray. You set the date for the first time the same way.
Before you begin
- You need the Accounting → Period Hard Close permission (
accounting.period.hard_close). Only the Admin role has it by default. - Every month you lock through should be closed and signed off, and none should read Closed – restated. To lock months that were never closed anyway, you also need the Accounting → Period Override permission (
accounting.period.override). - The new date must be the last day of a month that has already ended.
- 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
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Go to Accounting → Close.
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Below the Year board, click Move hard close date…. If no date is set yet, the button reads Set hard close date…. The Move hard close date forward dialog opens (Set hard close date the first time).
You can also drag the Books locked through flag on the Year board to a later month end. While you drag, the flag reads Lock through and the month end it will snap to. Let go to open the same dialog with that date filled in.
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In Lock books through, choose the month end to lock through. The list offers the month ends you can lock through now. If you hold Accounting → Period Override, it also lists every month that has ended.
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Read Before you move it. It reads Nothing blocks this move when the date is ready, or lists each problem with a red Blocking chip and a Review link to the month concerned. Fix each one first, see What can stop the move.
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If the only problem is months nobody closed, and you mean to lock them anyway, tick Lock the months that were never closed anyway. Their chip changes to Overridden.
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If a warning says that entries dated in this range haven't posted, tick I understand these will redate or be skipped after the move.
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Read the line for each accounting connection. It tells you whether Xero or QuickBooks will match the new date, for example Xero — Demo Books has no lock date. After this, set one there. or, when it has one, Xero will be behind after this: it's locked through Dec 31, 2025, so it stays editable until you change it there.
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In Reason (required), say why you're locking, for example Q2 reviewed and filed with our accountant. The reason goes in the hard close date history.
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Click Move hard close date to and the date. (The first time, the dialog is titled Set hard close date, but the button reads the same.)
The dialog confirms Moving the hard close date to the new date, and that progress shows in the job tray. If a provider's lock won't match, a reminder reads Now set the lock in Xero to Jun 30, 2026. SKU.io can't write it. with an Open connections link.
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Click Done.
When the job finishes, the tray reads Books locked through and the new date. The Year board marker moves to that month end, the months it covers read Hard-locked, and the move appears in the History on Accounting → Settings → Close.
If you still can't click the move 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.
Next: set the same date in your provider
SKU.io can't write the lock in Xero or QuickBooks. Set it there to the same day, so nobody can edit those months in your provider either. See Keep your provider's lock aligned.
Other ways to move it
- When you close a month. Tick Also lock through this month in the close dialog and give a reason. The date moves to the end of that month once the close finishes, under the same rules. If the move can't go ahead, the month still closes, and the job tray says why the date didn't move. See Close a month.
- From the settings. Accounting → Settings → Close has the same Hard close date card, with Move hard close date….
- From your provider's lock date. When Xero or QuickBooks is locked later than your hard close date, Use as hard close date in Accounting → Settings → General opens this dialog with the provider's date filled in. See Keep your provider's lock aligned.
What can stop the move
| What Before you move it says | What to do |
|---|---|
| September 2026, October 2026 aren't closed. | Close those months first: click Review and the month. If you hold Accounting → Period Override and mean to lock them unclosed, tick Lock the months that were never closed anyway. Those months then read Locked, not closed, and the months crossed and your reason go on the record. Without the permission, the dialog says that crossing months that were never closed needs it. |
| March 2026 needs re-sign-off. | The month changed since it was signed off. Review the change and re-sign it off first, see Re-sign-off a restated month. The override doesn't cover this. |
| A month and a report can't be compared with what was signed, so the month can't be hardened yet. | A report in the month's pack can't be compared with the signed-off one, so SKU.io can't prove nothing changed. Open the month, re-check it, and re-sign it off so its pack can be compared again. |
| The hard close date must be the last day of a month. | Pick a month end. |
| The hard close date must be a month that has already ended. | You can't lock the current month or a future one. Wait until the month ends. |
| The hard close date can be at most one day before the accounting start date. | Pick a date no earlier than the day before your accounting start date. |
| The hard close date is already and the date | Pick a different date. |
| A close, re-sign-off, detection run or hard date move is running. Wait for it to finish. | Let the job in the job tray finish, then try again. |
| There is no accounting history to lock yet. | There's nothing to freeze until your books have months in them. |
When a blocker can't be overridden, the dialog says The override below doesn't cover this. Fix it first. under it.
Entries still on their way
A warning such as "3 entries dated in this range haven't posted. After the move they would redate to the first open day or be skipped." means some entries dated in the months you're locking haven't reached your ledger yet. After the move they follow your Locked-period events setting: either booked on the first open day and flagged, or blocked. You must tick the acknowledgement before you can move the date. To avoid it, wait for those entries to post, then move the date.
A second warning can say that some queued changes have no entry yet, so their dates can't be read. Any that turn out to be dated in the range are treated the same way.
What the move does
The move runs as a job named Move Hard Close Date in the job tray. In order, it:
- Builds any pending batches dated in the months it's about to lock, so nothing is left half-built inside the lock. See Batches and the close.
- Checks every closed month it covers for changes since sign-off, using the latest figures rather than the preview's.
- Checks the rules again and, if they still pass, moves the date and records it in the history with your reason.
If a month changed between the preview and the move, the job stops and the tray reads Hard close date not moved: with the reason, for example March 2026 needs re-sign-off. The date stays where it was. Re-sign off the month and move the date again.
Next steps
- Keep your provider's lock aligned: set the same date in Xero or QuickBooks.
- How the hard close date works: what a locked month refuses.
- Lower or clear the hard close date: open frozen months again to fix something.
- Year end and the close: locking the year.