Close and reopen a month

Closing a month is how you say "this month is finished." Once its transactions are categorized and Balancivo's balance matches the bank's, close it so nothing changes by accident. Close months after you've categorized everything and before you send reports to your CPA.

Before you start

• Categorize every transaction in the month.
• Have the bank statement handy in case Balancivo needs its ending balance.

Steps

1. Go to Month close. Each account has its own table, one row per month, with Transactions, Categorized, Balance in Balancivo, Bank balance and Status.
2. Clear anything left to categorize. If Categorized shows a number left, click it to open those transactions in Review, file them, and come back.
3. Enter the bank balance if it's missing. Bank balances come from your imported statements. If the status says Enter bank balance, type the ending balance from the statement into the Ending balance box and click Save.
4. Check the status. Ready to close means everything is categorized and the balances match. Off by an amount means Balancivo's balance and the bank's don't agree yet; find and fix the difference first (reconciling the account helps, see Reconcile an account to a bank statement).
5. Click Close month on the oldest open month. The status changes to Closed with the date you closed it.
6. To reopen, click Reopen on the most recent closed month for that account.

Good to know

• Close months in order, oldest first. Later months show "Close earlier months first" until the ones before them are closed.
• Only the most recent closed month for an account can be reopened. To reach an earlier month, reopen the later ones first, newest to oldest.
• Months are closed account by account.
• Closing marks the month's transactions reviewed and locks them. In that account and month, transactions can't be added, edited or deleted until you reopen it. Checking items off in a reconciliation still works.
• Journal entries dated in a month that's closed can't be posted or changed. A reversal of an entry from a closed month is dated today instead (see Reverse a journal entry).
• Restoring a change from History into a closed month needs that month reopened first.
• Set-up values that reach back into a closed month are locked too:
  • an account's opening balance and start date, while that account has a closed month from that date on;
  • a fixed asset's cost, salvage value, life, method, in-service date and disposal date, and adding or removing an asset in service before a closed month (its name and notes can still change);
  • a fund's opening balance, because it counts from the start of the books. To give a new fund money after a close, start it at 0 and use a fund transfer.
• Only an owner can close or reopen months, or type a bank balance. Bookkeepers can see the page.