Help needed on a SAGE question - The Book-keepers Forum (UK)

Amanda · Expert

Help needed on a SAGE question

RobH · Expert

Well I am happy to answer the call Amanda!
If it says Jan 08 at the bottom, then you are in the year to December 2008. Has the accountant made any adjustments? Does he send you a new back-up or some journals to put through? You want to get these adjustments on (if any neededprior to running year end). If everything ready and you have an upto date back up and run any reports you want you will need to set the programme date to 31.12.08 in 'settings', then from 'tools' run year end. It will warn you that you are doing year end procedure whilst in the current year (since you have changed settings). Print out the ledger journals for your file, change the date back to today and everything will be put into the year to 31st December 2009. Hope that helps.

LizB · Veteran Member

Hi Amanda.

It does sound like you've not run a year end. There are a couple of ways to check :
First, look right down the bottom of the screen when in sage. In the right hand corner there should be a month and year shown. This will be the first month of the year you are in. IE If your year runs Jan- Dec 2010, and sage has been rolled over from 2009, the date will show January 2010, if it hasn't been rolled over, it will show Jan 2009. Another certain way is, as you say you have done, to post a transaction. If it is outside of the fin. year sage is in, it will flag up a warning that its outside of your fin. year.
Also, you can always check when you do acutally run the year end, as it will show the year end date you are running in the 'Period' section, before you actually hit the button.
Hope that helps!
Liz

Amanda · Expert

Thanks Rob, your a star!!

I didn't think I had run it but its nice to get clarication from this.
Anyway done the journals, he dosen't give me a back up just a list of journals. The thing is I have put them on dated 1 Jan 09 is this correct?

At the top of the list he has ' adjustments needed to be put on Sage year ending 31st Dec 09, which is the year I am currently working on, so I have put them on for the 1st Jan 09, because at the bottom of the list it also has Opening bal at 1 Jan 09. So have I put them on with the correct date? I am assuming so?

My client is organised and it all comes to me neaty in a file just to input and he never leaves it to the last minute, so we get it done early and to the accountants early.

Many thanks, I knew I would get the answer on here.
And yes the right had corner of the screen says Jan 08.

Amanda

-- Edited by Amanda on Thursday 18th of March 2010 04:00:44 PM

RobH · Expert

Amanda, what kind of adjustments has he made? They may need to go on as 31 Dec 2008.

Amanda · Expert

Plant/machinery depreciation
Capitalise computer that was bought in 2008.
Stock
Things paid from personal account
Wages control account (accountant does the wages)
Bad Debt

I put them on last year for the 1st Jan 08 (that was 07 adjustments) and he did't comment they are wrong.

Its funny because the company that did them before me did they on the 31st dec 199X, this is my 2nd year at doing them and I'm sure the accountant told me to do them on thd 1st of the next yr.

He got rid of his old bookkeeping company as they charged him a fortune and messed it up and the accountant had to sort it out. (hes another dad from the playground)!

Thanks Liz have done the checks that you suggested and I hadn't done it.

Thanks
Amanda

PS hes not VAT reg.

-- Edited by Amanda on Thursday 18th of March 2010 04:35:03 PM

RobH · Expert

I think the accountant has put the wrong date on the adjustments and that it should be saying 2008. These all sound like they should be journalled in at 31.12.08. I bet there is an accrual for accountancy too. If that is teh case you will have to reverse the journals with 01.01.09 date and then put them in again at 31.12.08. What do others think?

Amanda · Expert

Rob,

I have just checked on my other client who is on a different sage instants and his accountant has juts given me yr end journals to do, and he has put the date as the 1st of the month after the yr end date. So for instance if it was 31st March he has put them for 1st april. Is this because on this particular customer I have already done the year end button. The accountant on this one wanted the year end button pressed etc before all the stuff went to him. I spoke to him the other day about the journals and he said to do it for the day after year end.
Strange there wasn't an accountant accural.

Am I just confusing things? I am having an I hate SAGE afternoon!!!
(I normally don't mind it).

Any thoughts anyone?

thanks
Amanda

-- Edited by Amanda on Thursday 18th of March 2010 05:31:06 PM

RobH · Expert

If they were opening balances I would agree to go with the 1st ofthe following month, but these all look to be year end adjustments. I am assuming when you give the bookeeping over to the acountant you have an agreement that you do not post depreciation etc but if you did post these, you would post them in the year. Having said all that, I've never done a bookkeeping course so maybe I'm wrong!

semsley · Guru

Accountant I use has me check the P&L account 3200 agrees first with his from the previous year. Then change date to last day of financial year. Run year end. Print out journals. Then change date to 1st of new financial year and do adjustments as opening balances. Then check P & L account agrees with his at the end of the adjustment. Hope this makes sense.

RobH · Expert

Hi Sheila, would this include adjustments for depreciation, capitalisation of assets bought in the previous year, or ould you have done all that?

Amanda · Expert

Hi Sheila,

I kind of know what you mean, and yes Rob I do not post any depreciation before it goes to the accountants they like to give me a journal for that.

On the one in question where I think mybe I have put them in at the wrong date I did 1st Jan 09 (yr end was 31st dec 08), the bit thats confusing me is that at the bottom of his list of journal he has opening balances at 1st Jan 09, and at the top of the page he has Adjustements to go on sage yr endin 31st dec 09, which is the year I am working on a the mo.

Sorry it sounds confusing I know. I think it will be a glass of wine tonight!! Have some in the fridge waiting.

All my clients have different accountants and they all put different things on their journals regarding the date and some are press the yr end button before it goes and some are afterwards, hence the confusion. Anyway I definately haven't press this year end button on this one, so thats good that is confirmed.

Any more thoughts anyone?
Glad we have a forum like this.

Regards
Amanda

semsley · Guru

Rob - Nah he does it, although that particular client only got capital equipment last year as they are a charity who got megabucks in 2007/08 to move into new purpose built accommodation with lots of IT and AV equipment.

semsley · Guru

Amanda, if he has some adjustments dated in the previous year I would put these in before running y/e procedure dated 31 Dec, then put the O/bals in after y/e procedure dating 1 Jan.

The particular accountant I was talking about is great he gives me a lovely printed out list and he has recommended me to other clients of his so I really, really love him!!!!

Amanda · Expert

Hi Sheila,

Thanks, all the adjustments (not too many anyway as client is not that big) he has got it as the way I read it, for it to go on 1st Jan 09. I have checked what I did the previous year and again I put them on the 1st of the following yr not the 31st dec the previous yr. This is what he told me to do last time, and when I gave them in the last time he didn't say that it was wrong, he was rather pleased that they were up together as like I said the previous company (large bookkeeping and payroll company) had totally somehow messed them up, I personally think they had let a trainee do them and didn't check them before they went to the accountant. Theres really not much to muck up, so quite unbelievable it happend in the first place.

Do you think it would be safe to leave them as they are???

The good thing is I did a back up before I started today so I can always just restore the back-up as oppose to reverse all the entries. Thank god I did one!

THanks
A
PS Sheila - How the leg now?

Lisa Jo · Senior Member

Ive always run the year end via Sage to clear out the profit and loss nominal accounts. Why would you just change a date, run reports & not run the year end, if you carry on inputting all sales/purchases do not get closed off and then if you run the year end afterwards it all gets totalled up everything included pre and post year end. Im just waiting for subby invoices to go on and ten Ill close off. Im going to call his accountants tomorrow and get this confrmed.

Amanda · Expert

Wheres Shaun today/tonight, not had an answer from you yet???

Should I leave the journals on the beginning of the year 09 or post them on the last day of year 08. Read above it will make more sense!

Thanks
A

Shamus · Forum Moderator & Expert

Hi Amanda,

Sorry, study keeps getting in the way at the moment so not on here as much as normal. Think I'm now suffering fro tax fatigue and that before I start on inheritance tax (yuk).

From reading the above personally I believe that the journal entries need to be made before the year end procedure is processed so I would advise re-inputting for 31/12/08 which is the way that I would have done it... Then again, I'm no whizz with Sage so if anyone wants to jump in and disagree I'm happy to be proven wrong on this.

Sorry I'm not more help today Amanda,

Talk soon,

Shaun.

Sue T · Veteran Member

Hi Amanda

Most accountants who I deal with require the end of year finalised on Sage and then give me journal entries for the opening balances on the 1st day of the month after year end, mainly because mostly they take forever to get the accounts back to you. Saying that one of my clients accountants demands that everything is correct at year end and I leave Sage open till she gives me corrected journal postings. It is really down to the accountant to decide I feel as they will have made notes on their files to back up the journal entries (hopefully!).

Sue

Amanda · Expert

Hi Sue,

What you have said about the journals being for the 1st day of the month is exactly how I have read these, because at the bottom of the sheet hes got opening balances 1st Jan 2009.
yr end was 31st Dec.
Would you agree Sue?

Thanks
A

Silly Digits · Senior Member

The accountants I deal with request a backup of sage before the year end is closed. Once they have received ok and put onto their system I then get confirmation that the year end can be closed. A couple of months done the line I get an adjustements journal which I date as per their instructions, with the year end date that has just been closed. Everything works out fine.

Hope this helps

Amanda · Expert

Thanks for your quick reply, luckily I did take a back up before I started yesterday, so will restore it and start again, putting the date as 31st dec.

Many thanks everyone for your replys.

regards
A