Introduction
IndiCater works on a weekly basis and so outlet users have a weekly task to close their week. Some clients work to a calendar month so also have the additional task of closing the month.
Assumption
You have the permission set to access this
Where do I find this
Outlet > Company > Close Period
Step by step guide
To close a week, click on Company then click on Close Period. Simply click on the red circle for the relevant week, answer any questions that may have been set up and confirm. This turns the circle to green. There are three modules, Employment, Finance and Stocktaking. You may need to do this process for each module if required by your business.
This process then 'locks' the data in that week so you cannot amend it.
What if I need to amend the data?
Data can still be amended by a Head Office user. Alternatively, Head Office users can open a closed week letting you make any necessary changes before closing it again. The data can't be amended or the week re-opened if head office have already exported the data.
I can see Employment, Stocktaking and Finance options, do I need to close them all?
The close week process is done per module. Only the modules you are using need to be closed.
Why are some of the weeks blue?
Head Office users have the option to authorise the closing of the week. This doesn't affect the data but turns the button blue to show it's been approved.
Does anyone see the answers to my questions?
You have the option to add questions to the close week process. These can be managed by head office. The comments are sent via email to Head Office users who are assigned to the outlet's Area and have the Close Period Comments Alert ticked in User Access.
Monthly close
As some clients work to a calendar month, there is also the option to have a Close Month process activated. In this instance you will still close the weeks but at the end of the month you will also close the month.
I work in a school which is closed during the summer, how do we close those weeks?
There is a multi week close rule which can be activated for clients. If on, this rule lets you close multiple weeks at a time. Cash in hand and closing stock will be carried forward to the first open week. Speak to your head office about this rule.
Processing Year End
Process year end needs to be completed in each outlet after the end of your financial year. You will see a warning on log in advising that you are approaching year end. Once you have reached the end of your year, you will be able to continue to use IndiCater in the normal way for up to 4 weeks past the end of the year, but at this point you will no longer be able to complete certain functions and will have no choice but to complete the process year end.
You will need to choose a time to process the year end when users are not needing to use the system as users in that outlet will be logged out for a period. The system advises up to an hour but in reality it is normally around 15 minutes.
You need to action it in each outlet and all you do is click Process Year End in the Close Period area, and that outlet will close while the process happens.
Processing year end will close your previous financial year and lock the data in that year. You will then start working in the new year.
Can I still book off orders etc?
Any orders which are still to be booked off, estimates which are still outstanding or invoices which need approving can all still be actioned and all data can still be accessed and viewed, but you won’t be able to go into week 50 and enter an invoice for example.
If you did need to do that, you would add it in your current week and use the Late Invoice date field to assign the correct invoice date.
You can still run reports and exports for the closed year.