How the System Handles Bookkeeping Dates
Lynx has very precise rules built into it regarding how dates are handled in the system. This is especially true of dates related to bookkeeping (money-related) transactions.
The reason for these tight controls is to insure accounting consistency and integrity. It's important that your accounting records are correct and complete, adhere to accepted financial standards, are legal, and are not susceptible to fraud. How the system handles dates associated with bookkeeping transactions is a big part of insuring this.
Invoicing dates:
All bookkeeping transactions involving money are handled in "batches". Each of these batches has the following dates associated with it:
Batch Date . . . This is the actual date the batch is keyed into the system regardless of what Period (month) the batch applies to.
Default Entry/Ticket Date . . . This is the default date that will automatically be assigned to each invoice in the batch. It will default to the first day of the Period if the Default Period is not the same as the current Period. However, if the Default Period is the same as the selected Period, today's date will show. In either case, you can change this date just so long as you stay within the Period selected.
Note: You can turn Date Error Checking OFF in your Invoicing Preferences:
However, it is strongly recommended that you leave Date Error Checking turned ON (that is, check the "Yes" radio button) to insure that the dates associated with your information are kept in sync. If you're using the General Ledger part of the system, you MUST have this turned on.
Period . . . This is the Period (month) that all of the transactions in the batch will be applied to when the batch is posted to the General Ledger.
If a batch has been "posted" to the General Ledger, none of these dates can be changed (unless you "Reverse and Open the Batch" first).
The Default Entry/Ticket Date must ALWAYS be a date within the Period assigned to the batch.
IMPORTANT: The Period date for a batch can only be changed BEFORE any transactions are entered into the batch. Once any transactions have been entered, the Period CANNOT be changed.
The date on the Invoice Detail window will default to the Default Entry Date. This can be changed for an individual invoice but the new date MUST be within the Period selected for the batch.
General Ledger report dates:
When you run report GL04 (the "GL Account Detail Report"), the periods selected MUST be "open". If one (or more) of them are closed you will not be able to print this report.
Closing periods:
After you "close" a period, that period CANNOT be opened and no further changes can be made to it. If errors are found after the period is closed, they will have to be corrected in succeeding periods.
If you attempt to close a period but still have "un-posted" batches in that period, the system will alert you so that they can be posted prior to closing the period.
For more information on this, go to Close Periods.