All SchoolLeader customers need to define a basic General Ledger fiscal calendar, and a basic Accounts Receivable fiscal calendar, even if you are not using the SchoolLeader accounting functions. If you are using the SchoolLeader Accounts Payable System, you will also need to define an Accounts Payable fiscal calendar.
It is now time to define your fiscal calendars. A separate fiscal calendar exists for:
General Ledger (G/L) Analyze your A/R and A/P at a summarized level to produce your Profit and Loss (Income) Statement, Balance Sheet, etc.
Accounts Receivable (A/R) Revenue Received from your Customers
Accounts Payable (A/P) Expenses Paid to your Vendors
What is your fiscal calendar? It's a representation of how you do business, and how you want to capture your revenue or expenses for analysis purposes for a given fiscal year.
The SchoolLeader accounting system is based on standard accounting principles and practices. SchoolLeader manages your accounting data in Accounting Periods. An accounting period is simply a unit of time that you will define for tracking your A/R, A/P, and G/L. Within SchoolLeader, you can have either weekly, monthly or annual accounting periods. You have the flexibility to define each of these accounting periods within your A/R, A/P, and G/L fiscal calendars.
The benefits of using a professional structured accounting system for your childcare business are enormous:
You will be able to easily analyze your accounting data for a given period, and compare your performance from one period to another.
For multiple site operators, you can compare and analyze accounting data from each individual location for a 'frozen' period of time.
Data in 'closed' accounting periods becomes permanently recorded, so that you have total control over your data. With so many 'hands in the pot' at your center, no one will be able to adjust data in prior accounting periods.
To determine how to define your fiscal calendars, you'll need to think about how you run your business from an accounting perspective.
Let's start with the General Ledger (G/L) Fiscal Calendar:
The G/L Fiscal Calendar serves two purposes:
It is the calendar used as the baseline for defining your fiscal year. Even if you choose not to use the SchoolLeader G/L system, you will still need to define your G/L calendar, as it provides the start and end dates for defining your fiscal year.
Many childcare businesses run their businesses on a January 1st through December 31st fiscal calendar. SchoolLeader allows you to define any start and end date for your fiscal calendar. If you are unsure of what fiscal calendar is used for your business, you will need to consult with your accountant.
It allows you to capture your G/L activity in distinguishable accounting periods, such as weekly, monthly, and annually. Although SchoolLeader allows you to set up an annual G/L fiscal calendar, it is not recommended that you do so. With an annual fiscal calendar, there are no intermediate checkpoints to use to track your revenue and expenses. For example, with an annual calendar, you will not be able to produce a monthly Income Statement, because the data has not been 'captured' on a monthly basis.
All SchoolLeader users need to define a G/L Fiscal Calendar, even if you are not planning on using SchoolLeader G/L functionality. Click on Accounting in the toolbar, and then click on Fiscal Calendar Maintenance.
Click on General Ledger, and then enter your G/L fiscal year.
Click on Modify/Extend Calendar.
Define your G/L period cycle, whether it be weekly, monthly, or annually.
If you are not using the SchoolLeader G/L functionality, then select ANNUAL, and fill in your period start and end dates. Then click DEFINE NOW.
If you are using the SchoolLeader G/L functionality, then select WEEKLY or MONTHLY period cycles (MONTHLY is highly recommended), and fill in your period start and end dates. Then click DEFINE NOW.
Review the G/L calendar that SchoolLeader has generated. If you agree with the results, then click on the SAVE button. You will receive a warning that this fiscal calendar is permanent and cannot be changed during this fiscal year. Click OK if you agree with the calendar, or CANCEL to NOT save the calendar.
SchoolLeader will give you a warning that your G/L fiscal calendar is set to the first accounting period, since it does not know if you want to advance the calendar to reflect the current date, or if you have data that you want to enter from prior dates.
At this time, leave your G/L accounting period set to the first period.
If you realize that you've made a mistake after your G/L fiscal calendar has been saved, you will need to contact SchoolLeader support for assistance on resetting your calendar.
All SchoolLeader users need to define an A/R Fiscal Calendar, even if you are not planning on using SchoolLeader A/R functionality. If you are not using the SchoolLeader G/L functionality, then you can set up an ANNUAL calendar.
To properly define your A/R accounting period, you'll need to answer these questions:
How do you most commonly BILL your recurring charges... on a weekly basis, or on a monthly basis?
If most of your students are billed on a weekly basis, then we'll set up a weekly A/R fiscal calendar, with weekly accounting periods.
If most of your students are billed on a monthly basis, then we'll set up a monthly A/R fiscal calendar, with monthly accounting periods.
If your students are equally billed on a weekly and a monthly basis, then you get to choose which accounting period structure makes the most business sense to you.
Although SchoolLeader allows you to set up an annual fiscal calendar, it is not recommended that you do so if you will be using the A/R system. With an annual calendar, there are no intermediate checkpoints to use to track revenue and overdue balances.
What fiscal year does your A/R calendar reflect?
The A/R Fiscal Calendar has nothing to do when payments are received, but rather when charges are posted. Regardless of whether you set up a weekly A/R Fiscal Calendar, or a monthly A/R Fiscal Calendar, SchoolLeader will always allow you to receive payments for any time period. For example, if a parent prefers to prepay for the month instead of paying week by week, then SchoolLeader will apply that monthly payment and just keep the extra money in a Prepayment bucket until the weekly charges are posted.
Now that you've determined if you're defining a weekly or monthly fiscal calendar (or annual for those not using the A/R system), let's go ahead and define your A/R Fiscal Calendar.
Click on Accounting in the toolbar, and then click on Fiscal Calendar Maintenance.
Click on Receivables (your fiscal year will be the same as entered in your G/L calendar)
Click on Modify/Extend Calendar. Select Weekly, Monthly, or Annual. For a Weekly calendar, select the day of the week that your accounting period begins, such as Sunday, or Monday.
You do not need to select specific dates for the displayed fiscal year because SchoolLeader is going to automatically align your A/R fiscal calendar to be within the date range specified on your G/L fiscal calendar.
If you define a weekly accounting periods, it is quite possible that your first and last weeks of the A/R fiscal calendar will be 'short weeks' to reflect the true beginning date and ending date of a year.
When you've entered your data, click on Define Now. In this example, SchoolLeader will define 52 accounting periods (52 weeks). If you had defined a monthly fiscal calendar, then SchoolLeader would have defined 12 accounting periods (12 months).
You'll receive a message that your Receivables Calendar was extended successfully. Click OK.
Review the A/R calendar that SchoolLeader has generated. If you agree with the results, then click on the SAVE button. You will receive a warning that this fiscal calendar is permanent and cannot be changed during this fiscal year. Click OK if you agree with the calendar, or CANCEL to NOT save the calendar.
SchoolLeader will give you a warning that your A/R fiscal calendar is set to the first accounting period, since it does not know if you want to advance the calendar to reflect the current date, or if you have data that you want to enter from prior dates.
At this time, leave your A/R accounting period set to the first period.
If you realize that you've made a mistake after your fiscal calendar has been saved, you will need to contact SchoolLeader support for assistance.
If you will NOT be using the SchoolLeader A/P system, then you can bypass the rest of this chapter.
To properly define your A/P accounting period, you'll need to answer these questions:
How do you most commonly PAY your vendor's bills... on a weekly basis, or on a monthly basis?
If most of your bills are paid on a weekly basis, then we'll set up a weekly A/P fiscal calendar.
If most of your bills are paid on a monthly basis, then we'll set up a monthly A/P fiscal calendar. Most SchoolLeader customers set up a MONTHLY A/P Fiscal Calendar, since they prefer to look at their expenses on a monthly basis. In addition, most Vendor bills are paid on a monthly basis (e.g. rent, utilities, credit cards, etc).
Although SchoolLeader allows you to set up an annual fiscal calendar, it is not recommended that you do so. With an annual calendar, there are no intermediate checkpoints to use to track revenue and overdue balances.
What fiscal year does your A/P calendar reflect?
Now that you've determined if you're defining a weekly or monthly fiscal calendar, let's go ahead and define your A/P Fiscal Calendar.
Click on Accounting in the toolbar, and then click on Fiscal Calendar Maintenance.
Click on Payables (your fiscal year will be the same as entered in your G/L calendar)
Click on Modify/Extend Calendar. Select Weekly, Monthly, or Annual. Most customers choose a MONTHLY Payables Fiscal Calendar. For a Weekly calendar, select the day of the week that your accounting period begins, such as Sunday, or Monday.
You do not need to select specific dates for the displayed fiscal year because SchoolLeader is going to automatically align your A/R fiscal calendar to be within the date range specified on your G/L fiscal calendar.
If you define a weekly accounting periods, it is quite possible that your first and last weeks of the A/P fiscal calendar will be 'short weeks' to reflect the true beginning date and ending date of a year.
When you've entered your data, click on Define Now. In this example, SchoolLeader will define 12 accounting periods (12 months). If you had defined a weekly A/P fiscal calendar, then SchoolLeader would have defined 52 accounting periods (52 weeks).
You'll receive a message that your Payables Calendar was extended successfully. Click OK.
Review the A/P calendar that SchoolLeader has generated. If you agree with the results, then click on the SAVE button. You will receive a warning that this fiscal calendar is permanent and cannot be changed during this fiscal year. Click OK if you agree with the calendar, or CANCEL to NOT save the calendar.
SchoolLeader will give you a warning that your A/P fiscal calendar is set to the first accounting period, since it does not know if you want to advance the calendar to reflect the current date, or if you have data that you want to enter from prior dates.
At this time, leave your A/P accounting period set to the first period.
If you realize that you've made a mistake after your fiscal calendar has been saved, you will need to contact SchoolLeader support for assistance.