If you did NOT purchase the SchoolLeader Accounting Package then you can bypass this section that discusses setting up your Accounting Period Events.
By this point, all of your SchoolLeader A/P related data has been entered and you are now ready to begin using the A/P system.
To recap what has already been discussed, 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.
There are numerous benefits of using a period structured accounting system for your childcare business, including :
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 you can have confidence in the stability of your historical data when sharing it with your accountant or a central/headquarters office.
SchoolLeader was designed to provide you with the most flexibility possible when it comes to setting up the accounting operations of your business. Although the basic accounting events (e.g. posting charges, applying late fees, etc.) that occur throughout an accounting period are the same for any business, the timing and the order of those events can vary. These differences may be due to the needs of the business or just personal preference. Regardless, you will want to give some thought to the order and timing of these accounting events and define a plan before you start using SchoolLeader.
The following is a list of the A/P Accounting Functions that should be considered when planning your accounting schedule. Once defined, you will quickly establish an accounting rhythm that will solidify the way you do business. You'll need to consider these questions:
When do I want to:
Post Bills from my Vendors
Make Payments (write checks) for these bills
Reconcile my checkbook
Close A/P Accounting Period (Bookclose) and begin the next accounting period
Although this chapter discusses accounting periods as months, 'weekly' accounting periods can be easily substituted wherever you see the word 'month'. A weekly accounting period schedule will follow the same basic schedule as a monthly accounting period schedule, except that the days that these events happen will differ for a weekly calendar.
As previously stated, the order and timing of these Accounting Events can vary based on your business needs and preferences, however, the following is a simple schedule for a monthly A/P accounting period:
From each Vendor Folder Billing Account Tab, post the bills that need to be paid this month.
2) Make Payments.
Make the payments (write checks) corresponding to the outstanding bills.
Reconcile your SchoolLeader check register statement from last month against the bank statement (bank statements tend to arrive in the beginning of the month).
1) Close A/P Accounting Period (Bookclose).
This process reconciles all the accounts and closes the current accounting period from receiving anymore activity. Once a period has been closed, SchoolLeader automatically opens up the next accounting period, and your monthly schedule can begin again.
With Accounts Payable, you will most likely post bills and write checks more than one time for a given month. This example tries to show you that you need to post bills, make payments, reconcile, then close the accounting period.