If you did NOT purchase the SchoolLeader Accounting Package or do not plan on using the SchoolLeader General Ledger system, then you can bypass this section that discusses setting up your G/L Accounting Period Events.
By this point, all of your SchoolLeader G/L rules should have been defined and you are now ready to begin using the G/L system.
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. For the G/L, you most likely will want to select Monthyy periods.
It is important to remember that your G/L is based on accounting data from your A/R and A/P systems. The accounting periods from A/R and A/P must be closed before that data can be uploaded to your G/L.
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.
The following is a list of the G/L 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:
Run trial balances of my accounting data (receivables and payables)
Make Journal Entries to my ledger
Close G/L 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 G/L accounting period:
2) Manually upload accounting data from the previous month to the ledger as a 'trial balance'.
3) Reconcile G/L accounts
4) Close the G/L Accounting Period.