Fiscal years & closing
A fiscal year is the reference accounting period: every voucher, every journal, every entry belongs to it. Without an open fiscal year covering a voucher’s date, SynkriaOps rejects the entry and notifies you immediately. Under OHADA, the standard duration is 12 months: most SMEs align their fiscal year with the calendar year (1 January → 31 December).
The lifecycle of a fiscal year is simple: Open (day-to-day entry and posting) → pre-closing checks (47x suspense accounts cleared, no drafts left) → Closed → opening balances generated in the next fiscal year, from the closed fiscal year’s line (Generate opening balances).
SynkriaOps automatically creates the first fiscal year at sign-up, covering the current calendar year. You can start entering vouchers immediately without any additional setup. If your accounting year does not match the calendar year, create the fiscal year with the right dates in Settings → Fiscal years.
Fiscal year lifecycle
Section titled “Fiscal year lifecycle”| Status shown | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Open | Open fiscal year: entry, posting, matching, imports |
| Frozen | Books frozen up to a date: earlier entries protected (reversible with Unfreeze, Administrator and Accountant roles) |
| Closing in progress | Closing started, being processed |
| Closed | Entries locked; viewing and financial statements |
| Reopened | Reopened by an Administrator with a reason: entries can only be added, existing entries stay locked |
| Imported / partially imported | Fiscal year taken over from other software through the historical data import |
Available guides
Section titled “Available guides”Frequently asked questions about fiscal years
Section titled “Frequently asked questions about fiscal years”Can I have two fiscal years open at the same time? Yes. SynkriaOps allows multiple fiscal years to have OPEN status simultaneously: useful if you are still finalising year N while starting to enter year N+1 entries. Each voucher is automatically assigned to the fiscal year matching its date. The limit is a maximum of 3 fiscal years open simultaneously.
What happens if a voucher date falls outside any open fiscal year? SynkriaOps blocks the entry and displays an error message indicating that no open fiscal year covers that date. You must create the missing fiscal year or correct the voucher date.
Does closing a fiscal year automatically generate financial statements?
Yes. When you close a fiscal year, SynkriaOps calculates the net result and generates a closing entry to the class 13 net income account (1301 profit / 1309 loss). Financial statements (balance sheet, income statement, TFT: statement of cash flows) remain available in read-only mode after closing.
How many fiscal years can I create? You can create one fiscal year per year (particularly useful for historical data migration, one fiscal year per prior year to import). However, at most 3 fiscal years can be OPEN simultaneously: beyond that, close a year before opening a new one.
Who can close or reopen a fiscal year? Closing is available to the ADMIN and CFO roles (the ACCOUNTANT cannot close). Reopening a closed fiscal year is reserved for the ADMIN only, and requires entering a justification of at least 10 characters that is permanently stored in the audit trail.
SYSCOHADA best practices
Section titled “SYSCOHADA best practices”- Close within 3 to 6 months after the fiscal year end date to maintain accounting integrity.
- Verify the trial balance before closing: ΣDebit = ΣCredit is mandatory. An imbalance indicates a mis-entered voucher.
- Clear the
47xsuspense accounts before closing: the closing is refused while they carry a balance. - Never reopen a closed fiscal year without a documented justification: the reopening leaves a permanent trace in the audit trail.