Question

Define what a fiscal year is. Is it the same as a calendar year? What are the steps in QuickBooks for closing a fiscal year? Include at least one online source with your response.

Answer 1

• Fiscal year: A fiscal year is a period used by business, corporates, organisations, etc. in order to calculate their budgets, profits, and losses i.e. for accounting purpose and for preparation of financial statements. US Fiscal year as defined by US Federal Government, starting on October 1, 2017 and ending on September 30, 2018. The calender has 12 months and 4 quarters.
• A fiscal year may not be the same as a calender year.
• Follwing are the steps in quickbooks for closing a fiscal year:

1. Launch QuickBooks.
2. Click "Edit" in the main menu bar and then click "Preferences" in the pull-down menu to open the Preferences window.
3. Select "Accounting" from the list on the left.
4. Click the "Company Preferences" tab.
5. Scroll to the Closing Date section in the Company Preferences pane.
6. Click the "Set Date/Password" button.
7. Select the date on which you want to close your company's books. The closing date is usually at the end of a month, quarter or year.
8. Click to select "Exclude estimates, sales orders and purchase orders from closing date restrictions" if you want to exclude non-posting financial transactions from the closing date restrictions. Otherwise, skip this step.
9. Type a password in the "Closing Date Password" and "Confirm Password Fields" to restrict access to your closed accounts.
10. Click the "OK" button to complete the procedure.

Here's a link to an online source:

https://smallbusiness.chron.com/