CLOSE BOOKS
For
METROPLEX
DATA SYSTEMS
ROUTING
AND DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM
One of the
most important functions that must be completed on the computer system is the
monthly
close. The purpose of the monthly close is not
just to keep your data files properly organized into
monthly
summary files, but to reduce the size of some of the files so your system will
operate with
proper
efficiency and speed. If some of these
files are not reduced in size from time-to-time, eventually they will become so large that the system will run out
of available space and be unable to proceed with normal operations, or the
system will bog down and be unable to process reports or find necessary
data. Another reason for properly
closing your system is there are a number of reports that are only valid at the
close of the month and they must be closed so next month’s data can be
accurately collected.
It is
the purpose of this report to assist you in properly closing your system. By following the steps outlined in this
report, you will be assured of closing everything that is required or suggested
to be closed, in the proper sequence and understand what occurs when the file
is closed.
In the
most of the MDS modules there are some procedures that should be followed for a
proper closing. It is also important to
understand that some modules must be closed on a specific date for proper
reporting and reconciling, and other modules can remain open for several weeks
or just before the next months close before they must be closed. You need to know which modules require all
the information to be loaded before closing because they can only be closed
once for each month and which modules can be closed checked and re-closed after
corrections are made. There are two
different types of close programs. The
first is to close as of a specific date and update other files and remove data
from some files; The other is to close history or remove data prior to a
specific date without updating or saving anything.
Other
terms used during the close routine include:
reset -
this means to remove values and reset the accumulator to 0 so the next month’s
activities can be recorded. initialize - this means to remove all information. clear - this means to remove all information generally tied to a specific date, like close.
sort - this is used to restructure files into a specific format.
Before
any closing routines are started, a FULL SYSTEM BACKUP must be made. During the closing process, there are many
changes made to your DATABASE. If
something goes wrong with the close procedure, a good system backup can save
hundreds of hours in recreating data or hundreds to thousands of dollars in
recovering data. Be sure to do a
full-system backup and not just a daily backup.
A full
system backup recovers all of your program files, permission files, system
configuration files, as well as, your data files. The daily backup only copies your data files which is OK for
almost every other backup, except for the monthly and, anytime you get a
program upgrade from MDS, a full system backup must be done. If you are doing a backup on a tape
cartridge, be sure the backup completes without error. On a disk backup, if any error is
encountered, the bad disk should be replaced and the entire backup must be
re-done.
Once you
have made your backup, you can begin the close by running the desired
reports. All of the reports for a
month-end close are optional depending on your specific management style. Some reports in the MDS system should be run
after running a close procedure those reports will be mentioned in the section
dealing with the close.
It is
also recommended that a check-off list of both reports and closing procedures
be established for the person in charge of the computer.
In
recovering the reports to be run, we will start with each module in the system
and work through the entire system for both reports, as well as closing
requirements. For a complete
explanation of the specific use of the various reports, consult your manual for
details.
There
are no reports required to be run from this Module for closing. Unless you are using the Accounting module
and you use the system to post your depreciation on a monthly or yearly
basis. In that case you need to proceed
with the following selections.
(
1.C.3 DEPRECIATE EQUIPMENT )This
report will ask if you want to depreciate the
equipment
for the month or for the year. After
making the appropriate selection, the
system
will
make the journal entries and update your equipment file.
(
1.C.2 DEPRECIATION REPORT ) After
running the depreciation program, a report may
be run to
produce a copy of the equipment depreciation records. There
are several reports that should be run occasionally just so you will have a
hard copy of what is in the Equipment data file.
( 1.B.4
- Option F3 Print Equipment Type ) From
time-to-time you might want to upgrade
everyone’s
list of the type assignments.
(
1.A.2 LIST EQUIPMENT ) Report Generator
format that produces a list of your
equipment
by asset number.
2
(
1.A.3 LIST BY LOCATION ) Report
Generator format that produces a report in customer
format.
At the
close of the month, it is a good time to update the equipment replacement costs
that have changed during the month.
equipment
replacement cost by equipment type.
(
1.A.9 EQUIPMENT MOVEMENT REPORT )
The
accounts payable system when used in conjunction with the check register as
well as accounting, has a number of reports that would be date sensitive to
your ability to reconcile and verify closing values.
(
2.A.1 PRINT SUMMARY ) This is used to
print all of the vendors and the amounts you
currently
owe.
(
2.A.3 PRINT DETAIL ) This prints a
detailed report on the outstanding invoices, plus an
aging
analysis of the invoices.
(
2.A.5 PAID INVOICE REPORT ) Reports,
by vendor, each invoice paid, the date, check
number
and if the discount was taken, with summary at the end.
(
2.A.7 CASH REQUIREMENTS REPORT )
Provides a list by day of all the invoices due
for
each vendor.
(
2.B.2 PRINT CHECK REGISTER ) Used to
print a listing of all checks written by the
computer
since the last close of the check register.
Used to recalculate your ending bank
balance. Used to reconcile your bank account.
From the
invoicing or telsel report module a number of valuable reports can be run for a
month-end closing.
(
D.A.6 COMMISSIONS ) Prints a
commission report for primary or secondary salesmen,
open
commission rates, information is collected from Invoice History file.
(
D.A.9 SALES TAX ) Prints sales tax
reports by summary or for individual tax categories.
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(
D.A.7 GROSS PROFIT DETAIL ) Prints
gross profit information by date, invoice and
customer,
in category summary.
(
D.A.1 UNPOSTED INVOICES ) Before
closing or initializing the invoice data base, this report should run to verify
the file is empty and you will not lose any invoices.
(
D.A.F LIST BACK ORDERS ) Only if you
have the back order system enabled do you
need
to print this report.
(
D.A.D MONTHLY BALANCING REPORT ) Shows
out-of-balance conditions.
In the
receivables module, there are a number of reports that can be run, and most of
them can be run in a variety of formats depending on the information you
want. Like the invoicing report menu,
most of the receivable reports can be run for view option, but, if you want the
information preserved for an audit trail, they should be printed because
closing the system will remove some of the files these reports are developed
from.
(
4.A.1 PRINT AGED SUMMARY ) Print
Accounts Receivable for your company, in any
format
you need.
(
4.A.8 LIST ACCOUNTS ) (4.A.C PRINT CUSTOMER GROSS PROFIT ) This is a
single
line per account listing that will show total month-to-date sales. List accounts should
be
run in summary mode. G/P Report can
also be viewed. (4.8)
(
4.A.B PRINT PAYMENT RECEIPT ) When you
make deposits I’m sure you print a copy
of the
payment activity for the day. This
report can be printed by a date range and therefore,
could give
you a consolidated payment report for the month or week, if you feel it is
necessary. The PAID INVOICE REPORT can also be printed
if desired, but, with the paid
date
now maintained on the history file, it is no longer necessary.
(
4.A.5 PRINT STATEMENTS ) If you want
to print the statements with complete monthly
activities,
including payments received, then now is the time to print statements. If you want
to print
statements with only open invoices, then wait until after closing the accounts
receivable
to print statements.
There
are a number of other reports that can be run from this menu selection but they
would be optional and not date sensitive.
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In
Inventory there are a number of reports that can be generated. This is dependent on how closely you audit
your inventory and if you operate with consigned or manufacturing
inventory. As in other modules, some of
this information is only available prior to closing your inventory and is
therefore date sensitive.
(
5.B.8 SORT PRODUCT DATABASE ) Before
running any inventory reports, it is always best to sort the product database
so all products will be recognized by the system.
(
5.A.8 PRINT WORK SHEET ) The print
product worksheet program is used to print an
inventory
count sheet to assist you in taking inventory.
(
5.A.5 LIST SALES ) This will list the products that have had
sales. It will print both the
sales
and gross profit for both month and year.
(
5.A.C. PRODUCT SALES ANALYSIS ) This
program is a new report generator format
that
allows the operator to select the options the report will be developed
from; it also allows
a variety
of sort selections to assist in analysis of the results. The source for its data is the
invoice
history file, therefore, the time to run this program will be directly related
to the size
of
your history file.
(
5.A.2 PRINT REORDER LIST ) This is an
optional program that will advise you of any
products
with uncommitted quantities less than the reorder point.
(
5.A.3 PRINT CURRENT INVENTORY ) Prints
product numbers that have product
quantities
in stock. The report shows total cost
for each product and total cost of all products
in
stock.
(
5.A.6 ANALYZE INVENTORY ) Optional
program that reports product sales in volume
or
dollar totals in highest to lowest sequence.
( 5.7 UPDATE INVENTORY ) This is used to correct
your computer inventory count to
the
physical count. Although several other
programs can be used to reset the quantity field,
this
report will produce a variance report and will create journal entries to reduce
inventory
and post
to inventory corrections. (Be sure to
reset the xenix system date to the month-
ending
so the journal entries will be postable in the appropriate period.
(
5.A.E RECEIVED PRODUCTS REPORT ) Print
by date products received for month.
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Closing
the manufacturing inventory is only necessary if you are using the kit or
manufacturing functions on the MDS System.
The following reports are only needed if you are using these functions.
( 5.C.6 PRINT KITS ) This report provides you with information on your
kit configuration.
( 5.C.8 MANUFACTURE PRODUCT REPORT ) This report selects kit production
reports
for the month.
(
5.4.A.1 PRINT WAREHOUSES ) Provides you with information on what product is in
stock,
the quantity consigned from the warehouse, variances, last sales dates, and
other
information
to consigned system.
(
5.4.A.2 PRINT TRUCKS ) Provides information similar to PRINT WAREHOUSES except
for
each truck.
(
5.4.A.3 CONSIGNMENT REPORT ) Provides information on what product was
consigned, what warehouse it was consigned from and the final destination of
the product.
warehouse
or a truck from the physical inventory count.
(
5.4.A.4 CONSIGNMENT VARIANCE ) Provides you with a detailed record of any
discrepancies
between what the computer records should be at the location and what a
manual
inventory reveals to actually be at the location.
The MDS
System does not have any reports that are date sensitive for the normal
closing, but there are a few reports that could be processed.
your total payroll, selected by employee type and payroll period.
deductions from your employees checks.
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The
routing system only has one function that is date sensitive, and that is to
produce a delivery ticket for any account that has not had a ticket printed
during the month.
( 7.1
PRINT DELIVERY TICKET ) To process delivery tickets for any accounts that may
have
been missed during the regular ticket printing procedures , Press [ENTER] when
asked
for
salesman number and type “ALL” when asked for the starting date.
( 7.2
PRINT ROUTE LIST ) With the version 9 upgrade, there are a number of ways the
route
list can now be produced and might be helpful as a monthly report.
( 7.B
AGED ROUTE LIST ) Similar to above but aged to produce report showing accounts
overdue.
The
accounting package has a number of reports that are used for end-of-month
accounting. But the accounting function
is the last system that needs to be closed, because all other systems will feed
data to this package through the journal file.
The accounting reports are also not date sensitive as long as the final
copy of each report is printed before the journal entries are posted for the
next month. Be sure to back date your
system date before printing reports so they will reflect the proper monthly
date.
At this
time, the only report that should be printed is the journal (8.2 PRINT JOURNAL)
This should be printed for all sections of the journal for the proper month in
detail. The other reports to be printed
and the SPECIAL ORDER they must be printed in will be covered in the ACCOUNTING
CLOSE section of this document.
There
are no monthly reports to be run from this menu.
( 9.A
SET SYSTEM DATE ) This is the selection that should be used for all revisions
of the
system
date.
( A.9 RENTAL VALIDITY REPORT ) Shows invalid rentals.
7.
The
purchase order file interfaces with the inventory file by posting to the
“QUANTITY ORDERED” field of the Add/Edit Product file. At the close of the month, there is no need
to keep the record of purchase orders on file.
Therefore, after printing reports, this file can be reset.
( B.4
LIST SUGGESTED PURCHASES ) This report is much like the inventory program
( B.2 PRINT
PURCHASE ORDER ) This can be used to reprint any purchase orders needed for
file copies to verify that there are no unprinted purchase orders left in the
file.
This is
the program interface selection if you are using any of the Real World
Programs. This document will not cover
the Real World Software or any closing procedures. Real World is not supported by MDS.
In the
Telsel report menu you will find the same report programs covered in the
“INVOICING” section of this document.
There are no special reports to be run from the Telsel module except
for.
( D.A.1
UNPOSTED INVOICE REPORT ) This report should be generated at the close of
each
month to verify that there are no unposted invoices remaining in the Telsel
data base
that
should be included in the month to be closed.
Vending
will not be covered in this closing document.
It is a special module and too expensive to be included in the general
documentation.
THIS
COMPLETES THE REPORT SECTION FOR THE MONTHLY OR YEARLY CLOSE ROUTINE. NEXT WE WILL COVER THE CLOSE PROGRAMS IN
DETAIL.
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There
are no closing programs associated with the equipment tracking system.
Move to
the Accounts Payable menu and perform the following closing procedures.
( 2.B.8
CLOSE PAYABLES ) This program closes and removes the paid invoice record
from the
view/pay vendor file and updates the year-to-date total on the add/edit vendor
file
( 2.B.4
CLEAR CHECK REGISTER ) This will clear a selected months checks from the
check
register and reset the beginning balance as seen in Add/Edit Bank. This is usually
done
to decrease the amount of disk space used by the check register.
( 2.B.6
FILE MAINTENANCE ) This is used to remove selected files from the system. If
you are
not currently using the Accounting function on the MDS System, then you should
remove
the journal file to save disk space.
Even if
you do not use the Invoicing module and use Telsel instead, you will need to close
specific files from this selection.
( D.B.8
CLOSE G/P DETAIL FILE ) The gross profit detail file takes a great deal of
space
on the
hard disk and should be closed each month.
By closing this file, you will
automatically
post the monthly totals to the gross profit summary file. This will allow you
to
view or print reports that can compare sales from one period to another.
There
are several close procedures on the accounts receivable menu that are date
sensitive. Be sure to set your system
date accordingly.
9
( 4.B.6
CLOSE ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE ) This program will clear the paid invoices
from the
customer open file, clear the monthly sales totals from the customer master
file and
post the
total sales to the sales history file and account activity file. If you have waited to
print
statements without the detail activity, you may now print statements after
completion
of
this program.
( 4.B.8
CLOSE HISTORY FILES ) This program is not required to be run at the close of
the month, but it is a good habit to set a procedure to clean your history
files.
The
first file it will ask for a month, is the sales history file. We recommended a 13-month
history
if space allows.
The second
file it will ask for a specific date, is the invoice detail history. This file actually
has two
large files linked together, the invoice product file and the invoice history
file. We
recommend
no more than 6 months history because of space and the time to run several
reports
that read this file.
The third
file it will ask for a specific date, is the Delivery Ticket history. Maintaining any
history on
this file is only important if you are trying to record accountability on
delivery
ticket
numbers. This file does not use a great
deal of space. We feel more than 3 months
of
history
is not productive.
The
fourth file it will ask for a month/year, is the Gross Profit Summary file this
does not use
much
space and should be maintained for as long as the sales comparison information
is
valuable.
( 4.B.A
CLOSE PAYMENTS ) This history file will grow very rapidly and should not be
maintained
for longer than the payment information is valuable as an on line record. Since
you have a
printed record of the payment history, the need for this file should not exceed
3
months.
This
completes the close procedures for the Accounts Receivable.
The
number of close procedures that need to be run off the Inventory module depend
on the extent you implement the total system.
The close programs in Inventory are date sensitive and will require
specific scheduling and resetting the system date.
( 5.B.7
CLOSE INVENTORY ) The close inventory program will zero out the month-to-date
sales
and unit fields, and reset the fields for the upcoming month. (
5.B.C CLOSE RECEIVED PRODUCTS HISTORY ) If, during the month, you have not
closed the received products file, you should not print the final report and
close the file.
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( 5.C.5
CLOSE KITS ) This program is designed to do routine maintenance on your
manufacturing
inventory. This program could cause
some delays for operations if run during
operational
times, if you use kits, it should be run at monthly close.
(
5.4.B.3 CLOSE CONSIGNED INVENTORY ) If you are running consigned inventory,
then you will need to close each of your warehouses and trucks by running this
program.
There
are no specific procedures required for a monthly close on the payroll
module. There is, however, a selection
for a yearly close of the payroll system and the printing of yearly forms.
There
are no specific procedures required for a monthly close on the routing module.
There
are no specific procedures required for a monthly close on the system menu.
There
are no specific procedures required for a monthly close on the system menu.
The
purchase order system interfaces with the inventory file and, after printing
file copies of the purchase orders, the system should be reset to save file
space.
( B.8
REINDEX PURCHASE ORDER FILE ) This program will reindex the purchase order
file.
MDS does
not support the close procedures for Real World Software. Once the journal file is transferred to the
real world format, the manuals for that system should be consulted for the
closing procedures.
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There
are no specific close procedures in the Telsel Module. There are, however, some file maintenance
programs available in the Extension menu.
( D.B.3
INITIALIZE TELSEL DATABASE ) This program may be used to reduce the size
of your
allocated Telsel invoice file. DO NOT
USE THIS FILE UNLESS ALL INVOICES
( D.B.4
RE-INDEX TELSEL DATABASE ) This program is used to remove any problem
records from your Telsel database.
Vending
close procedures are not being covered in this documentation. Refer to the Vending Manual or contact MDS
for details.
Closing
the Accounting module is the final step in the monthly close procedure. The accounting system can be posted from the
journal file as many times as necessary, for the same month, as long as the
journal is not posted for the current month.
Before the final sets of financials are printed for the month being
closed. It is very important that the financial
be printed in a very specific sequence so profit is updated by the system.
( 8.6 POST
JOURNAL ) After printing the journal, you may post the journal at any time for
the
closing period. If an UNPOSTED JOURNAL
REPORT prints with any un-postable
entries,
then no JOURNAL ENTRIES WILL BE POSTED.
The journal will only post if all
entries
are acceptable.
( 8.7
PRINT INCOME STATEMENT ) It is necessary to first print the Profit and Loss
Statement so monthly profit can be calculated and posted to the Balance
Sheet. ( 8.8 PRINT BALANCE SHEET ) This
will print a standard balance sheet in Asset, Liabilities, and Equity
format. After printing, be sure the
report is in balance. ( 8.D PRINT TRIAL
BALANCE ) This will produce an account listing much like the List
Chart-Of-Accounts, except the balances will be printed. The balances must always equal zero or there
is a problem in the beginning balance of one or more of the accounts.
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( 8.9
PRINT GENERAL LEDGER ) This program has two functions. The first is to print a detail list of the
activity of each of the accounts. The
second is to close the general ledger.
The
closing of the general ledger will purge the detail of the accounts, but keep
the monthly
balances. This file can get very large and, unless there
is a specific purpose to keep the detail
available
on-line, it should be closed as a final step.
( 8.C
DEFINE DIVISIONS ) Divisions are closed with the general ledger closing;
therefore,
the
divisional reports should be printed before final G L close.
This
over view completes the procedure for normal full system monthly close.
There
are only five modules in the MDS System that have yearly close menu
selections. Most of these appear as
selection options when you are executing the monthly-close procedure. At the close-of-the-year it is best to
complete the monthly close and then return to the selection and choose the
yearly close.
( 2.B.7
CLOSE PAYABLES ) This close will clear the year-to-date purchase information
from the
accounts payable vendor file and reset the totals to zero for next year’s
accumulation. Reports should be generated to capture this
information before this close is
processed.
( 4.B.6
CLOSE RECEIVABLES ) Because the system accumulates year-to-date sales figures
for both
the account and salesman, the yearly close procedure will clear this
information and
set the
totals to zero. Reports to capture this
information should be generated before this
close
is selected.
( 5.B.7
CLOSE INVENTORY ) The system accumulates year-to-date information on both
quantities
and sales for each product in your inventory; the close procedure will clear
this
information
and reset the total to zero. Reports to
capture this information should be
generated
before this close is selected.
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( 6.A
YEAR END CLOSE ) This close is designed to be run on the annual year-end close
12/31. It will clear your employee payroll records
and print the required federal and
employee
information reports.
( 8.9
PRINT GENERAL LEDGER ) At the end of the print general ledger program, you will
be asked
if you want to close the ledger. After
answering [Y], you will be asked if this is a
yearly
close. The [Y] response will then
require password security clearance.
Once this
program is
started, the file’s beginning balances on expense accounts are zeroed and the
year-to-date
totals are cleared. The earnings YTD
are posted to accrued income, and balance
sheet
accounts are reset with the current balance as next year’s beginning
balance. This is
the
final step in resetting the system for next year’s operations.
14