Period closing

Period closing is the monthly + annual ritual that locks the past so nobody (including you) can post back-dated transactions into a period you've already declared closed.

What "closed" means

Once a period is closed:

• You cannot post a journal entry dated in that period
• You cannot edit a posted invoice / bill dated in that period
• Reports for the period are stable — re-running them shows the same numbers
• The VAT report you submitted matches what's in the books

To make a correction after close, you reverse and re-post in a current, open period — never back-date a fix.

Monthly close — the checklist

End of every month, run through this in order:

1. Reconcile all bank journals

Every transaction in every bank journal must be reconciled. See Bank reconciliation.

A transaction left unreconciled keeps the bank balance vs. GL out of sync and skews the VAT report.

2. Post all draft invoices and bills

Customers → Invoices → filter Draft → post each. Vendors → Bills → filter Draft → post each.

Any draft invoice / bill dated in the period must be posted (or discarded if it shouldn't have been issued).

3. Verify accounts payable / receivable balances

Open the Aged Payable and Aged Receivable reports. Compare to the GL accounts (4011, 4111, etc.). They should match. Any discrepancy is a missed reconciliation.

4. Post the monthly VAT report

Run NRA VAT report for the period. Verify the numbers. Export the XML and submit to the NRA portal.

After submission, post the VAT clearing journal entry:

• Debit "VAT payable" (clears the period's VAT due)
• Credit "VAT receivable" (clears the period's VAT deductible)
• Net to "Net VAT payable" — the cash you owe the NRA

PLANA auto-suggests this entry from the report; verify and confirm.

5. Post any accruals / prepayments

Accruals for known expenses not yet billed (utilities, salaries for unpaid days). Prepayments for invoices issued but services not yet delivered. Talk to your accountant about which apply.

6. Close the period

Configuration → Fiscal Years → click your year → Periods → click the month → Close.

PLANA prompts for confirmation. The period status moves to Closed and back-dated postings are blocked.

7. Generate the management P&L

Run the Profit & Loss report for the period. Send to the management team. Most businesses want a brief commentary alongside the numbers — variance vs budget, vs prior period, notable items.

Quarterly close

Quarterly close runs the same steps as monthly + the VIES declaration if applicable:

• Run the VIES report for the quarter
• Export and submit

The annual quarterly close runs at the end of Q4 alongside year-end.

Annual close — fiscal year

End of December (or your fiscal year end):

1. Run the full month close for December

Everything above, for December.

2. Verify the trial balance

The Trial Balance report for the year should show:

• Debits = Credits for every account class
• No suspense items (account 99 or similar) with a balance

If anything's off, fix in the year before closing.

3. Year-end accruals

Make any year-end adjustments your accountant has identified:

• Inventory adjustments (physical count vs book)
• Provision for bad debts (write-off old AR)
• Depreciation entries (if not posted automatically each month)
• Foreign exchange revaluation
• Bonus accruals
• Loan interest accruals

Each is a manual journal entry posted to December.

4. Close the year-end journal entry

Configuration → Fiscal Years → click your year → Close fiscal year.

PLANA generates the year-end closing journal entry:

• Closes all P&L accounts (classes 6 and 7) to "Current year profit"
• Optionally rolls "Current year profit" to "Retained earnings" (class 1)
• Sets the next year's opening balances

After this entry posts, all P&L accounts read zero on January 1; the balance sheet rolls forward.

5. Close all periods of the year

Close every monthly period. The fiscal year status moves to Closed.

6. Annual tax return prep

PLANA does not file your annual tax return. Your accountant prepares it from the reports PLANA produces (P&L, Balance Sheet, tax-specific extracts).

Typical Bulgarian annual return:

• Annual corporate income tax — by March 31 of the following year
• Annual financial statement filing — by April 30
• Audit report if required — earlier deadline

Provide your accountant access to the PLANA tenant as Adviser (read-only) role.

Reopening a closed period

If you must correct a transaction in a closed period:

Severity	Resolution
Minor — non-material	Post a correcting entry in the current open period; don't reopen
Material — material	An Accounting Manager can reopen the period: Configuration → Fiscal Years → the period → Reopen. Document the reason.
Material after VAT submission	Talk to your accountant — likely requires an amended VAT return submitted to NRA

Reopening leaves an audit trail. Use sparingly.

Where to read more

• VAT and Bulgarian fiscal
• NPR, VIES, Intrastat
• Reports
• Chart of accounts — what gets closed at year-end