Dates in Sage Simply Accounting
There are several dates that you use while managing your
business with Sage Simply Accounting:
Session Date
This is the date that you enter when you open Sage Simply Accounting. This date appears on all transaction for the session unless
you make a change to a transaction's date. You can use the calendar in
the Daily Business Manager
(DBM) to change the session date for tasks that you perform within the
DBM.
The session date is also:
- The date used to
group transactions into the aging categories you use for Money
I Owe and Who Owes Me Money
reports.
- The "As-at"
date on reports. It is the date up to which amounts are reported.
- A date stamp that
Sage Simply Accounting prints on customer statements.
Transaction Date
The date associated with and included on a transaction.
Sage Simply Accounting uses the current session date as the transaction date
when you process transactions. It is possible, however, to change the
date in a transaction window or change the current session date if a you
need to record a transaction on a different date.
If you are entering a transaction dated in the previous
fiscal year, the date can be anytime between last year's earliest transaction
date and last year's fiscal end date. If you are entering a transaction
dated in the future, the date can be any date up to the current year's
fiscal end date.
Fiscal Year (Start and Finish
dates)
The 12-month accounting period that your company uses
to record its operations. The fiscal year can begin on any day of the
year, but January 1 is commonly used to match the calendar year.
You can change the start and finish dates for your fiscal
year at any time. If your company is in it's first year, you can actually
change your fiscal start date - as long as the date you choose comes before
the date of the first transaction you entered.
After your first fiscal year, you can only change your
fiscal finish date. When you change the finish date, Sage Simply Accounting
changes the fiscal start date for the next year to the day after the current
fiscal year's finish date.
Date Display
There are two ways to display dates on-screen and on
reports:
- Short.
Displays the date using a number to represent the month (for example,
12-03-05). You can change the order of the month, day, and year.
- Long.
Displays the date using an alphabetical abbreviation for the month (for
example, Nov 12, 05). You can change the order of the month, day, and
year.
What do you want to do?
Change
your session date
Change your
fiscal year's end date
Enable transactions
in the future
Prevent transactions
prior to a specific date
Change
how dates appear on-screen
Change
how dates appear on printed reports
Look
at a list of tasks to perform at year end