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:

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:

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