1. Click on Settings.
2. The Settings page appears. Under the DATA heading, click Year End.
3. The Year End window appears. Read the messages carefully. Note that the process is irreversible and you should run it only when you are sure you have no changes to make in the current financial year. If you are happy with the outcome, check I acknowledge the above information and understand this operation cannot be reversed from your end.
4. Enter the RUN YEAR END, as shown and optionally, tick Copy this year's Budget figures to next year to move the current financial year budget to the next.
5. Click OK.
6. The Confirmation Message window appears. To proceed, click OK.
7. The Information Message window confirms the year-end completion.
8. The Year End has been completed. Once the year-end is processed, you can witness some changes on BrightBooks. Follow the below table for a comprehensive guide to the same.

9. To better understand the table, let us consider the 2024-2025 period as the fiscal year you are closing.

Note: If the Year-End process is already running in the background and another attempt is made to start it, the user 
will see the following message: "The Year-End is still running, please do not return the YE. To confirm that it is complete,
 check the Journal Opening Balances have been created and that your Accounting Periods have been updated."

Carrying Forward Opening Balances

If balances are not appearing in your balance sheet, ensure the year-end process has been completed. This procedure is crucial for carrying forward older balances to the new accounting period, accessible through 'Settings > Data > Year End'.

Running Year-End in BrightBooks with BrightAP Link

Reverse Year-End

If you have mistakenly processed the Year-End for a business, please note that you cannot reverse this action from BrightBooks. In such a scenario, you need to contact our support team, who will handle the reversal for you through the Admin Tool. It is highly recommended to double-check all details before initiating a Year-End to avoid such issues as you cannot manually unlock the previous financial year in BrightBooks post year-end end which means you cannot edit any transactions in these previously locked years. You may edit your comparative nominal balances from General Ledger > Chart of Accounts > View > Comparatives, but if there was a posting error last year you want to correct on a specific customer or supplier, then you may need to post a correction this year to account for it. This may be a credit note or a negative payment to reverse the initial entry, allowing you to post it again correctly.

Once the year-end is reversed, you can witness some changes on BrightBooks. Follow the table below for a comprehensive guide to the same.

To better understand the table, let us consider the 2025-2026 period as the fiscal year you are reversing.

Handling Incorrect Accounting Period Setups

Please note, if this is the first accounting year in BrightBooks and you need to change your Financial Year dates, you can do this by completing the steps below:

1. Click on Settings.
2. The Settings page will appear. Click on Accounting Periods.
3. Manually change the year start & end date.