Before we delve into the Sales Ledger, we will need to open an accounting period. We won't be covering this in much detail at this stage - just enough to ensure that we have a suitable period open for the transactions in the Sales Ledger section of the Tutorial.
If you have access to the Data Manager volume, select 'Data Manager' from the Volumes menu. If not, you will need to ensure that your System Administrator has carried out this setup for you.
Select 'Periods' on the Accounts menu.
A list will appear. These are the periods used by the system for all accounting purposes, including the production of company reports - the Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet. Enterprise 6 has a uniquely flexible method of handling accounts periods.
Double click the current month.
Or - if the current month does not appear in the sample data - click the [+] button in the Buttons Palette. An entry screen will appear.
As we've already indicated, accounts periods can be of any length. But for the majority of companies a period means one month, which is the period Apple Pie Trading Company will use for their accounts.
The format we suggest for companies producing monthly accounts is the year (which must come first) followed by the month.
If you need to create a new accounting period, set one up . For example, if it were now March 2003, you would type 2003/03 as the Period Code - otherwise leave the period information as it is.
Before you finish, make sure you change the status of this period for each Ledger from Closed to Open by clicking the right-hand radio button (note that you must Open the Nominal Ledger first).
Once you have finished, click the [Accept] button to save this new or modified period.
For more details on Accounting Periods, see the section on the Nominal Ledger in the System Administrator's Guide.