Efficient Year-End Closing with the Auto Complete Retained Earnings Feature

Some users are intimidated when they see the Auto Complete Retained Earnings feature, but it’s one of the many secret weapons Cetec ERP equips its users with for year-end closing processes and accounting automation. In this blog post, we will explore the capabilities of the feature. What happens when you run the Auto Complete Retained Earning feature? Is there any reason not to run it?

The Auto Complete Retained Earnings feature is safe to run. You are not “clearing” Retained Earnings, but rather “clearing/closing” revenues and expenses for the year to Retained Earnings. This procedure is sometimes referred to as “closing the year” or “turning the year”. Retained Earnings is the Profit/Loss bucket balance, or Capital balance, that accumulates year to year, ongoing, increasing or decreasing per profit or loss for the year. Running the Auto Complete Retained Earnings auto-creates a year end entry which closes all Revenues and Expenses to Retained Earnings. Even after closing a year end into Retained Earnings, you can add year end adjusting entries with the proper year end date. You will then be alerted by Cetec ERP on various financial reports to run the Auto Complete Retained Earnings post for that period again if those entries affected any Profit and Loss accounts.

Now that you are familiar with the Auto Complete Retained Earnings feature’s capabilities, let’s take a look at where it is located and how to run it. From the Accounting page, open the “Reports” dropdown and select the “Retained Earnings” page. This report displays all accounts and amounts, similar to the Profit and Loss report.

• Click the blue “Retained Earnings” hyperlink at the end of the orange warning, located at the top of the page.
• Next, click on the “Auto-Complete Retained Earnings” button, found on the upper right of the new window.
• The “Add Ledger Entry” window will appear and will auto-populate with an Entry Name of “Retained Earnings Adjustment“ and a Transaction Date. Review the General Ledger accounts in your entry, adding descriptions and notes as needed.
• After reviewing the information to ensure it is accurate, click “Submit Entry”. The process of running the Auto Complete Retained Earnings feature is now complete.

Although essential, year-end closing is a long, laborious process. The Retained Earnings Auto-Complete feature is designed to simplify the ordeal of year-end closing for your accounting team. Cetec ERP does the footwork for you, keeping your team nimble. Check out our how to video page to learn more about other accounting features.