Datasheet

462

A Few Words about Closing

Because I mentioned closing in the earlier paragraphs of this chapter and

because the User List dialog box that includes a Closing Date button has

been shown twice already in figures in this chapter, perhaps it’s time to dis-

cuss just a point or two about closing in QuickBooks.

If you take a “Principles of Accounting” course, you’ll learn that closing

means a set of bookkeeping procedures somebody goes through to zero

out revenue and expense accounts so that, starting in the new year, rev-

enues and expenses can be easily calculated. In QuickBooks, closing means

something different. In QuickBooks, to close the accounting records, you

supply a closing date (refer to Figure 1-9). After you supply this closing date,

QuickBooks either prohibits users or limits users from changing transac-

tions dated before the closing date.

To close the QuickBooks data file to transactions that occur before a par-

ticular date, you simply enter the date into the Closing Date box.

Using Audit Trails

If you decide to allow multiple users access to the QuickBooks data file,

you’ll appreciate the QuickBooks Audit Trail feature. The Audit Trail feature

keeps a record of who makes what changes to the QuickBooks data file.

You can’t remove transactions from the Audit Trail list or history except by

archiving and condensing data. Archiving and condensing data is described

in Book VII, Chapter 3.

Turning on Audit Trail Tracking

In versions of QuickBooks prior to QuickBooks 2007, you had to turn on the

audit trail feature. With the recent versions of QuickBooks, however, the

QuickBooks Audit Trail feature is “always on.” You don’t need to do anything

to begin using it.

Producing an Audit Trail Report

To produce an Audit Trail report, simply choose the Reports menu’s

Accountant and Taxes command and then select the Audit Trail command

from the submenu. Figure 1-10 shows a QuickBooks Audit Trail report in a

window. Note that the report identifies both the type of change made and

the person who made the change to the QuickBooks data file.

33_396520-bk07ch01.indd 46233_396520-bk07ch01.indd 462 12/4/08 11:27:14 PM12/4/08 11:27:14 PM