Year end is coming!

No, I’m not predicting the end of the world but year end for many companies can be just as stressful as saying the end of the world is coming (the closest thing we can relate to is wondering what would happen when we moved from 1999 to 2000).

Year end can mean two different things to most companies.  Most think year end is the fiscal year end of their company.  Some are March 31, June 30, September 30 or December 31 and others have the luxury of choosing any month end for the fiscal year end of their company.

Others consider year end as the calendar December 31 year end which may also be your fiscal year end with two times the issues to deal with.

First, year end entails the obvious for financial statement and tax purposes to close the books for the fiscal year and prepare the corporate tax return which can cause significant stress on the accounting department to reconcile accounts and close the books on a timely basis in addition to setting the budget for the next fiscal year.

Second, year end is one of the best times to change accounting/ERP software to start the fiscal year off clean with a new system.  Since many companies have December 31 year ends and the convenience of changing payroll at the start of a new calendar year, this time of year is very busy for those of us in the software business preparing companies for data migration, training and go live on January 1.

If you are considering changing accounting/ERP software, the best time is your fiscal year end and second best time is calendar year end (especially if you have payroll).  For planning purposes, you really need two months to prepare if changing accounting systems (General Ledger, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable) and at least three months if you are changing Inventory, Purchasing, Order Entry and more if you are changing manufacturing systems.

Chortek has the experience to assist you with selecting the right fit for your business and assisting you through the data migration, training and go live to make your life and transition to a new system less stressful.