The steps are basically as per below.
- Reconcile Balance Sheet report (at ending date of period) to Profit and Loss (for period range) - Note the Profit for period value for reconciling in step 4.
- Posting periods - ensure that all sub-periods for the year and the fist sub-period of the following year are NOT set to "Locked" to allow them to be considered for processing.
- Period end closing - Select the Period and Sub-period range for processing, and set the "Retained Earnings Account" and "Period-End Closing" Account appropriately - <Execute>
- Step 3 should then provide a list of P&L GL accounts as per the P&L report along with their balances @ the end of the financial period - you should reconcile this to the Period end closing from step 1.
- Complete the journal parameters in terms of dates and references as per your prior standards (refer to the retained earning account for example to see the past journals. Select all of the account lines for processing - <Execute> to process
- Run the Balance Sheet report (at ending date of period) to confirm that the "Profit for period" has now been cleared in full.
Obviously the above is a simplistic process and assumes that there are no issues along the way. Should there be any issues then these should be handled appropriately before moving on.