Introduction
Close Period is when the outlet has finished entering all their data, for the week and want to lock it down so no alterations can be made.
Head office can also authorise the close period before it is locked down. What does this mean?
IndiCater works on a weekly basis and so outlets users have a weekly task to close their week. By doing this, the outlet user is confirming that they have finished their weekly tasks and this process then 'locks' the data in that week for the outlet user.
This means that the outlet can no longer amend the data in the closed week.
Then what?
Although an outlet user can no longer amend data in a closed week, data can still be amended by a head office user. Alternatively, head office users can open a closed week letting the outlet user make any necessary changes before closing it again.
Once the data has been locked by the outlet closing the week, the data can now be exported into any of the data exports you have set up in IndiCater. The data exports are set to pick up 'locked' transactions and so they are reliant on the outlets closing their weeks.
Monthly close
As some clients work to a calendar month, there is also the option to have a Close Month process activated. In this instance the user would still close the weeks but at the end of the month they would also close the month which locks any data that falls in the current open week and the month that is being closed. The rest of the week remains open.
Can I authorise the week being closed?
Head office have the option to authorise the closing of the week. This doesn't affect the data but gives a visible indication that the close week has been approved.
We operate in schools which are closed during the summer, how do we close those weeks?
There is a multi week close rule which can be activated for clients. Once activated it can be turned on or off for specific brands, this enables you to turn it on for outlets which are tagged as Schools but off for outlets tagged as B&I for example. If on, this rule enables the outlet user to close multiple weeks at a time. Cash in hand and closing stock will be carried forward to the first open week.
Can I close the weeks from head office?
We have a tool which can be activated to enable head office users to manage the close week process if required. Multiple outlets can be closed simultaneously to speed up the process.
Assumptions
The gatekeeper has ensured that all users understand what they need to do before close period and close period questions have been entered if necessary.
The head office user has the close period override permission ticked (point 3 below only)
Where to find this
The following locations are all linked to the close period process.
- Close Period Report
Head Office>Company > Reports>Close Period Report - this report will soon be retired.
It has been replaced with the report in Head Office>Company>New Reports ClosedPeriod Annual Report
The reports enable you to see which outlets have closed their weeks and which haven't yet done it.
- Approving a closed week
Log into an Outlet>Company>Close Period - Re-opening a closed week
Log into an Outlet>Company>Close Period - Setting close period questions
Head Office>Outlets>Set Up>Manage Questions - Viewing who closed the week and when
Log into an Outlet>Company>Close Period
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Step-by-Step guide
Close Period Report
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- Log into the outlet and in Company, click on Close Period
- Click on a green dot
- The user will see the option to click on Unlock week
- This enables the user to unlock a closed week as long as the data hasn't been exported
If the data has been exported, the user will see the below message:
Unlock Week: This week cannot be unlocked for this area as transactions have already been exported.
Setting Close Period Question
- Once in Manage Questions, click Add
- In the first drop down box, selct which Area you would like to set the questions for
- Enter a question number and then in Question, add the question. This is free text but the questions need to be yes/no questions
- You can add as many questions as neccessary for each area
- When closing the week for that area, the user will need to answer the questions
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Viewing who closed the week and when
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