This page covers closing the week or month and also processing year end.
Closing the week/month
What does this mean?
IndiCater works on a weekly basis and so outlets users have a weekly task to close their week. They action this in their outlet, in the Company module under Close Period.
To close a week, the user simply clicks click on the red circle for the relevant week, answer any questions that may have been set up and confirm. This turns the circle to green. By doing this, the outlet user is confirming that they have finished their weekly tasks and this
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.
Although an outlet user can no longer amend data in a closed week, data so you cannot amend it.
What if I need to amend the data?
Data can still be amended by a head office Head Office user. Alternatively, head office Head Office users can open a closed week letting the outlet user you 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.The data can't be amended or the week re-opened if head office have already exported the data.
I can see Employment, Stocktaking and Finance options, do I need to close them all?
The close week process is done per module. Only the modules you are using need to be closed.
Outlet users need to be assigned the Close Period permission in User Access to be able to close the outlet.
Close Period questions
Why are some of the weeks blue?
Head Office users have the option to authorise the closing of the week. This doesn't affect the data but turns the dot blue to show it's been approved.
Does anyone see the answers to my questions?
You have the option to add questions to the close week process. These can be managed in Head Office>Outlets>Set Up>Manage Questions and are set up by module. The questions are asked when the user clicks to close their week and their by head office. The comments are sent via email to head office Head Office users who are assigned to the outlet's Area and have the Close Period Comments Alert ticked in User Access.
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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 you will still close the weeks but at the end of the month they would you will 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 .
I work in a school which is 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 lets you close multiple weeks at a time. Cash in hand and closing stock will be carried forward to the first open week. Speak to your head office about this rule.
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
Processing Year End
Process year end needs to be completed in each outlet after the end of your financial year. You will see a warning on log in advising that you are approaching year end. Once you have reached the end of your year, you will be able to continue to use IndiCater in the normal way for up to 4 weeks past the end of the year, but at this point you will no longer be able to complete certain functions and will have no choice but to complete the process year end.
You will need to choose a time to process the year end when users are not needing to use the system as users in that outlet will be logged out for a period. The system advises up to an hour but in reality it is normally around 15 minutes.
You need to action it in each outlet and all you do is click Process Year End on the Close Period area, and that outlet will close while the process happens.
Processing year end will close your previous financial year and lock the data in that year. You will then start working in the new year.
Can I still book off orders etc?
Any orders which are still to be booked off, estimates which are still outstanding or invoices which need approving can all still be actioned and all data can still be accessed and viewed, but you won’t be able to go into week 50 and enter an invoice for example.
If you did need to do that, you would add it in your current week and use the Late Invoice date field to assign the correct invoice date.
You can still run reports and exports for the closed year.