Close Period - Gatekeeper user guide

Owned by Natalie Jobson
Last updated: Jun 05, 2020 by Ruth Mills

Introduction

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 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 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 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.

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

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 comments are sent via email to head office users who are assigned to the outlet's Area and have the Close Period Comments Alert ticked in User Access.


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.


I ran a purchase invoice export before the weeks were closed and some transactions were included, why?

The exports pick up 'locked' transactions that haven't been exported before. An invoice is also set to locked at the point an estimate is converted into an invoice. This is because it may fall into a week that has already been closed and so it won't be locked during the close week process. We therefore lock invoices created this way to ensure they will also be picked up via an export, even if they arrive late.

Step-by-Step guide

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

  1. The Close Period Report tells head office users which outlets have closed their week. Read means an outlet is open, green means it has been closed and blue means it has been approved by a head office user. 

Approving a closed week

Log into an Outlet>Company>Close Period

  1. Head office users can approve a closed week if desired. This is not a necessity and does not affect the data but gives a visual indication that the close week has been approved
  2. Log into the outlet and in Company, click on Close Period
  3. Click on a green dot 
  4. The user will be given the option to make notes and will need to select Approve Week
  5. The dot will have changed to blue

Re-opening a closed week

Log into an Outlet>Company>Close Period

  1. Click on a green dot 
  2. The user will see the option to click on Unlock week
  3. This enables the user to unlock a closed week as long as the data hasn't been exported

  4. 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

Head Office>Outlets>Set Up>Manage Questions

  1. Once in Manage Questions, click Add
  2. In the first drop down box, select which Area you would like to set the questions for
  3. Enter a question number and then in Question, add the question. This is free text but the questions need to be yes/no questions
  4. You can add as many questions as neccessary for each area
  5. When closing the week for that area, the user will need to answer the questions
  6. The users' answers won't affect their ability to close the week but their comments can be sent to head office users set up in their area who have the Close Period Comments alert tickets in User Access


Viewing who closed the week and when

Log into an Outlet>Company>Close Period

  1. Hover over a green dot
  2. You will see the name and date