General Ledger End of Period message ‘Prior Period Update for period ‘xx’ must be run’ Must update prior to closing General Ledger

Question:  Why the message about prior period update and why is it required to run prior to GL End of Period Update.

Answer:  FACTS General Ledger allows for ‘Prior Period’ journal entries.  A journal entry can be entered into a prior period provided the prior period is not more than 10 periods prior to the current general ledger period.  Example- the current general ledger period is June.  Therefore a prior period journal entry can not be entered for August of last year.  When a prior period journal entry is entered, there is also a prior period journal entry update that must be run in order for the entry to post to the general ledger.   Sometimes the prior period journal entry update is a forgotten step.  The general ledger end of period update will not remind the user that there is a prior period journal entry (that has not been updated) until that journal entry is going to be greater than 10 prior periods.  In other words- the prior period journal entry can go un-updated for 9 months and then the end of period program will stop and force the entry to be updated or deleted by the user.

When this occurs it usually initiates confused wonder to the user. “What journal entry and do you mean the entry has not been reflected in the general ledger reports for that many months?”

The answer is ‘yes’ the entry has not been reflected in the general ledger reports for that many months. 

Since there is no reminder regarding un-posted prior period journal entries during the GL end of period update, it can only be procedure to have this on your end of period check list (were there any prior period journal entries and has the prior period update been run for those entries?)