End of month processing
Learn more about why processing end of month (EOM) is important for your practice and how to efficiently complete this task.
Before you start
- Security access to End of Month Closing, End of Month Reports dialogs, and access to daily and monthly reports necessary to perform the functions of the user’s role.
- End of period (EOP) defaults set (finance and billing charges)
- Unattended end of period and end of month defaults set, if applicable.
- Appropriate clients are set up to receive or be excluded from finance charges.
- Invoice types set accordingly to close at end of month, if applicable.
End of month functions
Maintaining a consistent pattern of closing periods is recommended for best period-based reporting and comparative results.
When closing end of month, the following important functions are completed:
- Monthly records and reports are processed and totaled.
- Monthly totals are added to yearly reports.
- The Performance Tracker, Inventory Turns, and Snapshot reports are updated.
- Month to date (MTD) totals are cleared for the Inventory Item Profit Analysis Report.
- Open invoices set to close at EOM processing will be posted.
- Accounts receivable balances are aged.
Running end of month manually
- Complete end of day activities and processing.
- If maintaining inventory in Cornerstone, it is recommended to post all vendor receipts for the month. The Inventory Turnover and Item Profit Analysis reports are defined by monthly inventory numbers at the time of EOM close.
- Activities > End of Period > End of Month
- Process end of month:
- You may see an optional reminder message to perform a monthly backup.
- Verify/modify monthly charges to apply to account balances.
- Use the notes field to document any additional information about the month’s closing.
- Review the open invoices listed in the window. Click Yes or No to close or leave open.
- Click OK.
- Follow your practice’s monthly backup procedure.
- Run monthly reports as needed by selecting the closed EOM period(s).
Unattended End of Month
If end of month is set up to run unattended, it will run automatically at the set time. Prior to that time:
- Complete end of day activities and processing.
- If maintaining inventory in Cornerstone, it is recommended to post all vendor receipts for the month. The Inventory Turnover and Item Profit Analysis reports are defined by monthly inventory numbers at the time of EOM close.
- Follow your practice’s monthly backup procedure.
- Run monthly reports as needed.
Additional Information
General
- Once EOM processing starts, your team can continue working in Cornerstone with the following exceptions:
- Posting invoices or payments.
- Processing other payment transactions, such as account adjustments, transfers, write-offs, or returned checks.
- To view notes from the monthly closing, navigate to Reports > End of Period > End of Month> select the closing period > Details button. Unattended End Of Month will display when completed by the unattended process.
- To view additional details from the most recent unattended End of Period process, navigate to Controls > Defaults > Practice and Workstation > Unattended EOP > Unattended EOM.
- For workstations with Auto-Lock/Logoff settings, the idle timer will not begin until after end of period processing is complete.
- We strongly recommend performing and retaining a backup for the month, using your normal backup procedures.
End of Day (EOD) and End of Year (EOY)
- Run EOD immediately before processing EOM. If transactions occur after EOD, you will be prompted to run another EOD before you can process EOM.
- When processing the last EOM for the year, plan to run EOY immediately afterward. If transactions occur after EOM, you will be prompted to run another EOD and EOM before you can process EOY.
- A second EOD close occurs when you run EOM. It includes finance charges, billing fees, and open invoices that were closed as part of EOM processing.
Finance and billing charges
- Definitions:
- Finance charge percent: the monthly finance charge percentage applied to client balances.
- Minimum finance charge: the minimum finance charge amount to apply.
- Billing charge: billing fee amount to be applied.
- Billing threshold: minimum client balance to apply the billing charge amount and generate a monthly statement.
- Billing charges may alternately be applied when statements are generated. After an EOM is closed, billing charges cannot be added to accounts for that specific period. Billing charges added when generating statements will add the fee to the current month.
Reporting
- Running reports from Current does not equal processing the period. A processed period will display with the date and time it was closed.
- Processing end of month consistently at the same time for each period is key for comparative reporting. For example, after the last business day of the month, before the first business day of the next month, or on the 25th of each month. EOY and EOM processing time is impacted if EOD and EOM not run consistently.
Saved invoices
- Saved invoices with unverified inventory details will remain open, even if invoice type is set to close.
- If you use Petly Plans with automated discounting, invoices closed with EOM processing will not be reassessed for any Petly discounts.
Related reports
- Monthly Invoices and Statements
