Financial years and periods
A financial year splits into 12 monthly periods, and every posting lands in the period that holds the document date, so a missing or blocked period rejects the posting.
In one minute
A financial year is the 12-month span your books run on. Winlium cuts it into 12 monthly periods. Every posting goes into the period that contains the document date, and a blocked period refuses new postings.
Why Winlium has it
Reports and tax returns need each transaction to belong to one month. Blocking lets Finance lock a month after it is reviewed, so nobody changes figures that were already reported.
How it works in Winlium
Open Financial Year under Accounting, then Configurations. The list shows Name, Year, Start Date, End Date and Status. You can filter by Status (Upcoming, Active, Blocked, Closed) and by Blocked (Yes or No). Row actions are Edit Financial year, Duplicate Financial year, Copy Financial year ID and Delete Financial year.
Screenshot pending
Financial Year list with one Active year and older years marked Blocked
- 1New
- 2Status
The form
| Field | Type | Required | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Text | No | You can change it later. If you leave it empty, Winlium names the year "FY" plus the year, for example FY 2026. |
| Year | Number (read only) | No | Filled from the year of Start Date. You cannot type in it. |
| Start Date | Date | Yes | First day of the year. Error if empty: "Start date is required". You cannot change it after saving. |
| End Date | Date | Yes | Last day of the year. Usually 12 months after Start Date. Error if empty: "End date is required". Error if not after Start Date: "End date must be after start date". You cannot change it after saving. |
| Is Blocked | Yes/No switch | No | On means no new postings in any period of this year. Press **Save** to apply it. Default: Off |
Press Save to store the year. Press New to start another one. Winlium shows "12 monthly periods will be generated automatically when you save." After saving, the year gets a code such as FY-001.
Periods
Open a saved year to see Financial Periods: Period Number, Start Date, End Date, Status and Block / Unblock. Periods are monthly, numbered 1 to 12. Period 12 ends on the year end date. You cannot add, remove or edit dates of a period.
Each period has its own switch. It applies at once and shows "Period blocked" or "Period unblocked". It does not need Save. Blocking the whole year with Is Blocked shows every period as Blocked, but the period switches keep their own position.
| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| Upcoming | Not blocked, and today is before the start date. |
| Active | Not blocked, and today is inside the dates. |
| Blocked | Switched off by Finance. This wins over every other status. |
| Closed | Not blocked, and today is after the end date. |
- UpcomingActivewhen The start date arrives (automatic)
- ActiveClosedwhen The end date passes (automatic)
- UpcomingBlockedwhen Is Blocked or the Block / Unblock switch (Finance Admin, Owner)
- ActiveBlockedwhen Is Blocked or the Block / Unblock switch (Finance Admin, Owner)
- ClosedBlockedwhen Is Blocked or the Block / Unblock switch (Finance Admin, Owner)
- BlockedActivewhen Switch off again; the date decides the new status (Finance Admin, Owner)
In the standard roles, Finance Admin and Owner can create, edit, delete, block and unblock. The standard Accountant role has no permission for these screens.
How a posting finds its period
- Winlium reads the document date (invoice date, bill date, GRV date, journal date, and so on).
- It finds the period whose start and end dates contain that date, for your company.
- If none exists, the posting is rejected.
- If the period or its year is blocked, the posting is rejected.
- Otherwise the entry is stamped with that period.
Some actions use today instead: Expense reimbursement, advance disbursement, advance cash return and petty cash funding. Customer Receipt uses the receipt date. Expense claim approval uses each line's own date, so one claim can post into several periods.
Voids and reversals skip the blocked check, so you can undo a posting even after its month is blocked (General Journal reversals, AP and AR Batch voids, Inventory Journal voids).
New years are created for you
Every day at 02:30 Winlium checks each company. If no year covers the date 30 days ahead, it creates the next year, starting the day after the last one ends, with the same length. It is not blocked.
Example
Terra Nova Ltd (example) has FY 2026 from 01 Jan 2026 to 31 Dec 2026. Finance blocks period 9 (September) after the month-end review. On 06 Oct 2026 a clerk saves a supplier bill dated 25 Sep 2026 and posts it. Winlium finds period 9, sees it is blocked and rejects the bill. The clerk asks Finance to unblock period 9, or changes the bill date to 06 Oct 2026 if that is correct.
Where it applies
- Accounting: invoices, credit notes, supplier bills, supplier payments, supplier returns, customer receipts, cash book, AR and AP batches, general journal, fixed assets.
- Inventory: goods received, transfers, delivery orders, credit notes, returns to supplier, journal batches, break-up, manufacturing receive, yield adjustment.
- Expense: claims, advances, petty cash. See /docs/expense.
- Budget Planning: a blocked year is refused with "Financial year is blocked and cannot be used".
Messages you may see
| Message | Where | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| No active financial period found for date: 2026-10-01 | Expense approval, reimbursement, advances, petty cash | Create a year that covers the date, or correct the date |
| Financial period for date 2026-10-01 is blocked for transactions | Expense | Unblock the period or year |
| No active financial period found for current date | Inventory: goods received voucher | Same |
| No active financial period found for the delivery date, transfer date, posting date, return date, credit note date, batch date, break-up date, yield adjustment date, manufacturing receive date | Inventory: each matching document | Same |
| Financial period is blocked for transactions | Every Inventory document above | Unblock the period or year |
| No financial year period found for today. | Supplier bill, supplier payment, supplier return, AR Allocation | Same |
| The current date financial year is blocked / The current date financial year period is blocked | Supplier bill, supplier payment, supplier return, AR Allocation | Unblock |
| No open financial year period for the invoice date / credit note date | Accounting: Invoice, Credit Note | Same |
| The invoice date financial year is blocked / The invoice date financial year period is blocked | Invoice (same wording with "credit note date" on Credit Note) | Unblock |
| No financial year period found for the receipt date. / The financial year / period for the receipt date is blocked | Customer Receipt | Same |
| No financial year period found for the batch date 2026-10-01 | AP Batch | Same |
| The financial year for the batch date 2026-10-01 is blocked / The financial year period for the batch date 2026-10-01 is blocked | AP Batch | Unblock |
| No financial year period found for date 2026-10-01 / The financial year for date 2026-10-01 is blocked / The financial year period for date 2026-10-01 is blocked | Cash Book | Same |
| No financial period found for the transaction date / The financial period for this date is blocked | General Journal, fixed asset postings | Same |
| Cannot void — original period is closed. Contact your accountant. | AP Batch void when no period holds the date | Contact Finance |
| The selected dates overlap with an existing financial year (FY 2026). | Saving a financial year | Pick dates outside existing years |
| This financial year cannot be deleted because it contains periods referenced by 12 posted transactions. Deactivate or block it instead. | Delete Financial year | Block it instead |
How to fix a rejected posting
- Read the date in the message. It is the document date, not today.
- Open Financial Year and find the year that holds it. If there is none, create one.
- If the period is Blocked, ask Finance Admin or Owner to unblock it. Post, then block it again.
- If the date is wrong, correct it on the document and post again.
Common mistakes
- Thinking Closed locks a month. Only Blocked does.
- Blocking the year and expecting General Journal to stop. Block the periods too.
- Posting a back-dated document after month end. The document date decides, not today.
- Expecting a block to work the same minute. Allow up to 24 hours for most postings.
- Making a year that overlaps another. Winlium refuses it.
- Looking for a "Close year" button. None exists. Reports are not hidden or locked by year status: they use the dates you choose.
For tax periods, see WHT and VAT. Compliance obligations use calendar months, not financial periods.