Lock Dates

Prevent changes to transactions before a specific date. This protects completed periods from accidental modifications.

What is a Lock Date?

A lock date is a cut-off point in your accounting records. Once set, transactions dated on or before the lock date cannot be:

• Created
• Edited
• Deleted

This ensures that finalised periods (such as completed BAS quarters or audited financial years) remain unchanged when you choose to protect them.

Finalise BAS ≠ lock. Finalising a BAS posts a clearing journal and can block bank Remove & Redo for that period even when no lock date is set. Lock dates are optional edit protection. See BAS History for how to reopen a finalised BAS.

Accessing Lock Date Settings

1. Go to Settings
2. Click the Accounting tab
3. Select Lock Date from the sub-menu

Deep link: Settings → Accounting → Lock Date (/settings?tab=accounting&subtab=lock-date).

The Lock Date Panel

The Lock Date settings page displays:

• Status — Currently unlocked, or Locked through a date (Australian format, e.g. 30 Jun 2026)
• Date picker — Choose the lock cut-off
• Update — Save a new or changed lock date (admin only)
• Unlock — Remove the lock date entirely (admin only, when a lock is set)
• Conversion date — Your migration start date (you cannot lock before this)
• Recent changes — History of lock date modifications, including unlocks

Setting a Lock Date

1. Click on the date picker to select a new lock date
2. Choose a date from the calendar
3. Click Update to save

The lock date will take effect immediately. Any attempt to create, edit, or delete transactions dated on or before this date will be blocked.

Unlocking (removing the lock)

If you need to clear the lock date:

1. Go to Settings → Accounting → Lock Date
2. Click Unlock
3. Confirm — periods are no longer protected by a lock date

Unlocking is recorded in Recent Changes as Unlocked.

You can also move the lock to an earlier date with Update if you only need a shorter locked window.

Only do this when necessary, and set a lock date again when finished.

Important: Unlocking does not reopen a finalised BAS. To revise a finalised period, use Reopen BAS in BAS History.

Who Can Change the Lock Date?

Only administrators can modify or unlock the lock date. Team members with other roles can see the current status but cannot change it.

If you need to unlock a period, contact an administrator on your team.

What Gets Locked?

The lock date applies to all transaction types that affect your general ledger:

Automatic and Optional Lock Date Updates

The lock date can be set or updated in these situations:

During Migration

When you complete your trial balance import during migration, the lock date is automatically set to your conversion date. This protects your opening balances from accidental changes.

After BAS Preparation

When you finalise a BAS period (Step 1: Prepare), Rebased posts the BAS clearing journal and then offers an optional Lock period now action. Use it if you want to protect that BAS period immediately.

Locking after BAS is optional. Many accountants leave quarters unlocked so they can post later adjustments, reclasses, accruals, or year-end journals before closing the year.

Best Practices

• Lock completed BAS periods when appropriate — After finalising BAS, choose whether to lock now or leave the period open for later accountant adjustments
• Lock before year-end — Set the lock date to your financial year end once accounts are finalised
• Review before unlocking — Consider why changes are needed and whether adjusting journals would be more appropriate
• Re-lock promptly — If you unlock a period for corrections, set the lock date again as soon as possible
• Use Reopen BAS for coding fixes — Unlock alone will not let you revise a finalised BAS

Troubleshooting

Period is locked / cannot edit

Blocked actions name the lock date (for example Locked through 30 Jun 2026) and point you to Settings → Accounting → Lock Date. Either:

• Change the transaction date to after the lock date, or
• Ask an administrator to Unlock (or move the lock date) in Settings

Unreconcile or statement rollback blocked

Remove & Redo / Unreconcile and statement Rollback are blocked for dates on or before the lock date. Unlock the period in Settings (admin), make the change, then re-lock.

If the message refers to a finalised BAS (not only a lock date), unlock is not enough — reopen that BAS from BAS History first.

”Cannot reset migration: Period is locked”

If you need to redo your migration, you must first clear the lock date. Go to Settings → Accounting → Lock Date and click Unlock before resetting migration steps.

Lock date input is disabled

Only administrators can change the lock date. If the input is disabled, you don’t have admin permissions for this business.

Related Pages

• Bulk Reclassify
• Accounting Settings
• Migration
• BAS History
• BAS & Tax