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.

Accessing Lock Date Settings

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

The Lock Date Panel

The Lock Date settings page displays:

• Current lock date — The date before which transactions are protected
• Conversion date — Your migration start date (the lock date cannot be set before this)
• Update button — Save changes to the lock date (admin only)
• Recent changes — History of lock date modifications

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.

Who Can Change the Lock Date?

Only administrators can view and modify the lock date. Team members with other roles will see the current lock date 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 Lock Date Updates

The lock date is automatically 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), the lock date automatically advances to the end of that BAS period. This ensures that finalised tax periods cannot be modified.

Unlocking a Period

If you need to make changes to a locked period:

1. Go to Settings > Accounting > Lock Date
2. Change the lock date to an earlier date (or clear it entirely)
3. Make your corrections
4. Set the lock date back to protect the period again

Only do this when absolutely necessary, and ensure you re-lock the period when finished.

Best Practices

• Lock completed BAS periods — After finalising each BAS, verify the lock date has advanced
• 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

Troubleshooting

”Cannot create transaction: Period is locked”

This error appears when you try to create a transaction dated on or before the lock date. Either:

• Change the transaction date to after the lock date, or
• Ask an administrator to temporarily unlock the period

”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 remove the current lock date 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

• Accounting Settings
• Migration
• BAS & Tax