The file structure I inherited has a separate folder for each year. eg:

N:\ASP\Company\DATA\2012
N:\ASP\Company\DATA\2013
N:\ASP\Company\DATA\2014

So each year users must redirect to the new path to ensure they are opening the current year, and if any late adjustment journals arrive they must be posted in both copies.

Q1. Does the year end process spawn these new folders automatically?
Q2. If not, is this a good practice to continue with and does it add anything to the party such as improved access to older data?

Thanks for any input!

Hi Hugh, the answer to your first question is no, it's all manually done. The answer to your second is that this is an old practice inherited from Accpac, I believe. With the newer versions of ledger, there isn't a common cause to do this anymore since it can retain many years worth of account information instead of just a couple. Late adjustments can be dealt with using the post to prior year function, or by keeping both years open simultaneously until the older one is finished. It's still generally good practice to keep a year end back-up copy of the data, but you should only ever need it in an emergency.

That said, everyone is unique in some way and you may want to review your expectations with your consultant before changing the practice.

Warren,

Thanks for that. It makes sense to hear that it's a historical norm rather than a requirement of the current version of the software.

I see the value in a clearly identified year end backup, but when rolling my year end bouncing around from directory to directory doesn't seem like a great idea... It means I have to ensure that all users are going to the correct file set which seems like an extra step and an opportunity for error.

Agreed, having separated databases just for that purpose is a bad idea as people could be doing work in the wrong database without knowing it and the practice necessitates duplicating all the prior year entries with no discernible benefit.

The backup is really only there if you somehow manage to completely lose everything in the live dataset and need a reference, or need to start the year end over again (something you wouldn't consider after a day or two has passed). It wouldn't ever get unzipped under normal circumstances.