How to Close Periods

This guide explains how to close GL periods in ALIS, including Restricted Close and bulk closing across multiple communities.

About Closing Periods

Closing a GL period finalizes that month’s billing in ALIS. 

Once closed:

• Your team cannot add or edit charges on that period’s invoices.
• Credits and discounts are no longer editable once their creation has been exported.
• Credits and discounts cannot be unapplied once their application to an invoice has been exported.

All transactions must be exported from GL Transactions > View Transactions/Payments before a period can be closed. See the GL Exports and Period Closures guide for export steps.

GL Integration Start Date

Billing activities that would generate GL transactions on dates prior to the community’s GL Integration Start Date are blocked, similar in behavior to posting to a closed period.

• Periods before the Integration Start Date retain their status but are hidden from the UI.
• Communities without a GL integration configured are unaffected; all periods remain accessible.

Close a Period (Single Community)

The Close Period button becomes available only after all transactions for the period have been exported and the period has ended. Your team can close the period completely or apply a Restricted Close. 

To close a period:

1. Navigate to GL Transactions → GL Periods tab.
   • Note: Open or restricted periods are highlighted in red as a visual indicator.
2. Click Close Period. In the confirmation modal, select a closure type:
   • Close Completely - Fully locks the period. No users can make changes.
   • Restricted Close (Recommended) - Limits edits to users with admin permissions. The system will display a warning before any changes are saved.
3. Click Submit to finalize. 

Close Through Multiple Periods

A Close Through option allows you to close all periods from the GL Integration Start Date through a selected period in a single action. This is useful when catching up on several months at once.

1. On the GL Periods tab, select Close Through.
2. Choose the target period(s) from the dropdown.
3. Click Submit.

 All periods from the Integration Start Date through the selected period will be closed.

Reopen a Period

Reopening a period allows charges, credits, and discounts to be edited again. Use with caution if financial reporting has already been finalized. 

To reopen a period, use the Reopen Period button at the top right of the GL Periods tab. 

1. Click the Reopen a Period button.
2. In the pop-up modal: 
   1. Select the period(s) to reopen from the dropdown menu.
   2. Select the reopen method (Restriced Open or Open Completely). 
3. Click Reopen.

The ability to close and reopen periods requires a specific security role permission. If you need assistance configuring security roles, contact your Account Manager or the ALIS Customer Success Team.

Restricted Close

Restricted Close is a specialty setting for GL integrations. It is designed for teams that need to restrict period changes during the final days of the month to prepare financial reporting due on the 1st.

How Restricted Close Works

• Closes the period for most users even if some transactions have not yet been exported.
• Prevents most users from making changes to the period’s transactions.
• Users with elevated permissions (typically home office corporate accounting staff) can still make transactions during Restricted Close.

To enable Restricted Close, contact your Account Manager or the ALIS Customer Success Team.

Portfolio Period Status (Multi-Community)

The Portfolio Period Status page provides a cross-community view of GL period statuses and enables bulk period closures. Access it via the Portfolio Period Status button on the GL Transactions page.

Overview Tab

Displays all communities the user has access to, along with:

• The period each community is closed through.
• Any blocking issues preventing a period close.

Bulk Close tab

Allows closing a single period across multiple communities simultaneously. 

To bulk close a period: 

1. Select the GL period (Month and Year) from the dropdown menu. 
2. Use the checkboxes to select communities.
3. Click the Bulk Close Period button. 

Note: Communities with blocking issues (e.g., open or pending transactions) will be skipped during a bulk close. Review the per-community status before confirming.

To unblock periods with "Open or pending txns," simply return to the GL Transactions page and export the transactions for that period, and then return to close the period. 

Related Articles:

• GL Exports and Period Closures
• Sage Intacct API Integration
• Credits
• Resident Refunds

For more assistance: 888.404.ALIS (2547)  |  support@go-alis.com