Your start-up's first financial year-end in the books

What a start-up does in its own books at its first year-end, given that profit stays on its own line and is not closed to retained earnings for you.

By Achekam · 11 October 2026 · 5 min read · For Software (SaaS) businesses in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya

For the first year of a software start-up, the books are something you keep up with between product releases. Then the year-end arrives, and with it a new set of questions. Is there a closing entry? What happens to the year's loss? Why do the year-to-date figures look wrong? When can the accountant start?

None of this is hard, but a first year-end goes better when you know what your books will and will not do for you. In Achekam the most important point is simple: there is no automatic year-end closing entry. This article explains what that means and gives a sequence to follow.

Choosing and recording the year-end

Many founders never chose a year-end; it was set when the company was registered. Others picked one deliberately, perhaps to fall after a busy sales quarter or to line up with an investor's reporting. Either way, confirm the date before the year closes, in writing, with your accountant.

Changing a year-end is possible but involves the companies registry and the tax authority. South African companies can see how CIPC handles financial year changes in its frequently asked questions. Decide early, because a change after the year has ended is far harder to explain.

Note your filing deadlines while you are at it. In Kenya, a corporation tax return is due within six months after the year end. In Nigeria, a company in business for more than 18 months files its self-assessment return within six months after its year end; a newer company should confirm its own date with its adviser. South African companies should confirm their returns and dates with their accountant too.

Month-end tasks one last time: bank, bills and assets

The last month of the year deserves the fullest month-end you will do all year:

Bank. Reconcile every account to the statement. Bank lines are matched by suggestion and a person accepts each match; a reconciliation completes only with no difference left or with every leftover line explained.
Bills. Record every supplier invoice dated in the year, including the hosting and tool bills that arrive in the first week of the new year. Bills without a purchase order need approval before they post, so leave time for that.
Assets. Run the last month's depreciation from the fixed-asset register, and record any laptops or servers disposed of during the year so the profit or loss on each is posted.
Adjustments. Post manual journals for anything your accountant has asked for. An unbalanced journal is refused, and so is one dated in a closed month, so post year-end adjustments before you close that month.

Profit on its own line in the balance sheet

Here is the part that surprises people. In many accounting systems, a year-end routine moves the year's profit or loss into retained earnings, and the new year starts with income and expense accounts at nil. Achekam has no such closing entry. The year's profit, or for most start-ups the year's loss, is not closed to retained earnings and shows as its own line on the balance sheet.

That does not make the balance sheet wrong. It balances, and the figure is visible. But your accountant will want to see the result as retained earnings, or an accumulated loss, in the financial statements. Agree with them how that is handled: in the statements they prepare, or by a journal they ask you to post. Do not invent a closing journal yourself.

Year-to-date figures when the year does not start in January

Management accounts show an income statement for a chosen period beside the period before, and a balance sheet at period end, exportable as PDF or CSV. One detail matters at year-end: the year-to-date preset starts on 1 January, not on your own year start.

If your year runs from March to February, or July to June, the preset gives the wrong year. Choose the period yourself, from your first day to your last, every time you run the year's figures. Save the exported PDF in your records with the dates in the file name, so nobody later compares a calendar-year figure with a financial-year one by mistake.

Locking the year once the accountant is done

Months in Achekam can be soft-closed, hard-closed and locked. A closed month refuses postings from every source, and reopening a hard close needs a second approver. Before closing, the screen checks that the ledger balances and that no posting suggestions, unposted bills or unmatched bank lines are waiting.

Use the levels in order. Soft-close the final month while your accountant works, so late adjustments can still go in through the agreed route. Once the statements are signed, hard-close and lock the year. From then on, a correction to the old year has to be justified to a second person, which is exactly what you want. Locking closed months explains the three levels in more detail.

Bringing in your accountant for the statements

You appoint your accounting firm from inside your workspace, by the firm's Achekam address or firm code, as accountant, auditor, tax practitioner, payroll provider or adviser, with an access level; the firm accepts or declines. An appointed firm works directly in your own ledger, with no copy, so what it posts appears in your screens.

Pick the access level to suit the job. Bookkeeping access covers the accounting but not your users, settings or gateways; review access is read-only. A firm preparing statements and posting year-end adjustments needs the first. An auditor or an investor's adviser usually needs only the second, as giving your accountant review access explains.

A year-end checklist

Confirm the year-end date and your filing deadlines.
Finish the last month's bank reconciliations, bills and depreciation.
Export the year's figures using a custom period, not the year-to-date preset.
Appoint your accountant with the right access level.
Agree how the year's result moves to retained earnings in the statements.
Lock the year once the statements are signed.

Start with the first two items this week. A start-up that closes its first year cleanly has an easier time with every investor who reads its accounts afterwards.

General guidance only, not advice on your own circumstances. Tax and payroll rules change: check the current position with the authority or your adviser.