Year-end in PCLaw goes wrong for predictable reasons: a month that was never reconciled, a backup that was skipped, or a close run while someone was still posting. Work through this list in order and none of those will catch you.
Menu names differ a little between PCLaw versions, so we describe each step by what it does. If you cannot find an option in your version, the PCLaw Help menu will show where it is, or ask us.
Two to four weeks before year-end
- Post everything outstanding. Time, disbursements, bills, receipts and cheques dated in the old year.
- Bill what can be billed. Unbilled time carried across year-end is still collectable, but it is easier to review now than in March.
- Review old work in progress. Write off or write down time that will never be billed, with the responsible lawyer's approval.
- Review accounts receivable. Decide which old balances to pursue and which to write off.
- Clear undeposited and unallocated receipts.
Reconcile every account
- General bank accounts, to the last day of the year.
- Trust bank accounts, with the full three-way comparison: bank statement, trust bank journal, and the client trust listing must all agree. If they do not, fix it before closing. See PCLaw trust reconciliation not balancing.
- Credit cards, loans and lines of credit.
- Sales tax accounts (GST/HST, PST or state tax) against your filed returns.
- Payroll liabilities against your remittances.
Check the data
- Run Verify Data Integrity with everyone out of PCLaw, and resolve anything it reports before going further. Our guide explains how to read the results.
- Check that subledgers agree with the general ledger. The client trust listing should equal the trust liability account. The receivables listing should equal the accounts receivable account. The payables listing should equal accounts payable.
A difference here is a data problem, not an accounting one, and closing the year will not make it go away.
Print or save your year-end reports
Save these as PDF, dated as of the last day of the fiscal year:
- Trial balance, balance sheet and income statement
- General ledger for the full year
- Bank and trust reconciliations for the final month
- Client trust listing
- Aged accounts receivable and aged accounts payable
- Work in progress listing
- Fee and billing summaries by lawyer, if you use them for compensation
Your accountant will ask for most of these, and some are much harder to reproduce once the year has been closed.
Back up before you close
- Make a full backup with all users out of PCLaw.
- Label it clearly, for example "Before year-end close, fiscal 2025", and keep it permanently. Do not let it rotate out with the nightly backups.
- Confirm the backup file exists and has a sensible size. Better still, restore it to a test location.
This backup is your only way back if the close goes wrong. Our backup guide covers how to do it properly on each edition.
Run the close
- Choose a time when nobody needs PCLaw, and confirm every workstation has exited.
- Run the month-end close for the final month, then the year-end close.
- Do not interrupt it. Do not let anyone log in until it has finished.
If the close stops with an error, do not run it a second time. Note the exact message and get advice first. Running a close twice over a half-finished one is how a small problem becomes a recovery job.
After the close
- Opening balances. The new year's opening balance sheet should match the old year's closing balance sheet.
- Income and expense accounts should start the new year at zero.
- Retained earnings should have moved by the old year's net income.
- Trust. The client trust listing total must be unchanged by the close.
- Take another backup, labelled "After year-end close".
Your accountant's adjustments
Adjusting entries usually arrive months later. Post them dated the last day of the old fiscal year, using the method your version provides for prior-year entries, then reprint the final statements so that PCLaw agrees with the accountant's set.
When to get help
Call a specialist before closing if the trust accounts will not reconcile, if Verify Data Integrity reports errors that will not clear, or if the subledgers disagree with the general ledger. These are far easier to fix before the close than after it.
We handle year-end for firms of every size as part of our PCLaw support service. If you would like someone alongside you for this year's close, get in touch.