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Locked Period

This guide explains the locked period in Fiskl — what it is, how to set it, and what it prevents. Use a locked period to protect finalised accounts from accidental changes after you close a financial period.

Reconciled vs locked · 1:25

Read the transcript
Reconciled and locked sound alike, but they do different jobs. Reconciled means checked: for that month, Fiskl and your bank agree. It doesn't stop changes. Edit a transaction in that month, and it's flagged Needs attention. So is every reconciled month after it, because each one starts where the last ended. Locked means closed: nothing dated on or before the lock date can be changed. That covers transactions, invoices, bills and payments, in every account. Bank feeds and imports skip anything inside it. Set it in Settings, Accounting, Lock Period. Only an owner or admin can. To change something before that date, they move the lock back first. In a locked month nothing can change, so a reconciled month there stays reconciled. So reconcile as you go, each month or quarter. Reconcile before you lock: a lock freezes mistakes as well as the right figures. Lock once a period is final: after year end, or when your tax return is filed. Reconciled tells you the books agree with the bank. Locked makes sure they stay that way.

What Is a Locked Period?​

A locked period marks the point up to which your accounts are considered closed. It is a single date: everything on or before that date is locked, and everything after it remains open.

For example, if you close your 2025 accounts, you set the locked period to 31 December 2025. From that point, Fiskl treats all activity dated on or before 31 December 2025 as final.

Locking a period protects finalised figures after you have reviewed them, filed your taxes, or shared reports with your accountant. It prevents changes that would alter accounts you have already closed.

What a Locked Period Prevents​

When a period is locked, you cannot add or change anything dated within it that affects your accounting. This includes:

  • Accounting transactions and journal entries
  • Invoices and invoice payments
  • Expenses and vendor payments
  • Moving transactions between ledger accounts within the locked period

In short, any action that would change the accounting figures for a locked date is blocked.

info

The locked period applies to the transaction date, not the date you enter it. An entry dated within the locked period is blocked even if you create it today.

Setting the Locked Period​

  1. Go to Settings > Accounting
  2. Find the Locked Period setting
  3. Select the date up to which you want to close your accounts
  4. Select Save

All activity dated on or before this date is now locked. To reopen a period, change the locked period date to an earlier date, or clear it.

You can also lock and unlock month by month from the reconciliation timeline. See Locking From the Reconciliation Screen.

warning

Only change the locked period date once you are sure the accounts for that period are final. Reopening a locked period allows changes to figures you may have already reported to tax authorities.

Locking From the Reconciliation Screen​

The reconciliation timeline shows the same lock, one lock icon above each month. A closed lock means the books are locked through the end of that month. An open lock means that month is still open. Months that have not ended yet cannot be locked.

To lock the books once you have finished reconciling:

  1. Go to Accounting > Reconciliation
  2. Select the open lock above the last month you have reconciled
  3. Read the confirmation. If any account on the timeline is not reconciled through that month, Fiskl names the accounts
  4. Select Lock through [month]

Fiskl sets the locked period to the last day of that month. The date in Settings > Accounting updates to match.

To reopen a month, select its closed lock and then select Unlock from [month]. The locked period moves back to the end of the month before, so earlier months stay locked. To remove the lock altogether, clear the date in Settings > Accounting.

tip

Lock each month as soon as its reconciliations are done. The timeline then shows at a glance which months are final and which still need work.

Matching Transactions Into a Locked Period​

You can still match a transaction to an existing transaction inside a locked period, even though the period is closed.

This works because matching does not change the accounting figures. It links two records that represent the same economic event — so there is no economic difference to the closed accounts.

Example: You have a transaction in November 2025, inside your locked 2025 period. In January 2026, a related bank transaction arrives. You can match the January transaction to the November one. The match is allowed because it records no new economic activity in the locked period — it only reconciles records that already exist.

info

Matching into a locked period is permitted because it reconciles existing records rather than adding new economic activity. Creating, editing, or deleting transactions in a locked period remains blocked.

Common Issues​

I cannot save an invoice, expense, or transaction

Check the date on the record. If it falls on or before your locked period date, the action is blocked. Either change the date to fall after the locked period, or ask your accountant whether the period can be reopened.

I need to correct something in a closed period

Changes within a locked period are blocked by design to protect finalised accounts. If a correction is genuinely required, reopen the period by unlocking the month on the reconciliation timeline or by changing the locked period date in Settings > Accounting. Make your correction, then lock the period again. Check with your accountant first, as this affects figures you may have already reported.

A transaction from a new period will not match to one in the locked period

Matching into a locked period is allowed. If a match is not appearing, the cause is usually unrelated to the lock — check that both transactions exist, are uncategorised where required, and have amounts close enough for Fiskl to suggest the match. See Matching and Splitting Transactions.