How to lock the same month in every company of a group
One close date, one lock in each company's own system, and one record for the group. What Zoho Books lets you lock, what its help page leaves open, and a lock calendar for five companies.
First published 14 Dec 2026. What changed on 14 Dec
- First published.
In this post 6 sections
In short
A group locks the same month by agreeing one close date, locking each company’s books on that date in its own system, and recording the result in one place. Zoho Books locks per organization, so each Zoho Books company is locked separately; there is no single lock for a group.
Key takeaways
- Agree one lock calendar for the group. The date, the order and the person who confirms each company.
- Lock every company in its own system, then record the result where the group can see it.
- Test what the lock date covers before the first close. Zoho’s page says transactions before the date are locked; it does not say whether the date itself is.
- Make adjustments in the group layer, not by unlocking a company’s books after the pack is out.
Why does a group need the same month locked everywhere?
A group figure is a sum of company figures. If one company still allows entries into September after the others have closed, the group’s September can change after the board has seen it. The risk is not fraud; it is a late invoice posted by a well-meaning bookkeeper into a month everyone thought was done.
The effect is largest on intercompany balances. A pair that agreed on the fourth working day will not agree again if one side posts a correction on the tenth, and the elimination that matched them is now wrong. A common close date, held by every company, prevents that class of error rather than finding it afterwards.
What does Zoho Books let you lock?
Checked against Zoho’s help centre on 29 Oct 2026. Zoho’s page on transaction locking1 describes two options. You can lock all transactions with one common lock date, or lock the Sales, Purchases, Banking and Accounts modules each with a date of its own. Zoho lists journals, tax payments, tax adjustments and base currency adjustments under Accounts, and invoices, credit notes and customer payments under Sales. The steps are under Accountant, Transaction Locking: choose Lock, set the date, enter a reason and confirm.
Zoho’s page says the transactions recorded before the lock date cannot be modified or deleted. It does not say whether a transaction dated on the lock date itself is covered. Do not guess: set the date on a trial organization, post a test entry on the date and the day before, and write down what happens. Then choose the group’s rule, for example “lock date is the first day of the next month”, and use it for every Zoho Books company.
An existing lock can be edited, with a new date and reason. It can be removed with Unlock, which also needs a reason, or opened only for a range of dates by a partial unlock. A partial unlock is for corrections such as invoices assigned to the wrong customer, and Zoho says every module the correction touches must be unlocked too. Zoho states that locking is available on the Standard, Professional, Premium, Elite and Ultimate plans, and its plan comparison page2 shows no transaction locking on Free.
The lock belongs to an organization. Zoho’s pages describe locking inside one organization and the pages checked do not describe a lock that spans several3. A group with two Zoho Books companies therefore sets two locks.
Free: Group month-end close checklist
This free Excel checklist lays out a five-day group close task by task, with an owner, a company and a due date for each. Due dates follow the month-end date you enter, and a progress sheet shows the percentage complete for each day. It is built for groups of 3 to 30 companies.
- Thirty tasks, from the week before month-end to locking the month on day 5.
- An owner and a company for every task, ready to rename.
How do you lock the month across all the companies?
- Before month-end: publish the lock calendar. State the lock date rule, the day each company locks and who confirms it.
- Working day 1 to 3: companies post their last entries and the group compares intercompany balances.
- Working day 4: each company locks its books in its own system: Transaction Locking in Zoho Books, the period lock in Xero or QuickBooks if the company uses it, or the source system’s own close for a company that sends a trial balance. Each confirms to the group controller in writing.
- Working day 4: the company sends its final trial balance. A trial balance that arrives before the lock is a draft.
- Working day 5: the group controller checks that every company has confirmed, then locks the group month.
- After the lock: any change goes through the group layer, as a dated adjustment with a reason, and is recorded.
| Company | How the month is locked | Locked on |
|---|---|---|
| ZenvaraZoho Books | Transaction Locking, all modules | Mon 5 Oct |
| FernhollowQuickBooks, trial balance | Source system’s own period lock, if it has one | Tue 6 Oct |
| PalmridgeOther system, trial balance | Source system’s own close | Tue 6 Oct |
| KestrelwickXero, trial balance | Source system’s own period lock, if it has one | Tue 6 Oct |
| QuillfernZoho Books | Transaction Locking, all modules | Mon 5 Oct |
| Group month locked5 of 5 companies confirmed | Group lock | Wed 7 Oct |
Example group used across Finconsol guides. Working days: Thu 1 Oct is day 1, so Wed 7 Oct is day 5.
What if a correction is needed after the lock?
It will happen, and the answer should be agreed before it does. There are two ways, and they have different costs.
- Unlock the company’s books with a partial unlock, post the correction, and lock again. This changes the company’s own records and, in Zoho Books, needs the related modules unlocked too. Use it when the company’s own accounts are wrong.
- Post a group adjustment for the month, dated and explained, and leave the company’s books alone. Use it when the correction is a consolidation matter, such as an item in transit between two companies or a rate fix.
The second is faster and leaves the companies’ records as they were reported. Whichever is used, the reason and the person should be written down at the time.
| Company | Source | Trial balance | Accounts | Intercompany |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zenvara | Zoho Books | In | All mapped | Cleared |
| Fernhollow | Trial balance upload | In | All mapped | Cleared |
| Palmridge | Trial balance upload | In | All mapped | Cleared |
| Kestrelwick | Trial balance upload | In | All mapped | Cleared |
| Quillfern | Zoho Books | In | All mapped | Cleared |
How does Finconsol handle this?
Finconsol does not lock the books of a company; that stays in Zoho Books, Xero, QuickBooks or whichever system the company uses. It locks the group’s month. The close screen lists what stops the month: a company whose trial balance is not in, an account that is not mapped, or intercompany that is not cleared. When nothing is left, it shows the button that locks the month. A locked month cannot be changed, and the lock is recorded in the change log.
Zoho Books companies are connected directly, read only, with a nightly refresh. Xero and QuickBooks companies come in by trial balance upload today, with a direct connection coming soon, and any other system comes in by trial balance. The group month-end close checklist offered with this post puts the lock calendar next to the rest of the close.
Questions
Can I lock several Zoho Books organizations at once?
The Zoho help pages checked on 29 Oct 2026 describe locking inside one organization and do not describe a lock across several. Set the lock in each organization on the day the group has agreed.
Does the lock date itself get locked in Zoho Books?
Zoho’s page says transactions recorded before the lock date cannot be modified or deleted. It does not say whether the date itself is covered. Test it in a trial organization and set one rule for the group.
Can I post an adjustment in a locked month in Zoho Books?
Not while the lock is on. Zoho allows a partial unlock for a date range, with a reason, and every module the change touches must be unlocked. For consolidation matters, a dated group adjustment avoids reopening the company’s books.
What should be recorded when a month is locked?
The month, the companies that confirmed, the date and the person who locked it. After that, record every change to the month with who made it and why.
Sources
- Zoho Books help, Transaction locking. Checked against Zoho’s help centre on 29 Oct 2026.
- Zoho Books, plan comparison. Checked against Zoho’s help centre on 29 Oct 2026.
- Zoho Books, adding an organization. Checked on 29 Oct 2026.
Prabhu, A. (2026, 14 December). How to lock the same month in every company of a group. The Finconsol Blog. https://finconsol.com/blog/lock-accounting-period-in-every-group-company/
Amit Prabhu leads Finconsol at Aaxonix Tech, a Zoho and NetSuite implementation partner based in Pune, India. He works with multi-company groups and the accountants who serve them on closing many sets of books into one set of group numbers.