How to merge fiscal periods into a single data file

Starting with version 8, Office Maker Finance is “multi-fiscal period,” meaning that the program can manage multiple fiscal periods in the same data file. Until then, each fiscal period was stored in a separate data file.

Multi-year management greatly facilitates changing fiscal periods, especially in client-server mode. That is why it may be useful to merge past fiscal periods with the current fiscal period in order to benefit from this advantage. Here is how to do it:

1. Quit OM Finance. In Finder (macOS) or Windows Explorer, select the folder containing the data file for the most recent fiscal period and duplicate it. Rename the newly created folder and the data file inside it by removing the year reference.
   Example with a folder named OMF_Edelweiss_2025 containing the database consisting of three files: OMF_Edelweiss_2025.4DD, OMF_Edelweiss_2025.Indx, and OMF_Edelweiss_2025.Match:
   Rename the copy of this folder to OMF_Edelweiss and the three files to OMF_Edelweiss.4DD, OMF_Edelweiss.Indx, and OMF_Edelweiss.Match.
2. Start OM Finance and open the files for previous fiscal periods. For each fiscal period, open the Periods Editor  (via the File>Periods Editor command) and create an archive of the fiscal period using the export button.
   Please note that only locked exercises can be archived. You will therefore need to lock a period  beforehand if necessary.
3. Open the data file created in step 1 to contain the merged periods. In the Periods Editor (opened via the File>Periods Editor command), import the archive of each previous period created in step 2 in reverse chronological order. The number of each period is displayed in the periods editor list.

Notice

• It is not mandatory to merge existing periods. The program can continue to operate with periods stored in separate data files.
• Only financial periods from the same company, using the same base currency and containing the same software license can be merged.
• The archives from previous fiscal periods must be imported in reverse chronological order (for example, first fiscal period 2024, then fiscal period 2023, etc.). In addition, it is essential that the end date of the previous fiscal period be the day before the start date of the following period: for example, for a fiscal period beginning on July 1, the previous fiscal period must end on June 30 of the same year.
• Periods can only be deleted in chronological order, from the oldest to the most recent.
• When importing an archive, the movements for the relevant fiscal period are automatically regenerated to correspond exactly to the related entries and cannot be modified. Only the oldest fiscal period can have older movements, which can then be modified.
• Archiving a fiscal period only exports data that is useful for merging and ignores other data. Therefore, it should not be used as a backup method. Use your usual tool to back up your fiscal periods.