Xero lock dates: the two dates, how to set them, and how to fix a locked period

Short answer: a lock date stops anyone changing transactions dated on or before it, so the figures you have already reported or filed stay the figures in Xero. Xero has two, both in Financial settings under Lock dates: the period lock date stops everyone except users with the Administrator role (called Adviser before Xero’s 2026 role rename), and the end of year lock date stops everyone, Administrators included. Only an Administrator can set or change them. Set the period lock date to the last day of each month or quarter once its reports have gone out or its VAT, GST or BAS return is filed, and set the end of year lock date to the year end once the accounts and tax return are final. A late transaction for a locked month is then entered in the first open period, or an Administrator unlocks, fixes and locks again.

The two lock dates

Lock date	Name in the Xero API and error messages	Who it stops	Use it for
Period lock date	PeriodLockDate, “the period lock date”	Everyone without the Administrator role	Each month or quarter you have reported to the client or filed a return for
End of year lock date	EndOfYearLockDate, “the end of year lock date”	Everyone, Administrators included	The last financial year whose accounts and tax return are final

The end of year lock date normally sits on or before the period lock date. Most practices move the period lock date forward every month and the end of year lock date once a year, which lets the bookkeeper and the accountant (as Administrators) still post a late adjustment into a recent month while nobody can touch a filed year without first changing the setting.

What a lock date stops, and what it does not

Stops, for anyone it applies to: creating, editing, approving, voiding or deleting an invoice, bill, credit note, Spend or Receive Money, manual journal or any other transaction dated on or before the lock date. Apps that post into Xero (receipt capture, billing and payment tools) are stopped the same way, which is where most “document date cannot be before the period lock date” errors come from.

Does not stop:

• Running reports for the locked period. Reports are read-only, so the Profit and Loss, Balance Sheet and activity statement for a locked month still run and show the same figures as when you locked it.
• Transactions dated after the lock date, even when they relate to the locked period. Xero’s team confirmed in January 2026 that a credit note can be applied to an invoice or bill when one of the two is dated after the lock date; only when both are dated before it is a user without the Administrator role blocked.
• Seeing locked transactions in Find and recode. Since March 2026 Find and recode has a checkbox to include locked transactions in the results. They show as read-only and cannot be selected, so recoding them still means moving the lock date first.

How to set a lock date

1. Sign in as a user with the Administrator role.
2. Open Financial settings (it sits with the organisation’s accounting settings; search the settings for “Financial settings” if your menu looks different).
3. Under Lock dates, enter the date for everyone except Administrators (the period lock date) and, if the year is final, the date for all users (the end of year lock date).
4. Save. Anything dated on or before those dates is now locked for the users each one covers.

When to move it forward. The usual routine is part of the month end close: reconcile, post the month’s adjustments, send the client their reports, then move the period lock date to the last day of that month. For a quarterly VAT return, GST return or BAS, lock at least to the quarter end the day you file. At the year end, the accountant posts the adjusting journals and then sets the end of year lock date to the last day of the financial year.

The lock date errors

Message	What it means	What to do
The document date cannot be before the period lock date, currently set at (date)	You, or the app posting for you, are not an Administrator and the transaction is dated in a locked period	Date it in the first open period, or ask an Administrator to enter it
The document date cannot be before the end of year lock date, currently set at (date)	The transaction is dated in a year that is closed for everyone	Date it in the open year; only change the end of year lock date if the filed accounts are being amended
A sync error from an app saying the period is locked or the books are closed	Same cause, worded by the app	Change the date in the app, or ask the Administrator whether the period should really be reopened

Worked example: a late supplier bill for a locked quarter

These figures and names are made up. Harbourline Plumbing Pty Ltd, an Australian plumbing business, is registered for GST and lodges its BAS quarterly. Its bookkeeper sent the client the September management report on 10 October (September net profit $18,400), lodged the July to September BAS on 28 October, and then moved the period lock date to 30 September. The end of year lock date is 30 June 2026, the year the accountant has finished.

On 4 November the office manager, a Standard user, finds a supplier bill from 22 September that was never entered: $2,860 including GST, so $2,600 of materials and $260 of GST. She enters it dated 22 September, and Xero refuses: the document date cannot be before the period lock date, currently set at 30 September 2026.

	Without a lock date (bill dated 22 September)	With the lock date (bill dated 1 October)
September net profit in Xero	$18,400 − $2,600 = $15,800, no longer the $18,400 the client was sent	$18,400, the same as the report
July to September GST credits	$260 higher than the lodged BAS, so Xero and the ATO disagree	Unchanged, the same as the lodged BAS
Where the $2,600 and $260 go	Into a quarter that is already reported and lodged	October’s costs, and the October to December BAS

The bookkeeper dates the bill 1 October with the supplier’s invoice date in the reference. The ATO lets a business claim a GST credit in a later BAS (within four years), so the $260 is claimed in the October to December quarter instead, and the September figures the client and the ATO already have stay true. Without the lock date, nobody would have noticed until the year end, when the September quarter in Xero no longer agreed with the BAS.

How to change or remove a lock date to fix a locked period

Sometimes the locked period itself is wrong, for example a payment reconciled to the wrong account in a month that was locked too early. An Administrator can:

1. Note the current lock dates.
2. Move the period lock date back to the day before the transaction (an Administrator can already edit anything after the end of year lock date, so this is only needed for other users or apps; the end of year lock date only moves if the closed year itself must change).
3. Make the fix, check the reports for that period, and tell the client if a figure they have already seen has changed.
4. Put the lock dates back to where they were.

If the change touches a period with a lodged VAT, GST or BAS return, the fix also needs to be reported on the next return (or corrected the way the tax office requires), and changing a year whose accounts were filed is a decision for the accountant, not a quick edit.

Common questions

Where are lock dates in Xero? In Financial settings, under Lock dates. You need the Administrator role (Adviser before the 2026 rename) to see and change them.

What is the difference between the two lock dates in Xero? The period lock date stops everyone except Administrators from changing transactions on or before it. The end of year lock date stops everyone, including Administrators. Use the first for months and quarters already reported or filed, and the second for a financial year whose accounts are final.

How do I lock a financial year in Xero? Once the year-end adjustments are posted and the accounts and tax return are final, set the end of year lock date to the last day of the financial year. Xero does not need a closing journal: it moves the year’s profit into Retained Earnings by itself.

Can an accountant or bookkeeper change transactions before the lock date? Yes, if they have the Administrator role and the transaction is dated after the end of year lock date. Nobody can change anything on or before the end of year lock date until an Administrator moves it.

How do I recode transactions in a locked period with Find and recode? Tick the option to show locked transactions to see them, but they are read-only. An Administrator has to move the lock date back, recode, and then set the lock date again.

Why does my app say the document date cannot be before the period lock date? The app is trying to post a transaction dated in a locked period. Change the transaction’s date to the first open day, or ask the Administrator whether that period should be reopened.

Where ReportPilot fits

A lock date keeps last month’s figures fixed once the client has seen them. ReportPilot is the part where they see them: it connects to each client’s Xero with read-only access (it never posts transactions, so it is never stopped by a lock date or changes a locked month), and every Monday sends the client a plain-English email with their key figures under your practice’s name, plus scheduled report packs after month end. The Bookkeeper plan covers 15 organisations for US$49 a month, after a 14-day free trial with no card (pricing). You can see a sample email first.

Related guides: the Xero month end checklist, the Xero year end checklist, Xero user roles, the bookkeeping clean up checklist, accruals in Xero and the Xero general ledger.