You need to know…	Description
Your current financial year	This is the financial year for which you want to start recording transactions in your company file. Note that a financial year is represented by the calendar year in which the financial year ends. For example, if your financial year ends in December 2012, your financial year is 2012.
The last month of your financial year	This is the month in which your financial year ends.
Your conversion month	This is the earliest month for which you want to record transactions. For example, if you want to enter transactions dated 1 September or later, your conversion month is September. You cannot enter transactions dated before the conversion month.
The number of accounting periods in your financial year	You can choose to have 12 or 13 accounting periods. A 13th period is a period for recording entries which you do not want included in the accounting figures for a particular month. For example, you can use it to record year-end adjustments that are attributed to all months. If in doubt, choose 13 periods.
The default list of accounts that you want to start with	Accounts are the categories that you will allocate each of your transactions to. When you create a company file, you need to select a default list of accounts. You can: • start with an accounts list provided by AccountEdge. You can select a predefined accounts list suitable for your business. • import a list of accounts. You can import an accounts list from another company file or from one that has been provided by your accountant or partner. • build your own list. You can start with an accounts list that has the minimum required accounts and then add to it. Note that you can modify your accounts list after creating your company file.

If you choose to...	Continue with...
start with an accounts list provided by AccountEdge	step 10
import a list of accounts	step 12
build your own list	step 12