> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.beaconrevenue.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Period close and corrections

> What closing a period does to the figures in it, why closed figures do not move, and how a correction is recorded without overwriting anything.

Periods close on your accounting calendar, not on Beacon's. Beacon reads that a period has closed and changes how it treats the figures in it. It does not close a period, and it never closes one for you.

<Note>
  This page describes a designed model, not shipped behaviour. The close and correction rules are settled; no read interface or MCP tool serves these figures yet.
</Note>

## Definition

|                        | Open period            | Closed period                 |
| ---------------------- | ---------------------- | ----------------------------- |
| Figures                | Refine as data arrives | Do not change retrospectively |
| Two reads a week apart | Can differ             | Are identical                 |
| Shown by default       | Marked as partial      | Shown as settled              |

## How it behaves

**Before close.** Figures for the period are live and refine continuously. Beacon shows actuals up to the last closed period by default; anything shown beyond that boundary is marked partial rather than presented as settled.

**After close.** The values do not move. A chart of a closed quarter read today and read in two years shows the same numbers.

**A correction is never a retroactive overwrite.** It is a versioned edit carrying who made it, when, the value before, the value after, and the stated reason. Both values are kept — the figure as it stood at close, so a report that quoted it still reconciles, and the corrected figure. Views show the corrected value by default; the original stays retrievable.

**A late post from a connected system does not move a closed period on its own.** If one of your sources amends or reposts a transaction dated into a period Beacon has already recorded as closed, Beacon surfaces it and waits. It becomes a correction when a person decides it should, with the same record as any other — who, when, before, after, and why. A closed period never moves because a connector said so.

**A figure taken while its period is still open is provisional.** It is labelled as such and re-taken at close, rather than being promoted silently.

## Constraints

* Your close calendar is configured at setup. It is yours; Beacon has no calendar of its own to impose.
* Beacon never edits a figure in your accounting system. A correction is recorded on Beacon's side of the line, against Beacon's own copy.
* A sealed forecast is not corrected. It is superseded by a later one, and both stay readable. See [Sealed and live figures](/sealed-and-live).
* A closed period does not stop a figure being recalculated for a *later* period from the same data. It stops the closed period's own values moving.

## Related

<Columns cols={3}>
  <Card title="Sealed and live figures" href="/sealed-and-live">
    What a seal fixes, and what supersedes it.
  </Card>

  <Card title="How current a number is" href="/how-current-a-number-is">
    The two timestamps on every figure.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Boundaries" href="/boundaries">
    What Beacon will never do with your systems.
  </Card>
</Columns>