Configurable reporting periods let you align MindBridge GL analyses to your client’s actual reporting calendar, including non-monthly and bespoke schedules.

You can:

• Use standard monthly reporting periods with a fiscal start month and day

• Upload a custom reporting period template for more complex calendars

• Override reporting periods at the analysis level

• Control how period-based control points behave

• View GL dashboards using period numbers and period end dates instead of month names

This article explains how reporting periods work, when to use standard or custom periods, and what changes for existing engagements.

Where reporting periods are used

Reporting periods affect:

• Engagement creation
  You select standard or custom reporting periods when you create an engagement.

• Engagement settings
  You can change the reporting period configuration for an existing engagement.

• Analysis settings
  Each GL analysis can inherit the engagement’s reporting periods or use its own configuration.

• Control points
  Period-based control points such as Start of reporting period and End of reporting period use these periods.

• GL visualizations
  Time-based views such as Trends, Ratios, Risk over time, and prior period dashboards rely on the reporting period structure.

Standard vs custom reporting periods

When you create or edit an engagement, you choose between Standard reporting periods and Custom reporting periods.

Standard reporting periods

Use standard reporting periods when the business:

• Closes books on a regular monthly cycle

• Uses three-month quarters that align with those months

• Follows a straightforward fiscal year

You provide:

• Fiscal start month

• Fiscal start day

MindBridge generates:

• Monthly reporting periods across the fiscal year

• Quarters based on those months

• Year boundaries

This option is ideal for most straightforward calendars.

Custom reporting periods

Use custom reporting periods when the business:

• Uses non-monthly periods

• Follows a 4-4-5 or other retail calendar

• Has a 13-period year

• Uses irregular or bespoke period lengths

• Is in transition between calendars

You provide:

• An Excel template that lists each reporting period with the exact start and end dates

MindBridge uses:

• The uploaded periods as the single source of truth for GL analysis and visualizations

This option ensures that control points and visualizations match the client’s real reporting calendar, even in complex enterprise environments.

Configure reporting periods during engagement creation

1. From the Workspace or navigation, start creating a new engagement.

2. In the Engagement planning section, locate the Reporting periods area.

Choose one of the following:

Option 1: Standard reporting periods

1. Select Standard reporting periods.

2. Enter the Fiscal start month.

3. Enter the Fiscal start day.

4. Review the summary of periods to confirm that it matches the client’s fiscal calendar.

Option 2: Custom reporting periods

1. Select Custom reporting periods.

2. Download or open the reporting period template, if needed.

3. Populate the template with the client’s period start and end dates.

4. Upload the completed template back into MindBridge.

5. Review the period list to confirm dates, counts, and year coverage.

6. Complete the remaining engagement creation steps as usual.

Change reporting periods in engagement settings

To adjust reporting periods for an existing engagement:

1. Open the engagement.

2. Go to Engagement settings.

3. Locate the Reporting periods section.

4. Choose Standard or Custom:

   • Switching from standard to custom requires a template upload.

   • Switching from custom to standard requires a fiscal start month and day.

5. Save your changes.

Analyses that inherit reporting periods from the engagement will use the updated configuration. Analyses that were customized at the analysis level keep their own configuration unless edited directly.

Set reporting periods per analysis

By default, all analyses in an engagement use the same reporting period configuration. In many cases, this is sufficient.

However, some engagements include entities with different calendars, such as:

• Subsidiaries that have not yet aligned to the parent’s fiscal year

• Newly acquired businesses with their own reporting structure

In these cases, you can override reporting periods for specific analyses.

To change reporting periods for a GL analysis:

1. Open the GL analysis.

2. Go to Analysis settings.

3. Open the General settings tab.

4. Find the Reporting periods section.

5. Choose one of the following:

   • Use the engagement-level reporting periods (inherit settings).

   • Select Standard and define a fiscal start month and day for this analysis only.

   • Select Custom and upload a custom reporting period template for this analysis.

6. Save your changes and allow the analysis to update.

This flexibility allows each analysis to accurately reflect the reporting calendar of the specific entity or subsidiary it represents.

Roll forward behavior

When you roll an engagement forward:

Engagements using standard reporting periods

• MindBridge assumes the same monthly structure continues into the new year.

• Periods are extended based on the existing fiscal start month and day.

• No template upload is required.

Engagements using custom reporting periods

• MindBridge prompts you to upload a new template.

• The template should reflect the reporting periods for the new analysis period.

• Once uploaded, the new periods are used for all GL analyses that inherit engagement-level reporting periods.

This ensures that each new period of analysis reflects the correct year’s calendar.

Start and end of reporting period control points

Two GL control points rely directly on reporting periods:

• Start of reporting period

• End of reporting period

With configurable reporting periods, these control points become more flexible.

For each control point, you can now specify whether it evaluates:

• Periods

• Quarters

• Years

For example:

• A period-level configuration flags entries at the start or end of each reporting period.

• A quarter-level configuration flags entries at the start or end of each quarter.

• A year-level configuration focuses on year-end or year-start entries.

This configuration lives in the control point settings, typically within the GL library.

How reporting periods affect GL dashboards

For GL analyses that use custom reporting periods, MindBridge adjusts visualizations to reflect the custom calendar.

Display changes

When reporting periods are custom:

• Dashboards display period numbers and period end dates instead of month names.

• Time series charts follow the order and length of your custom periods.

This applies to visualizations that plot data over time, including:

• Trends

• Ratios

• Risk over time

• Prior period comparison dashboards and other amount-over-time views

This approach ensures that charts and tables align with how financial professionals expect to see data for non-standard calendars.

Migration guidance for existing engagements

If you already use non-monthly reporting configurations in MindBridge, such as:

• Semi-annual reporting

• Thirteen-period years

• Other non-standard frequencies created through existing settings

you should plan to move these engagements to the custom reporting period workflow.

Recommended steps:

1. Identify engagements that rely on non-standard reporting frequencies.

2. For each engagement, prepare a custom reporting period template that matches the actual calendar.

3. Update the engagement’s reporting periods to use the Custom option.

4. Review and adjust Start of reporting period and End of reporting period control point settings.

5. Confirm that GL dashboards show the expected period numbers and end dates.