Skip to main content

Update Statement Dates vs. Close Out: Locking Ledgers in Denticon

Christina
Updated

Update Statement Dates and Close Out in Denticon: What They Do and When to Use Them

Both the Update Statement Dates button and the Close Out function lock patient ledger data to prevent users from altering past financial transactions — including treatment, payments, and adjustments. Use Update Statement Dates (Reports > Statements) to lock ledgers for Responsible Parties who received a statement; use Close Out (Setup > Close Out) to lock ledgers for those who did not.

Applies To

Product: Denticon
Plan: All plans
Role: Office Manager, Admin

Before You Begin

  • You must have access to the Reports and Setup menus to use these functions.
  • Do not run Close Out or Update Statement Dates using the current date. Doing so will lock all ledgers (Close Out) or all updated statement ledgers (Update Statement Dates) from having further transactions entered for that date. When closing out the month, run Close Out on the first day of the new month but set the close-out date to the last day of the previous month. This locks the previous month's data while allowing you to continue entering transactions for the current date.

Update Statement Dates (Reports > Statements)

The Update Statement Dates button is located in the Reports > Statements area. It locks ledger data for Responsible Parties who have received a statement by stamping a "Statement Sent - $X.XX" line in the ledger.

Note: If your office excludes certain accounts from statement generation (e.g., $0.00 balances, credit balances, or collection accounts), those Responsible Parties will not receive a statement and will not have a "Statement Sent - $X.XX" line added to their ledger when you click 'Update Statement Dates'. Those accounts are instead handled by the Close Out function (see below).

Steps — Update Statement Dates

  1. Navigate to Reports > Statements.

    2. → You will see: The Statements report screen with filter options and action buttons at the bottom.

  2. Configure your statement run options as needed (date range, Responsible Party range, exclusions, etc.).
  3. After printing statements, click the 'Update Statement Dates' button at the bottom right of the screen.

    4. → You will see: The system updates the statement date on ledgers for all Responsible Parties who received a statement during this run.

Close Out (Setup > Close Out)

The Close Out function is located under Setup > Close Out. It locks ledger data for Responsible Parties who did not receive a statement — covering accounts excluded from the statement run (e.g., $0.00 balances, credit balances, collection accounts). It can be run at any time (daily, weekly, or monthly) and supports back-dating the close-out date.

Steps — Close Out

  1. Navigate to Setup > Close Out.

    2. → You will see: The Close Out / Benefits Reset screen, showing the Last Closing Date and a 'New Closing Date' field.

  2. In the 'New Closing Date' field, enter the date through which you want to lock data. Best practice: if closing out the month, enter the last day of the previous month — not today's date.
  3. If you want to apply the close-out to all offices in your group, check 'Close All Offices'.
  4. Click 'Close Out' to apply the lock.

    5. → You will see: The Last Closing Date updates to the date you specified, and ledger data through that date is locked from further edits.

Expected Result

After running Update Statement Dates, the ledger for each Responsible Party who received a statement will display a "Statement Sent - $X.XX" entry, and those ledgers will be locked from edits for the statement period. After running Close Out, the Last Closing Date updates to your specified date, and all ledger records through that date — including accounts that did not receive a statement — are locked from alteration. If users are still able to edit past transactions after running either function, verify that the correct date was entered and that the action completed without error.

Troubleshooting

Problem: Past transactions are still editable after running Close Out or Update Statement Dates

Cause: The close-out date or statement date entered may have been set to the current date, which can cause unexpected locking behavior, or the process may not have completed successfully.

Fix: Confirm that the New Closing Date is set to the last day of the period you intend to lock (not today's date). Re-run the function if needed, following the best-practice guidance in the Before You Begin section above.

Problem: Some accounts do not show a "Statement Sent" entry in the ledger after clicking 'Update Statement Dates'

Cause: Those accounts were excluded from the statement run (e.g., $0.00 balance, credit balance, or sent to collections) and therefore did not receive a statement.

Fix: Use Setup > Close Out to lock those accounts. The Close Out function covers Responsible Parties who did not receive a statement.

Need More Help?

If these steps did not resolve your issue, contact Planet DDS Support and include the following:

  • Screenshot or screen recording of the issue
  • Your account name or Practice Group ID (PGID)
  • The exact error message text, if any
  • What you were doing when the issue occurred (e.g., which function you ran and what date was entered)

Related to

Related articles