There are problems with our books and I want to start the fiscal year over with a blank slate.  How do I do that?


NOTICE: By going through this process, the data for the current fiscal year will be completely deleted. If some of the information for the current year might be needed, we recommend you print out the information and/or make a backup of the data before continuing.

For our example, we will be starting the 2019/2020 fiscal year over.

  1. If you have already started entering transactions in the new year, continue to step 2. If you have not entered any transactions in the new year, go to step 6 and then 8, skipping step 7.
  2. Exit NTS completely.
  3. Open the files on your computer and go to the NTS data folder. The default data folder is "C:\NTSData". If you don't have this folder, try "C:\Program Files (x86)\NTSwin" or "C:\Program Files\NTSwin". Depending on the installation, the data files will be located in one of these folders.
    1. To find the folder, open My Computer or Computer on computers with Windows XP, Vista or 7. For Windows 8 or 10, open File Explorer.
    2. Double click on your C:\ drive, then NTSData. If NTSData does not exists, go to "Program Files (x86)" or simply "Program Files" if the 'x86' folder doesn't exist. Finally, double click on NTSwin if in the Program Files folder. While opening these folders you may see a message that says, "These files are hidden." Find and click on the link that says, "Show the contents of this file folder" to see the folders.
    3. Open the folder "MstrLdgr.dir".
  4. Find and delete the file that contains the data for the year that needs to be restarted, example: 2019Ledger.abs or 2020Ledger.abs. If you do not see these files, return to the prior folder, either NTSData or NTSWin. Look for the folder '2019dgr.dir' and delete the folder. To start the 2020/2021 year over, find and delete the '2020ldgr.dir' folder. By deleting the old files, NTS will automatically setup the fiscal year with no transactions. (See the payroll note below.)
  5. After deleting the folder, open and log into NTS. Go to the Checkbook screen.
  6. Change the fiscal year to the year that needs to be restarted, if necessary.
  7. If payroll is used, go to the payroll screen. Delete every payroll check that falls within the fiscal year that is being restarted. If the fiscal year begins on March 1, then all checks dated on or after March 1 would need to be deleted.
  8. From the Checkbook screen, click on Setup and then Bank/Internal Acct List.
  9. In the bottom right corner, click the button that says, "Copy Previous year or Default Acct List".
  10. There are two options for starting over:
    1. The new year can be started with the setup from the prior year (Bank Accounts, Internal Accounts, Expense Accounts, Payees, etc.).
    2. The year can be started completely over with the default set of accounts (both expense and internal accounts) with $0 balances.
  11. For option A in the step above, choose the option, "Copy all Setup information from Fiscal Year: 20##/20##." For option B, choose "Copy all default Setup Information."
  12. Click OK.
  13. Make any corrections necessary on the bank and/or internal account balances. For further instructions, please see the link below on entering starting balances.