Code of Federal Regulations Title 49. Transportation 49 CFR § 1201.1-4 1–4 [1201.1–4] Accounting period

(a) Each carrier shall keep its books on a monthly basis so that known transactions, as nearly as may be ascertained, shall be entered in the accounts not later than 60 days after the last day of the period for which the accounts are stated, except that the time within which the final entries for the year ending December 31 shall be made may be extended to such date in the following March as shall not interfere with the preparation and filing of annual report.

(b) A trial balance of the general ledger accounts shall be prepared at the close of each month setting out the account number, title, and amount of each ledger account. (Mechanical, electronic or automatic data processing printout documentation producing the equivalent of manually prepared trial balances shall identify balances by account numbers.) At the end of the calendar year, the revenue, expense, and other income accounts shall be closed into retained earnings account, and the balance sheet account balances shall be brought forward to the general ledger for the succeeding year.

(c) No changes shall be made in the accounts for periods covered by quarterly and annual reports that have been filed with the Board unless the changes have first been authorized by the Board.