How to roll-up transactions to start afresh

[Pedro I. sanchez]

Hello,

I want to "close the books" for the year and start the accounting for
the next year by just carrying over the current balances in the
different accounts.

I mean, I want to backup all 2002 transactions (files), put them aside
in a safe place, and start the 2003 registry afresh from the last
balance. I don't want my transaction files to grow too big! and I don't
want to re-create all the account information from scratch!

What is the best way to do this?

Thanks for your suggestions.

-- 
Pedro