1. Lock the inputs
Invoices, payroll, statements, and revenue records.
2. Reconcile
Cash, receivables, payroll, deferred revenue, intercompany.
3. Review and issue
Scan, compare, and file the statements with the tie-out.
Run the list in order. Skipping to the statements before the reconciliations are done is how a pack goes out with an open cash account. The monthly operating work behind the list is outsourced bookkeeping.
Lock the inputs
- Cut off invoices, bills, and expense reports for the month.
- Export payroll for the periods that fall inside the month, including accruals for days not yet paid.
- Pull bank and card statements for every account the company uses.
- Confirm revenue contracts or billing records for anything that changed recognition.
Reconcile
- Reconcile each bank and card account to the statement.
- Tie accounts receivable to the open invoice list, and accounts payable to the open bill list.
- Tie payroll expense and liabilities to the payroll reports.
- Reconcile deferred revenue and any prepaid balances that amortize on a schedule.
- Clear intercompany balances between entities, or record why they do not clear.
Review and issue
- Scan the balance sheet for accounts that should not still be open: uncleared payments, negative liabilities, a revenue account with no activity.
- Compare the month with the prior month and with the forecast, and write the variances that are not obvious from the statements.
- Issue the income statement, balance sheet, and cash view with the close date on them.
- File the reconciliations with the statements. A number without the tie-out is not a closed month.
If the same step waits on an export every month, the checklist is not the fix. The wait is in the systems that feed the ledger. Shortening that wait is the subject of the process article linked above.
Questions
What is an accounting month-end close checklist?
It is the sequence a team runs after the last day of the month: lock the inputs, reconcile the accounts, then review and issue the statements. It is the list of steps. It does not explain why the close runs long.
What order should the month-end close run in?
Lock the inputs first, including cash, revenue, bills, payroll, and intercompany. Reconcile next. Review and issue last. A statement issued before the reconciliations is a draft.
Why does a checklist not shorten a late close?
A checklist does not move a file that arrives late. If the same step waits on an export every month, the fix is the source of that export. That is a different problem from the list itself.