Quarterly Financial Reporting Checklist

Operations manager publishes the quarter-end cutoff date and the workflow due dates for accruals, custodian feed reconciliation, fee billing, and CFO review. Late vendor invoices and trailing custodian corrections are the usual reasons close slips — name the cutoff explicitly.

Download period-end statements and trade-activity files from Schwab, Fidelity, Pershing, or Altruist. Reconcile against the portfolio system (Black Diamond, Orion, Tamarac, or Addepar) before pulling balances into the GL — custodian-of-record disagreements are the most common reason restatements happen later.

Export the trial balance and supporting schedules from the firm's accounting system. Confirm subledgers tie to the GL for AR, AP, fee receivables, and prepaid expenses before any analytical review begins.

Three-way tie: internal fee calculation (Orion / Tamarac / Black Diamond billing module), invoice issued to client, and the actual fee debit posted by the custodian. Watch for partial-period billing on accounts opened or closed mid-quarter and for households where the billing methodology differs from the standard schedule.

Roll forward fixed-asset and intangible schedules. Capitalized software (CRM customizations, planning-tool integrations) and right-of-use lease assets are common items that get missed.

For firms with affiliated entities — RIA plus an insurance agency, separately registered BD, or holding company — eliminate intercompany management fees, expense allocations, and loans on the consolidated statements. Mismatched eliminations are a common audit finding.

Upload bank reconciliations, custodian statements, lease schedules, and any material journal-entry support to the close file. SEC books-and-records (Rule 204-2) requires retention; build the audit trail at close, not at exam.

Build the comparative P&L and balance sheet against prior quarter and the same quarter prior year. Flag line items moving more than 10% or $25K (whichever is greater) for variance commentary.

Tie each flagged variance to a driver — AUM-linked fee revenue change, comp accrual timing, T&E ramp around conferences, or a one-time legal accrual. Generic 'increased activity' commentary is the most common reason the audit committee sends the package back.

For the RIA, refresh AUM, fee yield, operating margin, and cash runway. For affiliated BD, recompute net capital under Rule 15c3-1 and confirm headroom over the minimum requirement. Banks and CUs add capital ratios under their applicable framework.

CCO and controller jointly confirm GAAP treatment for revenue recognition, lease accounting (ASC 842), and any new accounting pronouncements. Cross-check that custody-rule conditions are still satisfied if the firm relies on the audited-financials exception.

Assemble the financial statements, MD&A, and footnote disclosures using the firm's reporting template. Pay attention to related-party disclosures, subsequent events through the report date, and any commitments or contingencies disclosed by counsel.

Triggered when material adjustments were flagged. Controller, CFO, and CCO walk through each adjustment, agree on disclosure language, and decide whether the audit committee needs to be notified before the standard review meeting.

CFO walks the leadership team through results, variances, and ratios. Capture all requested edits in a single tracked-changes file so the controller has one source of truth for the next pass.

Submit through the relevant channel — IARD for ADV-related updates, FINRA Gateway for FOCUS reports if affiliated with a BD, call report systems for bank/CU clients. Confirm filing receipt and store the confirmation with the close file.

Send the approved package to the board, owners, and any contractual recipients (lenders, equity partners, JV counterparts). Use the secure document portal — NetDocuments, ShareFile, or Box — not email attachments.

Lock the final report, supporting workpapers, approvals, and filing confirmations into the records-retention system. SEC Rule 204-2 requires five years of accessible retention with the first two years readily available.