Monthly Financial Close

Monthly Financial Close across six stages: Pre-Close Setup, Bank and Credit-Card Reconciliation, Sub-Ledger Tie-Out, Adjusting Journal Entries, Review and Reporting, and Client Delivery and Period Lock. Thresholds are generalized on purpose. Set them to your own materiality p...

6 sections 27 steps Collects data
1

Pre-Close Setup

  1. Set the close parameters
    • Manifestly's MCP server connecting to Claude can open this run automatically on the first business day.
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  2. Confirm bank and credit-card statements uploaded
    • Missing statements are the most common reason close slips, so chase them before starting reconciliations.
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  3. Request missing statements from the client
    • Send one consolidated request by account last-four with a firm deadline, and escalate to the engagement partner if they miss it.
  4. Confirm payroll posted through period end
    • Include employer taxes and retirement match, and confirm tax deposits cleared the bank.
  5. Clear suspense and uncategorized accounts
    • Do not let suspense balances roll into the period being closed.
2

Bank and Credit-Card Reconciliation

  1. Reconcile bank and credit-card accounts
    • Do not force-reconcile to a difference. See the description for the structured Data Table version.
  2. Investigate stale uncleared transactions
    • Old outstanding checks may need voiding, reissue, or escheatment; long-outstanding deposits in transit are usually posting errors.
  3. Document unreconciled items over threshold
    • List each item over materiality with date, amount, account, and explanation. This is the partner-review and audit-evidence artifact.
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3

Sub-Ledger Tie-Out

  1. Tie A/R aging to GL receivables
    • A difference is usually an entry posted to A/R without a customer.
  2. Tie A/P aging to GL payables
    • Confirm your AP automation posted every approved bill in the period.
  3. Reconcile inventory to the perpetual ledger
    • Inventory clients only. Record cycle-count adjustments through COGS with supporting count sheets.
  4. Roll forward fixed assets and post depreciation
    • Add acquisitions and remove disposals, then post depreciation. Confirm disposals booked gain or loss correctly.
  5. Tie loan balances to lender statements
    • Split each payment between principal and interest per the amortization schedule.
4

Adjusting Journal Entries

  1. Accrue payroll for unpaid days
    • When period end falls mid-pay-period, accrue worked-but-unpaid wages and employer taxes, and reverse on the first of next period.
  2. Amortize prepaids and recognize deferred revenue
    • Recognize the period's portion of deferred revenue per contract terms, and tie ending balances to the GL.
  3. Reclass misposted transactions
    • Every reclass entry needs a memo describing what moved and why.
  4. Post all adjusting journal entries
    • Confirm every entry has a memo, workpaper, and category before exporting the listing.
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5

Review and Reporting

  1. Review trial balance for unusual variances
    • Use prior-month and prior-year comparison columns, and flag any line beyond your variance threshold. Slack can escalate a flagged variance to the finance channel.
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  2. Document material variance explanations
    • Appears only when material variances were found. Document the cause and resolution for each before review.
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  3. Generate the financial statement package
  4. Write management commentary on variances
    • Cover variances against budget, aging, cash position and runway, and the client's KPIs, in plain English.
  5. Assemble the partner review package
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  6. Partner review sign-off
    • Rejecting reopens the reviewed steps for rework. Gates client delivery and period lock.
6

Client Delivery and Period Lock

  1. Controller close and lock approval
    • Final approval before the period is locked. Gates the lock and delivery steps.
  2. Lock the period in the GL
    • Lock the period so no one can post back into it and break the reconciliations. Gates completion of the run.
  3. Deliver the report package to the client
    • Upload to the client portal rather than emailing PDFs.
  4. Schedule the monthly review call
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