Month-End Close Outsourcing: A Practical Workflow

Month-end support is most useful when everyone can tell which records are complete, which balances have been reconciled and which decisions remain open. A close calendar helps organise the work, but a date in a spreadsheet is not evidence that the accounts are ready for review.

Agree the inputs and cut-off

Identify the reporting period, entities and accounts in scope. List the documents that need to arrive before preparation begins, including statements and supporting transaction records. Decide who will report late information and how it will be assessed.

Keep a record of the starting balances and unresolved items from the previous period. An old difference should not disappear simply because a new month has started. Assign an owner and expected next step to each continuing question.

Prepare reconciliations and schedules

Work through the agreed account checklist. Depending on scope, this may include bank and card balances, receivables, payables and other supporting schedules. Compare the sources and identify the evidence needed to explain differences.

Intuit’s reconciliation guidance describes comparing accounting records with bank and credit-card statements. That software-specific resource is useful further reading; the close checklist must also reflect the organisation’s own records and reviewer requirements.

Make adjustments traceable

• Record the reason for each proposed change.
• Identify the period and accounts affected.
• Link the proposal to supporting evidence.
• Name the person who can approve the treatment.
• Record whether the change was approved, rejected or deferred.

Do not treat an unresolved balance as authority to post an unexplained correction. The responsible reviewer should be able to distinguish completed preparation from items awaiting a decision.

Assemble a handover for review

Provide the agreed reports, reconciliation schedules and open-items list together. State which accounts were covered and what remains incomplete. If a document arrived after preparation, explain whether it has been considered rather than leaving the reviewer to guess.

After the cycle, discuss recurring causes of delay: missing records, unclear coding instructions, unavailable approvals or work that was outside scope. Change the process where appropriate before adding more capacity. A good month-end arrangement makes the next cycle more predictable through clearer responsibilities; it does not promise that every business will close on the same timetable.