Financial Resource Center/Scored assessment

Month-End Close Health Assessment

Find out whether your close process is giving leadership timely, reliable information.

What a healthy close looks like

Month-end close is the process of finishing the books for a period so leadership can rely on the numbers. A healthy close is not about rushing. It is about having clear owners, complete reconciliations, review steps, and a predictable deadline.

If the close is always late, full of surprises, or dependent on one person, the problem is usually the process, not the calendar.

Your responses

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1.Close calendar
We have a written close calendar or checklist with owners and due dates.
2.Target date
Leadership knows when the books are expected to be closed each month.
3.Bank reconciliations
Bank and credit-card accounts are reconciled every month.
4.Balance sheet
Major balance-sheet accounts are reconciled and supported.
5.Journal entries
Recurring and manual journal entries have support and appropriate review.
6.Cutoff
Revenue and expenses are recorded in the correct period.
7.AR and AP
Receivables and payables are reviewed for old, unusual, duplicate, or unsupported items.
8.Review
Someone with appropriate experience reviews the completed close before reports are released.
9.Reporting
Management reports follow the close without a long second round of spreadsheet cleanup.
10.Backup coverage
Critical close tasks are documented well enough that the process does not stop when one person is out.

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Educational resource only. This guide is general information and is not accounting, tax, legal, investment, or audit advice for a specific business.