Month-end close
Reconciliations, the close sequence, and the controls that let you sign off a period and not reopen it.
A period you can still edit is not closed
Locking a period is what makes a reported number mean something. Everything found afterwards is a correction posted forward — visible, dated, and leaving the original in place.
Accruals and prepayments, and the reversal that stops the double count
Adjusting entries are where a cash-shaped ledger becomes an accrual one. They are also where the same cost gets counted twice, because the adjustment was never reversed.
When the control account stops agreeing with the subledger
Accounts receivable should always equal the sum of unpaid invoices. When it does not, someone posted a journal straight to the control account — and that is worth finding.
Segregation of duties when there are three of you
The textbook control assumes enough people to separate every function. Small companies cannot. Here is what to separate first, and what to substitute when you cannot separate anything.
Bank reconciliation is a completeness check, not a tick-box exercise
Matching the ledger to the statement proves your books contain everything that happened. Here is what the differences actually mean, and which ones are a problem.
A month-end close that closes
The close is a sequence, not a checklist you can do in any order. Getting the order right is most of what makes a period stay closed once you have signed it off.
Clear books. A clearer head.
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