Month-end close checklist for accounting teams
The month-end close is where the accounting team confirms the numbers before anyone acts on them: sub-ledgers tied to the general ledger, accruals posted, and variances explained. When the close runs loose, the controller spends the next month restating financials leadership has already seen, tracing a receivables balance that never tied out, and rebuilding reconciliations nobody signed off.
This checklist covers the controller-led close for an in-house accounting team, from the period cutoff through reconciliation and review to a locked ledger and a reporting package delivered to leadership. It fits a mid-size company that closes every month and reports to a board or executive team.
Frequently asked questions
How long should the month-end close take?
Most accounting teams target five to ten business days, and a well-run close at a mid-size company lands in five or fewer. If your close regularly runs past ten, the usual causes are a late AP cutoff and reconciliations that start only after the period ends. Track close length every month so the trend is visible.
Who should own the month-end close?
The controller owns the close: the calendar, the deadlines, and the final review of the package. Staff and senior accountants own individual tasks as preparers, with a second person signing off as reviewer on every reconciliation and journal entry. The CFO reads the output; a CFO preparing entries is a sign the team is understaffed.
Is a soft close acceptable in non-quarter months?
A soft close, which skips some accruals and reviews in the first two months of a quarter, is a reasonable trade at companies where leadership reads quarterly numbers. If leadership makes decisions from monthly statements, close fully every month. The hours a soft close saves come back as corrections when the quarter is trued up.
What do you do when a reconciliation will not tie by the deadline?
Close with a documented reconciling item when the difference is below the materiality threshold you set in advance. Book the difference to a clearing account, log it with an owner and a due date, and clear it before the next close. Holding the whole close for an immaterial difference costs more than the difference itself.
Do you need close software, or is a spreadsheet checklist enough?
A shared spreadsheet works while one or two people run the whole close. Once tasks have separate preparers and reviewers, keeping the spreadsheet current becomes its own job, and a close tool like FloQast, or the checklist run in Slack with Chaser, gives each task an owner, a due date, and a status the controller can check without asking around.
