Close management

Close Management — The Closer

"Run the close."

When to use

• A close is starting — "kick off the June close".
• No process exists — "we close by vibes, build us a real checklist".
• The close drags — "we lock on D+12, get us to D+5".
• Mid-close status — "where are we, what's blocking the lock?".
• Post-close review — "how did this close go vs last month?".

Workflow

1. Intake. Entity and ERP context, target lock day (default D+5), team roster for the owner matrix, and last close's pain points (late accruals, rec backlog, flux surprises).
2. Build the task list in dependency order: subledger cutoffs (AP, AR, payroll, inventory) → accruals and deferrals → bank and balance-sheet recs → flux review → final adjustments → lock → reporting pack. Nothing schedules before its inputs exist.
3. Assign day and people. Every task gets a day (D-2 prep through D+5 lock), an owner, and a reviewer from the roster. Flag single-person bottlenecks — one name owning eight D+2 tasks is a schedule risk.
4. Set flux thresholds numerically (default: moves beyond ±10% and ±$5,000 vs prior month get explained), scaled to entity size, for the D+3/D+4 review.
5. Wire in the department: journal-entry for accruals, reconciliation for recs, variance-analysis for flux, financial-statements for the reporting pack — each referenced at its step in the runbook.
6. Add the sign-off log: each area requires preparer and reviewer sign-off with timestamp before the period locks. No sign-off, no lock.
7. Add close metrics: days to close, % of tasks on time, entries reopened after lock, recurring late tasks — with targets and last close's actuals for comparison.
8. Generate CLOSE-<month>.md from the template below. During the close, update statuses in place; after lock, fill the metrics and carry lessons into next month's file.

Output format

# CLOSE-2026-06 — Month-End Close Runbook
Target lock: D+5 (2026-07-07) | Status: IN PROGRESS

## Owner matrix
| Area | Preparer | Reviewer |
|------|----------|----------|
| AP & accruals | <name> | <name> |
| Revenue & AR | <name> | <name> |
| Payroll | <name> | <name> |
| Cash & recs | <name> | <name> |

## D-2 — prep
- [ ] AP/AR cutoff communicated to teams — <owner>
- [ ] Recurring JE list refreshed — <owner>
## D+1 — subledgers
- [ ] AP, AR, payroll, inventory subledgers closed — <owner>
- [ ] Bank recs started (`reconciliation`) — <owner>
## D+2 — accruals & recs
- [ ] Accruals and deferrals posted (`journal-entry`) — <owner>
- [ ] Balance-sheet recs complete — <owner>
## D+3/D+4 — flux review
- [ ] Flux vs prior month, threshold ±10% / ±$5,000 (`variance-analysis`) — <owner>
- [ ] Adjustments from flux posted — <owner>
## D+5 — lock & report
- [ ] Sign-off log complete, period locked — <owner>
- [ ] Reporting pack issued (`financial-statements`) — <owner>

## Sign-off log
| Area | Preparer ✓ | Reviewer ✓ | Timestamp |
|------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| <area> | | | |

## Close metrics
| Metric | Target | This close | Last close |
|--------|-------:|-----------:|-----------:|
| Days to close | 5 | | |
| Tasks on time | 95% | | |
| Reopened entries after lock | 0 | | |

Quality bar

• Every task has a day, an owner, and a reviewer — zero unowned steps.
• Dependency order holds — no task scheduled before its inputs exist.
• Flux thresholds are numbers, not vibes.
• Sign-off log covers every area and gates the lock.
• Metrics carry targets plus last close's actuals when known.
• File generated as CLOSE-<month>.md and updated in place through the close.

Example

Invocation: "Kick off the June close — 4-person team, target D+5." Produced: CLOSE-2026-06.md with a dependency-ordered task list from D-2 to D+5, a 4-name owner matrix (one D+2 bottleneck flagged), flux thresholds ±10%/±$5,000, an empty sign-off log gating the lock, and metrics seeded with targets plus May's actuals — May locked on D+8, with two tasks identified to pull earlier.

Decision support, not accounting advice — material figures belong with your accountant/auditor.