Official skill · Finance
Month-end close checklist
Builds a month-end close checklist for a small company: reconciliations, accruals, deferred revenue, payroll, and review, with owners and day offsets. Use it when setting up the first proper close at a small company.
AI skill
Have your AI build your month-end close checklist
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Works in Claude, ChatGPT, and coding agents. On Team and Business, the official skill in your pod updates itself when we improve it.
When to use it
- Setting up the first proper close at a small company
- The close is slow or numbers change after reports go out
What you give it
- Who does the books
- Accounting system and connected feeds
- What the business has: prepayments, payroll, assets
What you get
A day-by-day close table with an owner, reviewer, and done rule for each task.
How it works
- List the tasks in close order
- Fit tasks to the business
- Assign one owner per task
- Set day offsets
- Define done for each task
- Add the review and lock
Example
What you give it
> Pinewell (12 people, SaaS). Xero with bank and card feeds. Stripe for billing; about 30% of customers prepay annually. Payroll through an outside provider, paid on the 25th. No inventory. A few laptops capitalized. Bookkeeper: Femi (part-time, outsourced). Founder Ada reviews. Wants close by day 5.
What you get back (the start of it)
Month-end close — Pinewell — target day 5
Owners: Femi (bookkeeper), Ada (founder, reviewer) · System: Xero Not included: inventory (none).
| Day | Task | Owner | Reviewer | Done when |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| −2 | Chase missing receipts and card explanations from staff | Femi | All card lines have a receipt or note | |
| 0 | Confirm payroll report from the provider received | Femi | Report in hand for the 25th run | |
| 1 | Code all bank and card transactions | Femi | No uncoded lines | |
| 1 | Reconcile bank accounts | Femi | Ada | Ledger = statement, differences explained |
| 2 | Reconcile cards and Stripe payouts (fees, refunds) | Femi | Ada | Stripe payouts match bank deposits |
| 2 | Reconcile receivables and payables to aging reports | Femi | Ada | Aging totals = ledger |
| 3 | Post accruals (bills received after month end for this month) | Femi | Ada | Each accrual has an invoice or basis |
| 3 | Recognize deferred revenue for annual prepayments | Femi | Ada | Schedule ties to the deferred revenue balance |
| 3 | Record payroll and check against the provider report | Femi | Ada | Gross pay, taxes, and net match |
| 4 | Book laptop depreciation | Femi | Fixed asset register ties to ledger | |
| 4 | P&L, balance sheet, cash flow; variance vs last month | Femi | Reports drafted | |
| 5 | Review balance sheet and big P&L changes | Ada | Questions answered | |
| 5 | Lock the period in Xero | Ada | Lock date set |
Notes
The rest of this output, the full steps and the checks the AI runs before it answers are in your pod once you add the skill.
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Changelog
- v1.0.0 · · First release.
Sources
- Month-end close process: how to streamline it as your business grows (read 2026-11-04)
- Month-end close: Best practices & tips to streamline the process | QuickBooks (read 2026-11-04)
- Ultimate Month-End Close Checklist (Free Excel Template) (read 2026-11-04)
- Deferred Revenue - Accounting, Definition, Example (read 2026-11-04)