Books and monthly close

Closed by the tenth of the following month. Not usually, not when things are quiet, not when the bank feed behaves. If we are going to miss it you hear from us before the tenth rather than after, and you hear why.

From $310 per month

The close

1st to 3rd

Everything in

Bank and card statements, anything paid in cash, any invoice that came to you rather than to us. The three day window exists because the first working day of a month is always the worst day to ask a business owner for paperwork.

3rd to 5th

Reconciled

Every bank and card account matched line by line to the ledger. Not sampled. The point of a reconciliation is that it either balances or it does not, and a sample cannot tell you which.

5th to 7th

Queries out

One message with everything we could not place, numbered, with the date and the amount. Usually between four and nine lines. Answering it takes most owners about ten minutes and it is the only thing we need from you after the 3rd.

7th to 9th

Accruals and the payroll journal

Prepayments released, accruals raised, depreciation posted, payroll checked against what actually left the account. This is where a month stops being a bank balance and starts being a result.

By the 10th

Statements issued

Profit and loss, balance sheet, and a one page note saying what moved and why. The note is the part people read. It is written by the person who did the close, not generated.

Statements being checked against the ledger The query list going out on the fifth

What you actually receive

Profit and loss
Month, year to date, and the same two columns for last year where we have them.
Balance sheet
With the reconciliation reports attached, because a balance sheet without them is an opinion.
The note
One page. What moved, what is unusual, and anything we think you should look at before next month.
Aged debtors and creditors
Only if you invoice on terms. If you take payment at the point of sale this is an empty report and we will not send you one.
The ledger itself
Yours, in a file that opens without us, at any point, including the month you decide to leave.

If you are three or nine months behind, say so. It is the most common reason anyone calls and it is the least interesting thing about a business.

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