The month-end close is the same process every period. So why does it always feel like a scramble?
Usually because the same steps get skipped or rushed under time pressure, then quietly carried forward as problems to deal with next month. Over time that compounds, and what should be a five-day close stretches to ten.
This checklist covers the full close in sequence, from cut-off through to period lock. It's written for finance controllers and their teams running on NetSuite. Adapt it to your business, put names and dates against the tasks, and use anything you can't tick off as a starting point for fixing what's slowing you down.
Phase 1: Cut-Off and Transaction Completeness
Before anything else, everything that belongs in the period needs to be in it. This is where a lot of close delays start and where it's worth spending time before the reconciliations begin.
- All sales invoices raised for goods and services delivered in the period
- Supplier invoices received and posted, or accruals raised where invoices haven't arrived
- Expenses submitted and approved by the cut-off date
- Payroll posted to the correct period
- Credit notes, refunds and adjustments processed
- Prepayments and accruals reviewed and posted
- Fixed asset additions confirmed and depreciation run
- Intercompany transactions raised and agreed with the other entity
NetSuite tip: Run saved searches on open sales orders, unbilled purchase orders and unapproved expenses before moving on. It's quicker to catch a missing transaction now than after you've started reconciling.
Phase 2: Foreign Currency and Revaluation
If you operate in more than one currency, revaluation needs to run before reconciliations start. Running it afterwards creates differences that take time to trace and explain.
- Foreign currency revaluation run in NetSuite for all relevant accounts
- Revaluation entries reviewed for anything unusual
- Exchange rates confirmed as current and correct
- Intercompany balances agreed in both base and transaction currencies
Phase 3: Reconciliations
This is the bulk of the work. Every balance sheet account needs to be reconciled, not just the ones that have moved a lot this period.
Bank reconciliation
- Bank statements imported or uploaded for all accounts
- Transactions matched against the NetSuite GL
- Unmatched items investigated and documented
- Timing differences (outstanding cheques, deposits in transit) recorded with explanations
- Reconciliation reviewed and approved
Accounts receivable
- AR ageing reviewed and compared to prior period
- Old unallocated cash and credit notes investigated
- Bad debt provisions reviewed and updated where needed
- Customer account queries resolved or escalated
Accounts payable
- AP ageing reviewed
- Supplier statements reconciled for key suppliers
- Unallocated payments and credits resolved
GRNI (Goods Received Not Invoiced)
- Open GRNI items reviewed by age
- Items over 30 days investigated
- Aged items written off or escalated with documented reasons
- Balance agreed to the GL
Inventory
- Stock count variances investigated and posted
- Slow-moving and obsolete stock provisions reviewed
- Inventory value reconciled to the GL
All other balance sheet accounts
- Each account reconciled with supporting documentation
- Unexplained variances investigated before sign-off
- Supporting schedules attached or referenced
NetSuite tip: Avoid exporting to Excel to do reconciliations. Saved searches keep everything in NetSuite where it belongs, and tools like MatchPoint create the audit trail as you go rather than after the fact.
Phase 4: P&L Review
Once the balance sheet is clean, the income statement should follow. If something looks off, there's usually still something to find on the balance sheet side.
- Revenue reviewed by stream, entity or product line against expectations
- Gross margin checked by product or category for anything unusual
- Cost of goods sold reconciled to inventory movements
- Overhead and cost allocations reviewed
- Variances against prior period and budget documented, not just noted
Phase 5: Approval and Period Lock
Nothing should go into a period once it's been signed off. Locking the period in NetSuite enforces that, but the order matters.
- Finance controller review of all reconciliations and supporting documentation
- Outstanding queries resolved or escalated before sign-off
- Final adjusting journals posted and approved
- Period locked in NetSuite (lock sub-periods as you go rather than waiting until the end)
- CFO or senior approver sign-off completed and recorded
NetSuite tip: Lock A/R and A/P sub-periods as soon as those reconciliations are done. Leaving everything open until the final lock means late postings can land in a period that's already been reviewed.
Phase 6: Reporting
The close isn't done until the numbers are in front of the people who need them.
- Management accounts prepared and reviewed
- Variance commentary written against budget and prior period
- Cash flow statement updated
- Board pack or executive summary completed
- Reports distributed to stakeholders
What Slows the Close Down
Most teams we work with know what's slowing their close. It tends to be the same things.
Reconciliations left until close week. Bank rec and GRNI are much faster if they're kept up throughout the period. By the time close week arrives, the backlog makes what should be a quick task into a day's work.
No clear ownership. When it isn't written down who does what and by when, things get duplicated or dropped. A checklist only works if it has names and dates against it, not just tasks.
Approvals by email. Chasing sign-off by email is slow and leaves no audit trail. By the time the auditors arrive, nobody can reconstruct who approved what or when.
Manual work that could be automated. Exporting to Excel for reconciliations, copying data between systems, rebuilding the same reports from scratch each month. These add hours to every close and introduce errors that then need tracking down.
If Your Close Is Taking Too Long
For finance teams managing the close across spreadsheets, email chains and separate systems, MatchPoint brings it into one place. Balance sheet sign-off, bank reconciliation, GRNI and GP reporting all sit in a single workflow on top of NetSuite, with proper approvals and a complete audit trail for every account.
If you want to talk through what's slowing your close down, get in touch with the team at Fowlers Consulting.