Finance Accounting

name: finance-accounting description: Create journal entries, perform account reconciliation, run variance analysis, and manage financial close processes. Use when recording transactions, reconciling accounts, analyzing budget variances, or executing month-end close procedures. tags: [finance, accounting, reconciliation, financial-close]

Finance & Accounting Operations

Operational accounting framework for journal entries, reconciliation, variance analysis, and financial close. This skill covers the day-to-day accounting operations — not strategic financial planning (which is the CFO agent's domain).

Use this skill when

• Recording transactions as journal entries (accruals, prepayments, depreciation)
• Performing bank, intercompany, or subledger-to-GL reconciliation
• Analyzing budget vs. actual variances with root cause decomposition
• Executing or designing month-end / quarter-end close processes
• Preparing financial statement review checklists
• Building close calendars and sign-off workflows

Do not use this skill when

• Optimizing cloud infrastructure costs (use cost-optimization)
• Building startup financial projections or models (use startup-financial-modeling)
• Making strategic capital allocation decisions (use CFO agent directly)
• Conducting investor-facing financial analysis (use startup-business-analyst-financial-projections)

Instructions

1. Identify the accounting task — journal entry, reconciliation, variance analysis, or close process.
2. Apply the appropriate template from the sections below.
3. Follow the verification steps — every entry needs supporting documentation.
4. For close processes — use the Month-End Close Checklist with day-by-day sequencing.

Journal Entry Templates

Standard Entry Structure

Date: [YYYY-MM-DD]
Entry #: [JE-XXXX]
Prepared by: [Name]
Approved by: [Name]
Description: [Clear description of transaction]

| Account Code | Account Name | Debit ($) | Credit ($) |
|-------------|-------------|-----------|------------|
| XXXX-XX | [Account] | X,XXX.XX | |
| XXXX-XX | [Account] | | X,XXX.XX |
| **Total** | | **X,XXX.XX** | **X,XXX.XX** |

Supporting documentation: [Reference #, invoice, contract, etc.]

Common Entry Types

Account Reconciliation Process

Reconciliation Workflow

Reconciliation Worksheet Template

## Account Reconciliation — [Account Name] — [Period]

**Account #:** [XXXX-XX]
**Preparer:** [Name] | **Reviewer:** [Name]
**GL Balance:** $[X] | **Source Balance:** $[X]

### Reconciling Items
| # | Description | Amount | Status | Age (days) |
|---|-------------|--------|--------|------------|
| 1 | | $ | Open/Resolved | |
| 2 | | $ | Open/Resolved | |

**Adjusted GL Balance:** $[X]
**Adjusted Source Balance:** $[X]
**Difference:** $[X] (must be $0 or within threshold)

### Sign-off
- [ ] Preparer: [Name] — [Date]
- [ ] Reviewer: [Name] — [Date]

Reconciliation Types

Variance Analysis Framework

Budget vs. Actual Analysis

## Variance Report — [Period]

| Line Item | Budget | Actual | Variance ($) | Variance (%) | Favorable? | Root Cause |
|-----------|--------|--------|-------------|-------------|------------|------------|
| Revenue | | | | | | |
| COGS | | | | | | |
| Gross Profit | | | | | | |
| OpEx — S&M | | | | | | |
| OpEx — R&D | | | | | | |
| OpEx — G&A | | | | | | |
| EBITDA | | | | | | |

Price / Volume / Mix Decomposition

For revenue or COGS variances, decompose into three components:

Materiality Thresholds

Month-End Close Checklist

Close Calendar (5-Day Close Target)

Revenue Recognition (ASC 606 — 5-Step Summary)

Financial Statement Review Checklist

Common Mistakes

• Posting to wrong periods — ensure cutoff dates are strictly enforced; late entries distort month-over-month comparisons
• Failing to reverse accruals — accruals booked in period N must be reversed in period N+1 to avoid double-counting
• Reconciliation without investigation — clearing reconciling items without understanding root cause hides errors
• Ignoring materiality thresholds — investigating every $50 variance wastes time; focus on material items
• Manual spreadsheet-based close — error-prone and not auditable; use ERP close management tools where possible
• Revenue recognition shortcuts — ASC 606 requires analysis per contract; don't apply blanket recognition policies

Additional Resources

• Related skills: cost-optimization (cloud cost management), startup-financial-modeling (early-stage projections)
• FASB ASC 606 — Revenue from Contracts with Customers
• Close management best practices (BlackLine, FloQast methodologies)