vm0-ai Close Activity Checklist
Pre-Close Window (Final 2-3 Business Days of the Period)
- Distribute the close calendar with deadlines to every contributor
- Align cut-off procedures with AP, AR, payroll, and treasury teams
- Confirm all feeder systems (ERP modules, payroll platform, banking portals) are operating normally
- Perform a preliminary cash reconciliation covering all activity through the penultimate day
- Scan open purchase orders for items that may require an accrual
- Verify that the payroll processing schedule dovetails with the close timeline
- Gather details on any known non-routine transactions
Day 1 After Period End (T+1)
- Verify that every subledger module has completed its period-end cycle
- Post AP accruals for received-not-invoiced goods and services
- Record payroll entries and any pay-period straddle accrual
- Capture all cash receipts and disbursements through the final day
- Post intercompany entries and obtain counterparty acknowledgment
- Finalize the bank reconciliation using the official month-end statement
- Execute the fixed-asset depreciation run
- Post the prepaid expense amortization schedule
Day 2 (T+2)
- Complete revenue recognition entries and adjust contract liabilities
- Post all outstanding accrual journal entries
- Reconcile the AR subledger to the GL control account
- Reconcile the AP subledger to the GL control account
- Process inventory valuation adjustments (where applicable)
- Run foreign-currency remeasurement entries
- Begin balance-sheet account reconciliations
Day 3 (T+3)
- Finish all balance-sheet reconciliations
- Post corrective entries surfaced during reconciliation
- Complete intercompany reconciliation and record elimination entries
- Produce a preliminary trial balance and income statement
- Conduct an initial comparative review of the income statement
- Research and resolve significant movements
Day 4 (T+4)
- Record the income tax provision (current and deferred)
- Update the equity roll-forward (stock compensation, buybacks, dividends)
- Finalize every journal entry — declare soft close
- Generate draft financial statements (income statement, balance sheet, cash flow)
- Prepare detailed comparative commentary on all material line items
- Submit drafts for management review
Day 5 (T+5)
- Incorporate any adjustments arising from management review
- Lock the financial statements — declare hard close
- Restrict the period in the ERP / general ledger
- Assemble and distribute the financial reporting package
- Refresh rolling forecasts and projections with actual results
- Conduct a close retrospective to capture improvement opportunities
Dependency Architecture
Layered Execution Model
Tasks are grouped into tiers where each tier's inputs depend on the prior tier's outputs:
TIER 1 — Independent (begin immediately at T+1):
Cash transaction recording
Bank statement retrieval
Payroll processing & accrual
Depreciation calculation
Prepaid amortization
AP accrual assembly
Intercompany entry posting
TIER 2 — Requires Tier 1 outputs:
Bank reconciliation (needs: cash entries + bank data)
Revenue recognition (needs: billing & delivery data finalized)
AR subledger reconciliation (needs: all revenue & cash postings)
AP subledger reconciliation (needs: all AP activity & accruals)
FX remeasurement (needs: all foreign-currency entries on the books)
Remaining accrual entries (needs: complete source-data review)
TIER 3 — Requires Tier 2 outputs:
Full balance-sheet reconciliations (needs: all entries posted)
Intercompany reconciliation & eliminations (needs: both sides recorded)
Corrective entries from reconciliation findings
Preliminary trial balance extraction
TIER 4 — Requires Tier 3 outputs:
Tax provision (needs: pre-tax income determined)
Equity roll-forward
Consolidation processing
Draft financial statement generation
Initial comparative analysis
TIER 5 — Requires Tier 4 outputs:
Management review cycle
Post-review corrections
Hard close & period lock
Reporting package assembly
Forecast refresh
Identifying the Critical Path
The longest dependent chain dictates minimum close duration. A representative critical path:
Cash/AP/AR posting -> Subledger reconciliations -> Balance-sheet recs ->
Tax provision -> Draft statements -> Management review -> Hard close
Strategies to compress the critical path:
- Automate Tier 1 entries (depreciation, amortization, template accruals)
- Reconcile accounts continuously throughout the month instead of waiting for period end
- Execute independent reconciliations in parallel across team members
- Enforce firm submission deadlines with accountability for late items
- Standardize reconciliation templates to eliminate setup time each period
Progress Tracking
Close Dashboard Structure
| Task | Owner | Target Day | Current State | Blocker (if any) | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Task name] | [Person] | T+N | Not Started / Active / Done / Blocked | [Description] | [Notes] |
State Definitions
- Not Started: Awaiting prerequisite completion or scheduled start time
- Active: Work is underway
- Done: Completed and reviewed/approved
- Blocked: Cannot proceed — dependency unmet, data unavailable, or issue encountered
- At Risk: In progress but unlikely to meet its target date
Daily Stand-Up Protocol (Recommended During Close)
Hold a focused 15-minute sync each day of the close window:
- Walk the dashboard — call out any task not tracking to plan
- Surface blockers and assign owners to resolve them
- Redistribute work or escalate as needed
- Reassess the overall timeline if any task slips
Performance Metrics (Track Period Over Period)
| Metric | What It Measures | Goal |
|---|---|---|
| Total close duration | Business days from period end to hard close | Shorten over time |
| Post-soft-close adjustments | Entries added after the initial freeze | Drive toward zero |
| Missed deadlines | Tasks completed after their assigned day | Eliminate |
| Reconciliation exceptions | Items requiring investigation | Reduce over time |
| Post-close corrections | Errors discovered after the books are locked | Zero |
Condensed Close Calendar (Standard 5-Day)
| Day | Primary Activities | Key Participants |
|---|---|---|
| T+1 | Cash postings, payroll, AP accruals, depreciation, prepaid amortization, intercompany entries | Staff accountants, payroll team |
| T+2 | Revenue entries, remaining accruals, AR/AP/FA subledger recs, FX remeasurement | Revenue accounting, AP/AR, treasury |
| T+3 | Balance-sheet recs, intercompany recs & eliminations, preliminary trial balance, initial variance review | Full accounting team, consolidation |
| T+4 | Tax provision, equity roll-forward, draft financials, detailed variance commentary, management review | Tax, controller, FP&A |
| T+5 | Final adjustments, hard close, period lock, reporting distribution, forecast update, retrospective | Controller, FP&A, finance leadership |
Accelerated 3-Day Close
| Day | Activities |
|---|---|
| T+1 | All journal entries posted (automated + manual), all subledger recs, bank rec, intercompany rec, preliminary trial balance |
| T+2 | All balance-sheet recs, tax provision, consolidation, draft financials, comparative analysis, management review |
| T+3 | Final corrections, hard close, reporting package, forecast refresh |
Enablers for a 3-day close:
- Template-driven recurring entries fire automatically at period end
- Rolling reconciliation practices keep accounts current throughout the month
- Intercompany eliminations are system-generated
- Pre-close activities (accrual estimation, cut-off review) wrap up before the period ends
- Every task has a single accountable owner with minimal handoff
- Feeder systems integrate in real time or near-real time
Continuous Improvement
Diagnosing Common Bottlenecks
| Bottleneck | Underlying Cause | Countermeasure |
|---|---|---|
| Delayed AP accruals | Waiting on departmental spend confirmation | Move to continuous accrual estimation; enforce earlier cut-off deadlines |
| Manual recurring entries | Same entries rebuilt from scratch each month | Configure automated templates in the ERP |
| Protracted reconciliations | Full reconciliation attempted only at month end | Adopt rolling reconciliation during the period |
| Intercompany mismatches | Counterparty has not posted their side | Automate matching logic; impose tighter intercompany deadlines |
| Late management adjustments | Material issues surface only during final review | Strengthen preliminary review; empower the team to flag issues earlier |
| Missing documentation | Supporting files assembled after the fact | Collect evidence continuously, not just at close |
Post-Close Retrospective Questions
After every close cycle, evaluate:
- Which activities ran smoothly and should be preserved?
- Where did elapsed time exceed expectations, and what caused the delay?
- What impediments arose and how can they be prevented next period?
- Were there unexpected results that could have been identified sooner?
- What manual steps are candidates for automation before the next close?