Journal Entries & Closing

Who posted manual entries, for what value, and to which accounts?

• Manual entries in the period
• User and time of entry
• Affected accounts and amounts

Every manual entry ranked by value and user, flagging entries to sensitive accounts.

Owner and auditor — the manual entry is where the result gets changed.

Are entries being posted at night, or on the last day of the month?

• Timestamp of each entry
• Proximity to the closing date
• Amounts versus the norm

Entries with suspicious timing, their value and who posted them.

Owner — timing alone is a professionally recognised risk indicator.

Were the numbers of an already-closed period changed?

• Entries posted after the close date
• Reversing entries and their reasons
• Periods that were reopened

Post-close adjustments and their impact on the reported result.

CFO — editing a closed period destroys trust in every report before it.

Are there entries with no description, no document, or left incomplete?

• Entries without narration or document reference
• Draft and unposted entries
• Suspense and clearing accounts

Incomplete entries and suspense balances that must be cleared before close.

Accountant and CFO — a direct close-checklist.

Are your books ready to close, or is something still unreconciled?

• Unreconciled accounts
• Suspense and clearing balances
• Required monthly reconciliations

A checklist of what remains before close, ranked by priority and impact.

CFO — turns days of closing into hours.

Do your three statements tie together, or are there unexplained differences?

• Income statement and balance sheet
• Cash movement
• Opening-to-closing balance linkage

A reconciliation across statements with any unexplained item flagged.

Owner — statements that do not tie cannot go to a bank or an investor.