Year end close is one of the most predictable, and often one of the most stressful, stretches on a finance team’s calendar. Predictable, because it happens on the same schedule every year. Stressful, because how smoothly it goes usually depends on decisions and habits from months earlier, not anything that can be fixed in the final week. Here is a practical checklist to work through as your close approaches.

Reconciliation

• Confirm all bank and treasury accounts are reconciled through the most recent period, not just through the last time someone had a chance to look.
• Review outstanding checks and deposits in transit for anything unusually old that may need investigation.
• Reconcile subsidiary ledgers, capital assets, A/P, A/R, against the general ledger to catch discrepancies before they become audit findings.

Accruals and Adjustments

• Identify expenses incurred but not yet invoiced, and revenue earned but not yet received, that need to be accrued for accurate period reporting.
• Review prior year accruals to confirm they were properly reversed and are not lingering incorrectly in current year numbers.
• Confirm depreciation has been calculated and recorded for all capital assets, including any additions or disposals during the year.

Grants and Restricted Funds

• Confirm grant expenditures are properly coded to the correct funding source and allowable expense categories.
• Verify matching fund requirements have been met and documented for any grants requiring local match.
• Prepare any year end grant reporting required by funding agencies ahead of their specific deadlines, which often do not align with your fiscal year close.

Budget to Actual Review

• Compile final budget to actual comparisons for all funds and departments, flagging significant variances that will need explanation.
• Identify any budget amendments that were approved during the year and confirm they are properly reflected in final reporting.

Documentation

• Confirm supporting documentation is attached and accessible for significant transactions, particularly anything likely to draw audit attention.
• Review approval trails for large purchases and A/P transactions to confirm they are complete and properly documented.

Preparing for the Audit

• Organize documentation the auditor is likely to request in advance, rather than waiting for the formal request list.
• Review last year’s audit findings, if any, and confirm the underlying issues have actually been resolved, not just noted.

Why This Gets Easier Over Time

Every item on this checklist is more manageable when your organization’s day to day financial processes already produce clean, connected data, rather than requiring a special year end effort to reconstruct records that were not well maintained throughout the year. Year end close is not really a June or December problem. It is a reflection of how well the system worked all year.

Curious how a connected financial platform makes year end close less of a scramble? Request a demo with Aclarian.