Section 01 • 2 guides

Monthly Close & Reporting

The close is the only deliverable in bookkeeping that matters. Everything else — categorization, receipt capture, bill pay — exists so that on a fixed date each month you can hand someone a set of statements that tie, and defend every number on them.

This section covers what a close actually consists of, how long it should take at your size, and the specific places we find errors when we take over a set of books.

Benchmarks
Day 10
Target close for a $2M–$20M company
18 steps
In a complete close checklist
6 weeks
Where most under-resourced teams land

What a close consists of

Step group 1
Cut off the period

Stop posting, chase missing receipts, confirm all bank feeds have landed.

Step group 2
Reconcile everything

Every bank, card, loan, and merchant account, to the statement, to the penny.

Step group 3
Post the adjustments

Accruals, prepaids, depreciation, payroll, deferred revenue release.

Step group 4
Review and issue

Second-set-of-eyes review, variance commentary, then send the package.

Everything in this section

2 guides • ordered for reading start to finish
01.1When to Move from Cash to Accrual Accounting6 min01.2The Month-End Close Checklist11 min
Section 02 next

SaaS Revenue & Metrics →

Deferred revenue, ASC 606, and the metrics investors actually check — for the software companies Nashville keeps producing.

Want this handled instead of studied?

Compass East will look at your last close and tell you where the gaps are. Free, thirty minutes, findings in writing.

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