Period close (month-end close)
What is Period close? The month-end checklist that locks a month's books: matching your records to bank and other statements, accruals (costs not yet billed), reviews and sign-off, all before reporting.
In plain words
closing the month means checking that everything that belongs to it is in the books and agrees with outside records, then locking the month so the figures do not change after the owner has seen them.
Typical work: matching the bank, tying receivables and payables to the ledger, posting depreciation, and entering costs not yet billed (accruals).
A worked example
At 31 March your bank statement shows ₹14,60,000 and the ledger shows ₹14,35,000. The ₹25,000 gap is three cheques you issued that have not been presented: ₹12,000, ₹8,000 and ₹5,000. Once they are listed, the bank is reconciled.
The electricity bill for the last ten days of March, about ₹18,000, has not arrived. Your accountant enters it as an accrual journal so that March carries its own cost. A second person approves the journal. Sample numbers.
Why it matters
- Cost. An owner who sees a profit that later changes will not trust the next report.
- Deadlines. GST returns, TDS and the owner's monthly review all depend on a finished month.
- Risk. Entries back-dated into a month already reported make last month's numbers quietly wrong.
How Kinnow handles it
Kinnow turns the close into a list of checks.
- One screen per month. The Periods screen in Finance shows each month as Open, Pre-close, Closed or Locked, with how many checks have passed.
- Twelve checks. Seven must pass before the month can close. They are: the trial balance ties, no draft or pending journals, banks reconciled, receivables and payables each tie to the ledger, inter-company balances net to zero, and the stock valuation is posted for companies that keep stock. Five can be passed with a written reason: the two GST returns, the TDS match, depreciation and the budget variance. A check passed that way shows as overridden, never as passed.
- People close it. The Close Checklist agent fills in the checklist and drafts the variance commentary. A person confirms the close. An administrator closes the month, and locking is permanent.
- Reopening. Until a month is locked, reopening needs controller-level access and a written reason, and the history records it. A closed or locked month refuses new entries.
The honest limit. The GST and TDS checks wait for those tasks to be marked done in Comply. Kinnow checks that the numbers tie; your team decides what an accrual should be.
Ask us to run a close on your numbers, with your twelve checks.
In Kinnow
Close Checklist
Runs the twelve period-close checks, helps clear the ones holding up the close and drafts the commentary on variances. A person confirms the close.
AccountPeriod-close gate
Checks whether the books are ready to close, including rules your company has written itself, before a period can be locked.
Related terms
- Bank reconciliation: the first check on most lists.
- GRNI: an accrual for goods received but not yet billed.
- Inter-company reconciliation: for groups.
- Approval workflow: who signs what.
Questions
Can I close the month with a check failing?
Only if it is one of the five that can be passed with a written reason. The seven must-pass checks block the close, and an overridden check is recorded as overridden.
What if I find a mistake after the month is closed?
Until the month is locked, a controller can reopen it with a written reason. A wrong entry is reversed rather than deleted. Once the month is locked, nothing can change it.
Who can close and lock a month?
An administrator closes the month, and reopening needs controller-level access. You can see in the history who did each step and why.
Request a demo and we will show a month close from the first check to the lock.