month-end-and-year-end-close-playbook

name

month-end-and-year-end-close-playbook

description

Controlled month-end and year-end close workflow for any Chwezi-grade finance / accounting system. Covers task list, dependencies, evidence requirements, exception handling, reviewer sign-off, period-state transitions, retained-earnings close, lock and reopen governance, and release states. Use whenever a software system, SRS, SDS, test plan, proposal, or business plan touches month-end close, year-end close, period locking, or audit-period release.

Month-End and Year-End Close Playbook

Overview

Close is a controlled workflow, not a calendar reminder. Each close task has owner, due date, dependency, evidence, review state, exception state, and release decision. Close ends with a documented release state: pass, pass-with-caveats, or fail. Year-end close adds retained-earnings close, lock-period procedure, reopen governance, audit-request tracking, and a final report freeze.

Required first reads

• doctrine/accounting-finance-doctrine.md
• doctrine/references/ledger-invariants.md (period state)
• doctrine/references/required-patterns.md
• doctrine/examples/reconciliation-evidence-pack.md
• bank-and-mobile-money-reconciliation SKILL
• audit-ready-reporting-pack SKILL
• This skill's references/close-task-template.md.

Close task list (standard)

Grouped by area. The exact list is configurable per entity; the categories are not.

Pre-close

Task	Owner	Dependency
Cut-off review for sales and purchases.	Accountant	None
Open-items review (AR ageing, AP ageing).	Accountant	None
Goods received not invoiced (GRNI) clear.	Accountant + Inventory Manager	Receiving complete
Outstanding journals approved.	Controller	Manual-journal queue

Subledger close

Task	Owner
AR — invoices, receipts, credit notes posted.	Accountant
AP — bills, payments, credit notes posted.	Accountant
Inventory — receipts, issues, transfers, adjustments posted; count variance reviewed.	Inventory Manager + Accountant
Fixed Assets — additions, disposals, depreciation run.	Accountant
Payroll — payroll run committed; statutory deductions schedules complete.	Payroll Officer + Accountant

Reconciliations

Task	Owner
Bank — every bank account reconciled with evidence pack.	Accountant
Mobile Money — every provider account reconciled.	Accountant
POS — every drawer's Z-reports reconciled.	Accountant
Card Acquirer — every acquirer batch reconciled.	Accountant
Inventory tie-out — control accounts vs subledger.	Accountant
AR / AP control tie-out.	Accountant
Tax control accounts tie to return data.	Accountant + Tax Reviewer
Petty cash count.	Accountant
Cash on Hand count.	Accountant

Adjustments

Task	Owner
Accruals and prepayments.	Accountant
Depreciation.	Accountant
FX revaluation.	Accountant
Inventory NRV write-downs (Section 13 / IAS 2).	Accountant + Controller
Provisions and contingencies review (Section 21 / IAS 37).	Controller
Doubtful-debt allowance (Section 11 / IFRS 9 simplified).	Accountant + Controller
Tax provision (Section 29 / IAS 12).	Controller + Tax Reviewer

Reports

Task	Owner
Trial balance.	Accountant
SFP / SOCI / SCE / SCF.	Controller
AR / AP ageing.	Accountant
Inventory valuation.	Inventory Manager + Accountant
Fixed-asset register and depreciation schedule.	Accountant
Payroll register vs GL.	Payroll Officer + Accountant
Tax pack (VAT, PAYE, WHT, NSSF, income tax progress).	Tax Reviewer + Accountant
Bank, POS, mobile-money, card recon evidence packs.	Accountant
Management accounts pack with variance commentary.	Controller
Donor / grant utilisation pack (where applicable).	Controller
Audit-ready export index.	Controller

Release

Task	Owner
Reviewer sign-off (Controller).	Controller
Period soft-close.	Controller
Release state recorded.	Controller
Lock period (after waiting window).	Controller

Year-end specifics

• Retained-earnings close: close all 4xxx–9xxx accounts into 3300 Current-Year Profit/Loss; sweep 3300 to 3200 Retained Earnings at year-end.
• Lock-period procedure: after sign-off and audit window, lock all months of the financial year.
• Reopen governance: reopen requires Controller + CFO approval, time-boxed, audit-logged.
• Audit-request tracking: every auditor request logged with respondent, evidence, status, due date.
• Final report freeze: financial statements signed by directors; subsequent corrections become prior-period adjustments under Section 10 / IAS 8.

Period-state transitions

From	To	Permitted by
open	soft-closed	Controller
soft-closed	open	Controller (with reason)
soft-closed	locked	Controller
locked	reopened	Controller + CFO
reopened	locked	Controller
locked	archived	Controller (after audit window)

Release states

• pass — no blockers; all checks complete; all reconciliations matched; reviewer sign-off recorded.
• pass-with-caveats — no blockers; named items carry forward (e.g. tax provision pending tax-reviewer sign-off) with assigned owner and target date.
• fail — blocker(s) remain; close not released.

Acceptance evidence

Evidence	Description
Close-task register	Every task with owner, due, status, evidence path.
Reconciliation evidence packs	Per bank-and-mobile-money-reconciliation.
Adjustment journal listing	All accruals, depreciation, FX revaluation, provisions, write-downs.
Subledger tie-out summary	Control account vs subledger reconciliation by account.
Reports pack	All reports per "Reports" task list, with print stylesheet applied.
Reviewer sign-off	In the audit log: preparer, reviewer, time stamps.
Gate manifest	State, blockers, caveats, evidence-pack path.

Forbidden patterns

• Closing a period without subledger tie-out.
• Posting to a locked period via a back door.
• Sign-off without reviewer identity in the audit log.
• Close report missing a print stylesheet.
• Reopen without Controller + CFO approval.

Files

• SKILL.md.
• references/close-task-template.md — full task template with owners and dependencies.
• references/year-end-extras.md — retained-earnings close, lock window, audit requests.
• examples/first-close-checklist.md — first close after go-live.

Last reviewed: 2026-05-12. Next review due: 2026-11-12.

Prerequisites

• Load doctrine/accounting-finance-doctrine.md before applying this skill.
• Load governance/finance-accounting-quality-gate.md when the output is a release, client artefact, SRS, SDS, proposal, business plan, or implementation plan.
• Use doctrine/source-register/ for final statutory, tax, payroll, FX, EFRIS, eTIMS, or authority-template values.

Inputs

Artifact	Produced by	Required?	Validation
Finance context map	finance-module-audit	Required	Entity, framework, jurisdiction, modules, users, and deployment context are named.
Doctrine baseline	Doctrine owner	Required	Doctrine version and reporting framework are stated.
Source-register snapshot	tax-statutory-source-register-and-country-packs	Required for final statutory output	Entries are verified-current or reviewer-approved verified-with-caveat.
Ledger/posting context	ledger-posting-engine-core	Required when postings are affected	Posting boundary, CoA mappings, control accounts, dimensions, and period state are known.

Outputs

Artifact	Consumed by	Acceptance evidence
Skill-specific decision record	Implementer, reviewer, quality gate	Scope, assumptions, chosen treatment, rejected alternatives, and caveats are recorded.
Implementation or workflow contract	Software, SRS, SDS, proposal, or business-plan engine	Contract names inputs, outputs, controls, evidence, and failure conditions.
Acceptance evidence	Finance quality gate	Tests, fixtures, examples, source links, reviewer sign-off, or evidence-pack references are present.
Plain-language explanation	Client, owner, manager, operator	Business meaning is stated before technical accounting treatment where client-facing.

Decision Rules

• Prefer IFRS for SMEs for typical SME entities unless full IFRS, local law, donor requirements, or client policy requires otherwise.
• Treat every money-touching workflow as ledger, control, reconciliation, evidence, and reporting scope.
• Do not finalize statutory values without source-register support and reviewer status.
• Use business-language output for operators and accountant-language output for ledger, reporting, and audit users.
• Escalate uncertain framework, tax, or statutory interpretations to the required reviewer role instead of presenting them as final.

Acceptance Evidence

• Inputs and outputs above are present or explicitly marked not applicable.
• Relevant quality-gate blockers have been checked and no blocker remains unresolved.
• Examples or fixtures cover at least one happy path and one failure or caveat path for this skill's domain.
• Reviewer role, review date, and open caveats are recorded for release-grade artefacts.

Anti-Patterns

• Treating draft planning assumptions as final statutory or accounting facts.
• Hiding tax, payroll, FX, or authority-template caveats in prose instead of source-register state.
• Producing technically correct accounting output without a plain-language layer for non-accountant users.
• Closing a remediation or implementation item without observable evidence.

Required References

• doctrine/accounting-finance-doctrine.md.
• governance/finance-accounting-quality-gate.md.
• docs/reference-manifest.md for declared reference states.
• Domain-specific references listed earlier in this skill.

Examples

• Include at least one normal workflow example for this skill's domain.
• Include at least one exception, rejection, reversal, stale-source, or reviewer-caveat example where the domain can fail.

Review Metadata

Last reviewed: 2026-05-15. Next review due: 2026-11-15.