| name | month-end-close |
| description | - It is the last few days of the month and you need to close the books |
Month-End Close
When to activate
- It is the last few days of the month and you need to close the books
- You have a meeting with your accountant and want to walk in with the numbers already organized
- You need a P&L for a bank loan, investor update, or lease application
- Something does not add up between your QuickBooks total and your bank statement and you need to find the gap
When NOT to use
- Mid-month — wait until the month is complete so the numbers are final
- Your accountant manages the close entirely and you are not involved in the process
- You are looking for tax advice — this skill organizes numbers, it does not replace a CPA
Instructions
What to export before starting
You need three things from your accounting tools. All three can be exported in under 5 minutes:
- QuickBooks: Profit & Loss report for the month (Reports > Profit & Loss > set date range > Export to Excel or PDF)
- QuickBooks: Transaction Detail report for the month — full list of every transaction
- PayPal or Stripe: Settlement report for the month — downloadable from your dashboard under Activity or Reports
If you use both PayPal and Stripe, pull both. If you use only one, pull that one.
Step 1: Cross-reference payment processors against QuickBooks
Paste your totals into Claude:
"QuickBooks shows $34,200 in revenue. PayPal gross sales were $31,800 before fees, net $29,400. Stripe gross was $4,800, net $4,600. Help me reconcile these."
Claude identifies where the numbers align and where they do not. Common gaps it catches:
- PayPal or Stripe fees that were not recorded as expenses in QuickBooks
- Refunds processed in one system but not reflected in the other
- Transactions that hit in one month but settled in another (timing differences)
