You know that at the close of each month, you need to complete a month-end report to keep your accounting statements updated. You also have to issue a yearend report and mail out IRS Form 1099s to vendors for their taxes. There are a lot of issues you have to address:
- Should you book changes in a current month or a subsequent month?
- How can you focus on analyses — account reconciliations and period fluctuations?
- Is your closing process well-documented?
- Do you have a budget plan to compare your close to, looking at variances from various cost centers’ actual spending?
- Do you publish a closing calendar ahead of each month-end?
- If you tie out accounts payable receipts and invoicing daily, then at the end of the period, is your team balancing only a day’s worth of data instead of a month’s worth?
- Can you work toward a culture of continuous improvement and come up with tools that help measure your close?
- Have you considered doing income tax accrual asset/liability reclassifications at year-end?
- Do you constantly monitor state tax law changes and reflect their impact at least quarterly?
Good accounting records help you month-by-month and year-by-year in preparing your taxes, for presenting your company to investors, and more. Closing month-end reports keeps your financial records updated. Do you have full control of your accounting system? Are you able to smoothly close your books month after month? We can help you with your accounting tasks so you can go back to what you do best: running your business. Give us a call, and we’ll look at your particular business and give you advice and ongoing help tailor-made for your company.
It’s tedious, but it has to be done: doing the monthly close. But there are ways to make it easier. Click through to learn how to simplify this important accounting function.