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Close the month in one day: a checklist for small finance teams
The books should be done before the month is old news. Here is the order that makes it possible.
24 September 2026 · 8 min read
Short answer: a one day close comes from doing most of the work during the month. Reconcile wallets and banks weekly, approve bills as they arrive, and let documents post themselves, so the last day is checking, not building.
During the month
Weekly
- Reconcile bank, MoMo and Airtel wallets (how)
- Approve supplier bills with their EBM receipts
- Send invoices the day the work is done
- Clear staff expense claims
On close day
- Last reconciliation of every bank and wallet up to the last day.
- Accruals: bills received but not yet entered, work done but not yet invoiced.
- Payroll: pay run posted, PAYE and RSSB recorded.
- Fixed assets: depreciation for the month.
- Foreign currency: revalue open balances at the month end rate.
- Review: trial balance, receivables over 30 days, unusual movements.
- Lock the period, so nobody changes a closed month by accident.
What usually slows the close
| Bottleneck | Fix |
|---|---|
| Statements pulled at month end | Reconcile weekly |
| Bills in email and drawers | One bills inbox, approve on arrival |
| Sales not invoiced | Invoice from the confirmed order automatically |
| Reports rebuilt in Excel | Reports read from the ledger |
A day, after
The 2nd of the month
- 09:00Last wallet statements in. Everything else was matched during the month.
- 11:00Accruals and depreciation posted. Trial balance balances.
- 14:00Period locked. Management report sent from Reports.
- 15:00The rest of the day is spent on what the numbers say, not on finding them.
Questions people ask
How long should month end close take?
Small teams that reconcile weekly can close in one to three working days. Ten days usually means the work is being saved up for month end.
What is the first thing to automate?
Posting. When invoices, bills and payments post to the ledger by themselves, most of the close disappears.
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