Verify a closed month
Verify rebuilds every report in a closed month's pack from today's books and compares each headline figure with the pack the month was last signed on. Use it when you need a yes or no on the spot, for example before you send a pack to your accountant or when an auditor asks whether a month still ties out.
Verify or restatement detection?
SKU.io already compares every closed month with its latest sign-off every night, and again whenever you click Re-check on a closed month. That comparison is what turns a month Closed – restated or tags it Balance moved, and it shows the change account by account and document by document. See When a closed month changes.
Verify is the quick, on-demand check:
| Restatement detection | Verify | |
|---|---|---|
| When it runs | Every night, and on Re-check | When you click Verify |
| What it compares | Every report, account by account | Each report's headline totals |
| What it changes | The month's state, its History, the alert | Nothing |
| What you get | Changes by account, Changes by report, Why it changed | A one-line verdict and a table per report that moved |
A difference is normal for a month that isn't hard-locked: late entries land in it on their true date. If Verify shows a difference that detection hasn't picked up yet, click Re-check in the drawer to record it.
Before you begin
- The month must be closed: Closed, Closed – restated or Hard-locked. Verify sits on the month's sign-off banner and nowhere else. If the month is reopened while your screen still shows it closed, Verify answers Verify runs on closed periods only.
- Verify only reads and compares. It posts nothing and changes no saved figure, so you can run it as often as you like.
- You need access to Accounting → Close. Verify needs no other permission.
Steps
- Go to Accounting → Close.
- On the Year board, click the closed month's tile. The month drawer opens.
- Scroll to the sign-off banner, for example March 2026 is closed, with who signed it and when.
- Click Verify. Its tooltip reads Recompute every report live and compare it with the report pack from the last sign-off — shows whether the month's numbers have moved since then.
- Read the coloured summary under the banner.
- Work down the report lines beneath it.
The results stay on screen until you open another month.
Read the summary
- Green: No drift — every authoritative report that could be compared still matches the last sign-off. Informational reports may change as reconciliation continues.
- Amber: Drift detected — one or more reports no longer match the last sign-off (informational changes, e.g. reconciliation, are excluded).
The last sign-off is the month's latest revision. After a re-sign-off, Verify compares against the new revision, not the first close.
If a report couldn't be produced, the summary adds 1 report could not be produced, so it was not verified. (or the count, for several). That turns the summary amber on its own, so a green summary always means every report was compared.
Read each report line
Every report in the pack gets a line:
| Verdict | What it means | Counts as a difference |
|---|---|---|
| matches | Today's figures equal the signed ones, to the cent. | No |
| drifted | A headline figure on an authoritative report has moved since the latest sign-off. | Yes |
| changed (informational) | A reconciliation report moved. That's expected as reconciliation carries on. | No |
| could not be produced | The report couldn't be built, so there was nothing to compare. A short note gives the reason. | Counted separately |
| can't compare — no saved report | The latest sign-off has no saved copy of this report. | Yes |
A report that moved shows a small table under its line, with Figure, At last sign-off and Live now:
Balance Sheet: drifted
| Figure | At last sign-off | Live now |
|---|---|---|
| Total Liabilities | 20,927.67 | 22,211.83 |
| Total Equity | 4,496.75 | 3,212.59 |
At last sign-off is the latest signed figure. The table tells you how much moved, not which entry moved it, and it doesn't split own change from change carried in from an earlier month. For both of those, open the month's restatement panel: Changes by account splits Own change from Carried, and Why it changed lists the documents.
The six authoritative reports are Income Statement, Balance Sheet, Trial Balance, Inventory Valuation, COGS and GINR Balance. The three reconciliation reports, Reconciliation Summary, Trial Balance Reconciliation and Sync Category Reconciliation, are informational and never turn the summary amber by moving.
What to do about a difference
- Check whether the month is already Closed – restated or tagged Balance moved. If it isn't, click Re-check in the drawer header so the change is recorded and the month shows it.
- Read Changes by account and Why it changed to find what moved.
- If the month's own figures changed and the change is right, re-sign-off the month. That saves a new revision as the numbers of record and keeps the earlier one in History.
- If only carried change shows, the month needs nothing. It clears when the earlier month is re-signed.
- If the change shouldn't be there, correct it at its source. The correction lands in the month too, and the difference goes back to zero.
You don't reopen a month to fix it. See Reopen a closed month for the one case reopening is for.
A report with no saved copy, or one that can't be built
- can't compare — no saved report means the latest sign-off has no figure of record for that report. It's shown in red and counts as a difference. The restatement panel shows the same month as Can't compare, and the month can't be hard-locked until it's resolved. Re-signing the month saves a complete pack.
- could not be produced is shown in grey with a note giving the reason. Run Verify again once the underlying problem clears.
If Verify itself fails
When Verify can't run, an error replaces the results with a Retry button. Retrying is always safe.
Verify leaves no record
A Verify run isn't saved anywhere. Nothing is written to the month or its History, the result isn't in the exported pack, and it's gone when you open another month. When you need evidence of a clean result, take a dated screenshot of the summary while it's on screen, and export the close pack for the figures themselves.
Next steps
- When a closed month changes: how detection works, own and carried change, and Balance moved.
- Re-sign-off a restated month: make the new figures the month's numbers of record.
- Read the month's reports: open each report and pick a sign-off revision.
- Statuses in the close: every month state and tag.