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Close a month

Closing a month is the moment you say these are June's numbers. SKU.io walks you through it: a checklist that grades the month's data, a dialog that records what you knew when you signed, and a saved report pack that becomes the month's numbers of record. Closing signs the month off without freezing it. If you also want to freeze the books through the month, tick Also lock through this month in the same dialog.

Before you begin​

  • Finish accounting setup. The Close tab doesn't appear until a chart of accounts exists.
  • Close months oldest first. Only the earliest month that isn't closed yet can be closed, and every later month waits its turn. See which months you can close.
  • To start a close and run Re-check, you need the Accounting Sync permission (accounting.sync). To close the month, you need the Accounting Manage Settings permission (accounting.manage_settings). Without them the buttons are disabled and the tooltip says You do not have permission to run close actions. or You do not have permission to close or reopen a period. See permissions in the close.
  • To lock through the month while you close it, you also need the Accounting Period Hard Close permission (accounting.period.hard_close). Without it, the option doesn't appear.
  • When two or more people do your accounting, the person who prepares a month can't close it. Starting the close makes you the month's preparer. Prepare the month with the steps below up to Close period, then hand it to a colleague, who follows review and close a month someone else prepared.

Steps​

  1. Go to Accounting → Close. The tab opens on the Year board, one tile per month of the year.
  2. Find the month to close. Its tile reads Open with Up next underneath. To switch year, use the arrows beside the year.
  3. Click the month's tile. The month opens in a drawer on the right, with its name, status and date range at the top: for example June 2026, Open, Jun 1, 2026 – Jun 30, 2026. The drawer says This is the next month to close.
  4. Click Start close. A message says Close started for June 2026 — the slower checks finish in the background. The month moves to In Review, Start close is replaced by Close period, and a Re-check button appears. Watch the job tray for the slower checks.
  5. Read the progress under the review panel. The ring and the line beside it count what's finished, for example 25 of 33 done, and how many checks block the close, for example 2 blocking checks. The total depends on which checks apply to your business plus any custom items you've added.
  6. If any blocking check is failing, a Blocking checks card lists it above the checklist. With none failing, the line under the ring reads 0 blocking checks and there's no card: go to step 8. Otherwise work through each row in the card. A failing blocking check stops the close until it's fixed. To open the records a row is counting, click the arrow at the end of the row (Open the fixing surface), or the document icon (Open this report) on a row about one of the month's reports. See fix a failing check.
  7. Return to the month and click Re-check. Every automated check runs again against the books as they are now, and the ring and the counts update. A message says Re-check started — the checklist updates when it finishes.
  8. In the Close checklist, tick each manual item you've done, such as Review Income Statement. Your name and the date appear under the item.
  9. Click Close period. While a check that can't be gone over is still failing, the button stays disabled and its tooltip says how many, for example 2 blocking failures must be resolved before this period can close.
  10. In the Close June 2026 dialog, tick every box under Acknowledge each outstanding item to close the period with it unresolved:. Each warning that's still flagged and each manual item you didn't tick has its own box. Manual items read — not ticked on the checklist.
  11. If the dialog shows an amber panel for a blocking check you're allowed to go over, type your reason in Why is this being closed over? See close over outstanding inventory debt.
  12. Add Close notes (optional) if the month needs context: accruals you made, a known issue, something your client should read later.
  13. Read the blue note near the foot of the dialog. It explains that this is a soft close: it signs June 2026 off and saves the report pack, but late entries can still land in the month and show as a restatement.
  14. To freeze the books through this month as well, tick Also lock through this month and fill in Reason for locking (required). Otherwise leave it clear. While an earlier month is waiting for a re-sign-off, the option is greyed out and a note under it names that month. See Also lock through this month.
  15. Click Close June 2026. A message confirms it: Closing June 2026 — track progress in the job tray.
  16. Wait for the close job to finish. The drawer says The close is running — progress shows in the job tray. The checklist runs one last time, then the report pack is saved and the month is signed off. The drawer and the board refresh themselves when the job completes.
  17. Read the sign-off banner. It's headed June 2026 is closed, with who prepared and closed the month and when, and the line This is a soft close: the month is signed off and its report pack is saved, but late entries can still land here. If that happens it shows the change, and a change over your review threshold reads Closed – restated until someone re-signs it off. The month's tile now reads Closed with its Net income.

Tips​

  • Give the month a few days. A monthly batch has a 72-hour settle window after the month ends, so June's isn't due until the start of July 4. Close from the 4th onward and what's left on the checklist is a real exception rather than work that hasn't come due. See batches and the close.
  • Close quiet months too. Months close in order, so an empty month has to be closed to reach the ones after it. It's quick.

Before you click Start close​

A month nobody has started shows the whole checklist as a live preview. Every automated check is worked out as you look at it, nothing is saved, and the manual boxes can't be ticked yet: hovering one says Start the close to check items off. Start close runs the checks again and saves them against the month as the close's own evidence. The quick checks finish at once and the slower ones, such as fetching your provider's trial balance, finish in the background. See how the checklist works.

A month on or before your hard close date that nobody ever closed reads Locked, not closed. Its button reads Close for the record instead of Start close, and its tile reads Optional close. The steps are the same.

Ticking manual items off and back on​

Manual items are the judgement calls SKU.io can't make: reviewing the statements, and any custom items your business has added.

  • To tick one off, click its box. Your name and the date appear under the title, for example Dana · Jul 16, and the counts go up.
  • To untick it, click the box again. The record of who ticked it is cleared, so the next person to tick it is the one on the record.
  • Automated checks can't be ticked. They show an icon rather than a box. The only way to change one is to fix what it measures and click Re-check.
  • A closed month's checklist is read-only. Hovering a box says This period is closed — the checklist is read-only. You don't need to reopen a month to change something dated in it: see what closing does to your books.

What the close records​

Acknowledging is "I know about this and I'm closing anyway". It isn't a fix and it resolves nothing.

  • The close button stays disabled until every acknowledgement is ticked. Its tooltip reads Tick every acknowledgement above to confirm you're going ahead with these items outstanding.
  • Each box names the item and adds the check's count in brackets where it has one, for example Entries synced (4), so you're acknowledging a specific exposure. For the full summary, read the row on the checklist behind the dialog.
  • After the close, every acknowledged row carries the stamp Acknowledged at close, and the exported close pack lists the same rows with Yes in the Acknowledged column of its Cover sheet.

Close notes (optional) is free text for anything worth keeping with the close. Keep a note under 2,000 characters. Notes appear on the sign-off banner after Notes:, and print on the cover sheet of the exported close pack.

Also lock through this month​

Closing doesn't freeze anything. When you want a month frozen as soon as it's signed off, for example the last month of a quarter you've filed, tick Also lock through this month in the close dialog. Its description reads — moves the hard close date to Jun 30, 2026 once the close finishes.

  • Who sees it. Only people with the Accounting Period Hard Close permission (accounting.period.hard_close). Everyone else closes the month without the option.
  • The reason. Ticking the box adds Reason for locking (required), up to 500 characters, for example Quarter reviewed and filed with our accountant. It goes in the hard close date's history. Until you fill it in, the close button's tooltip reads Give a reason for locking through this month — it goes in the hard close date history.
  • When it happens. The close runs first. Once it has committed, SKU.io queues a separate job that moves the hard close date to the month's last day. The close job's message in the tray ends Moving the hard close date to Jun 30, 2026 next.
  • The rules still apply. The move follows the same rules as any hard close date move. For example, it can't pass an earlier month that's waiting for a re-sign-off. While such a month exists, the option is greyed out, hovering it says Re-sign off March 2026 first., and a note under it reads To lock through this month, re-sign off March 2026 first: the hard close date can't move past a month waiting for re-sign-off. June 2026 can still close now. with a Review March 2026 link.
  • If a rule fails, the month still closes and stays Closed, and the job tray says why the hard close date didn't move. Fix the cause, then move the date from the Year board. See Move the hard close date.

After the move, the month reads Hard-locked. Remember to set the same lock date in Xero or QuickBooks: SKU.io reads your provider's lock but never changes it. See Keep your provider's lock aligned.

While the close is running​

Closing runs the checks again and builds nine reports, so SKU.io does it in a background job you can watch.

  • In the job tray, the job is called Close Accounting Period followed by the month, for example Close Accounting Period: June 2026. It reports re-checking first, then either success (… closed — reports snapshotted and signed off. Later changes show as restatements.) or the reason it stopped.
  • In the drawer, the month shows Closing…, the checklist is read-only and Close period is disabled. Hovering it says The close job is already running — track it in the job tray.
  • Only one close runs at a time. A second attempt is refused with Another period close is already running — wait for it to finish.

A close either completes or leaves no trace. If the job stops for any reason, such as a check that failed on the final run, a cancellation from the job tray or a worker that stopped, no sign-off is recorded, no report pack is saved, and the month returns to In Review. A cancellation in the last moments may be too late to land, so check the month afterwards: if it reads Closed, the close finished first.

The sign-off banner​

A closed month's drawer leads with its sign-off banner:

  • The heading, June 2026 is closed, or June 2026 is hard-locked once the hard close date covers it.
  • Who prepared and closed the month and when, for example Prepared by Morgan Ellis · Reviewed and closed by Riley Chen. Every variant is listed in what gets recorded.
  • The soft-close line, or on a hard-locked month Why it's frozen and How to undo it.
  • Your notes after Notes:, and Closed over 1 blocking check with the reason when the month was closed over a blocking check.
  • After a re-sign-off, Re-signed off by, the date, and the revision number, with the reason given.

In the Report pack, the chip changes from Preliminary — period open to Signed off with the date, and each report reads As at the month's last day.

The banner carries the actions for a closed month:

  • Verify recomputes every report live and compares it with what you signed off.
  • Reopen… pulls back a sign-off made by mistake. It works on the most recently closed month only; on any other month its tooltip says Only the latest closed period can be reopened — reopen later months first. See reopen a closed month.
  • Lower hard close date… appears on a hard-locked month, for people with the hard close permission.

When something dated in the month changes later​

A bill that arrives late, an edited order or a corrected stock take still lands in a closed month on its own date. When the change is over your review threshold, the month reads Closed – restated, shows what moved, and asks you to sign it off again with Re-sign-off. A smaller change shows in the month and asks for nothing. You don't reopen the month for this. See Re-sign-off a restated month.

You can close the next month while an earlier one is waiting for a re-sign-off. The Earlier months re-signed check warns you about it, and you acknowledge it in the close dialog.

If the close is refused​

The dialog stays open on a refusal, so you can correct the attempt and try again without retyping anything. The message names the cause: a blocking check that failed on the final run, an item that became outstanding while the dialog was open, an earlier month still to close (Months close in order. Close May 2026 first.), a close already running, or an earlier month reopened while the close ran (An earlier month reopened while this close was running — aborting so periods stay closed in order.). Every refusal, and what to do about it, is in fix a failing check.

Next steps​

Video transcript

Months are signed off in order, oldest first. To sign one off, go to Accounting in the sidebar, then open Close under Period end. The Year board shows a tile for every month of the year. Each tile shows the month's state and its net income.

Find the earliest month that isn't closed yet, and click its tile. The month opens in a drawer on the right. Its status and its date range sit at the top, under the month's name.

This month is already in review. If yours still reads Open, start the close first. That runs every automated check and saves the results. The ring counts what is done, and how many checks are blocking. After you fix a failing check, click Re-check to run them again.

Further down, the Close checklist holds the manual items. Tick each one you have done, such as reviewing the income statement. Your name and the date appear under it.

When nothing is blocking, click Close period at the top of the drawer. The dialog lists everything still outstanding, and each item gets its own box. Tick each warning to record that you are closing with it unresolved. This month has seven warnings, from batches to earlier months. A tick doesn't fix the problem behind a warning. It records that you saw it, and decided to close anyway.

Then tick each manual item on the list that you haven't done yet. The income statement review isn't listed, because you ticked it on the checklist. Every box needs a tick before you can close the month.

If the month needs context, add Close notes for whoever reads it later. The blue note explains that this is a soft close. It signs the month off, but late entries can still land in it. To freeze the books as well, you would tick Also lock through this month. Here that option is greyed out, because an earlier month awaits re-sign-off. The note under it names that month, with a link to review it. You can still sign this one off without the lock.

Click the button with the month's name, at the bottom of the dialog. A message confirms that closing has started. The job runs in the background, and the job tray tracks its progress.

When the job finishes, the drawer refreshes on its own. The banner shows who prepared and closed the month, and when. A late entry that lands here later shows as a change. A change over your review threshold asks you to sign the month off again.

Leave the drawer with the X in its corner. The month's tile now reads Closed, with its net income. Open the job tray in the top bar. Your finished job is listed there, with a green check mark.

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