Statuses in the close
The Close tab uses two sets of statuses. One describes the month as a whole: it's the state on the month's Year board tile and the chip beside the month name in its drawer. The other describes each row of the month's Close checklist. This page is a lookup for both, plus the tags a month can carry and the events its History records.
Two ideas explain most of what follows:
- Closing a month signs it off. It doesn't freeze it. A closed month still accepts late entries on their true date. When its own numbers move, it reads Closed – restated and asks for a re-sign-off.
- Only the hard close date freezes the books. A closed month that ends on or before your hard close date reads Hard-locked. See how the hard close date works.
The states a month can be in
A month is always in exactly one of seven states. Closed is the soft close: signed off, not frozen.
| State | Icon and colour | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Open | Grey hollow circle, white tile | Nobody has started this month's close, and no lock covers it. The drawer shows a live preview of the checklist. Nothing is saved against the month yet. |
| In Review | Blue half-filled circle, blue tile | The close has started. The checklist is saved against the month, and you can tick items, record overrides, take over preparation and Re-check. |
| Closing… | Spinner on the tile, clock on the drawer chip | The close is running in the background. Only one month closes at a time. Other closes, reopens, re-sign-offs and hard close date moves wait until it finishes. |
| Closed | Green check in a circle, green tile | The month is signed off and its report pack is saved as its numbers of record. Late entries can still land in it. Its latest sign-off still matches the books, or any change is at or below your review threshold. |
| Closed – restated | Amber alert, orange tile border | A closed month whose own numbers changed after sign-off by more than your review threshold. It stays closed and waits for a re-sign-off. |
| Hard-locked | Blue-grey padlock, blue-grey tile | A closed month that ends on or before your hard close date. It's frozen: nothing can post into it, it can't be re-signed or reopened, and nightly change detection skips it. |
| Locked, not closed | Grey padlock outline, grey striped tile | A month that a lock covers but that nobody ever signed off. For example, you moved the hard close date past it with an override, an enforced provider lock covers it, or it was locked before month-end close existed. It's frozen without a sign-off or a saved report pack. You can still close it for the record. |
The Year board legend lists six of them in this order: Open, In Review, Closed, Closed – restated, Hard-locked and Locked, not closed. Closing… only lasts while a close runs, so it has no swatch.
Future months that SKU.io doesn't track yet show as faded Not started tiles. They have no state and you can't open them.
Which state wins
A month can match more than one description at once. The state you see follows this order, and the first that applies wins:
- Closing…, while a close runs.
- Hard-locked, when the month is closed and the hard close date covers it.
- Closed – restated, when the month is closed and waits for a re-sign-off.
- Closed, for any other closed month.
- Locked, not closed, when a lock covers a month nobody closed. This holds even while someone works the month's checklist.
- In Review, when the close has started.
- Open, otherwise.
Tags a month can carry
Tags sit beside the state. They add information and never replace the state.
| Tag | Where you see it | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Balance moved | Tile, drawer header, Changes since sign-off card, phone list | An earlier month was restated, and the change carried into this month's balances. Nothing dated in this month changed, so it isn't restated and needs no sign-off. The tag clears when the earlier month is re-signed. |
| Locked by followed by the connection name, for example Locked by Xero | Tile, drawer header, phone list | A closed month that an enforced provider lock covers but your hard close date doesn't. It's frozen in SKU.io because that provider's lock is enforced. It still reads Closed, not Hard-locked. |
| Through followed by a date on the tile, Locked through followed by a date in the drawer | Tile, drawer header | Your hard close date falls inside this month. This happens only with a date kept from your old lock date. Days up to that date are frozen and later days aren't. |
| N blocking, for example 2 blocking | Tile, drawer header, phone list | The number of blocking checks failing on a month in review. |
What each tile shows under the state
Every Year board tile shows the month, the state icon and the state name. Under that, it shows the first line below that applies, with each figure labelled:
| Tile | Line under the state | Hover it to read |
|---|---|---|
| Closed – restated | Change since sign-off over the signed change in net income, for example −$1,284.16, and then the number of accounts that changed | The net income change, the gross change across the changed accounts, and that the month needs a re-sign-off |
| In Review | A progress bar with 25/33 done, and N blocking in red when any blocking check fails | — |
| Balance moved | Balance moved and then the gross amount carried in, for example $2,568.32 carried in | Which earlier month it came from, and that no sign-off is needed |
| A provider lock covers it | Locked by Xero | That the provider's own lock covers the month and is enforced, so SKU.io freezes it too |
| The hard close date falls mid-month | Through Mar 15 | Which days are frozen |
| Closed or Hard-locked | Net income and the month's net income as signed off, in whole dollars, for example Net income $1,428 | That this is the month's net income as signed off |
| The month whose turn it is to close | Up next | — |
| A Locked, not closed month you can close | Optional close | — |
Up next and Optional close are two separate tracks. Up next is the oldest month that isn't closed and isn't covered by a lock. Months close oldest first, so later months wait for it. Optional close marks a month that's already frozen by a lock. Closing it records a sign-off, but nothing waits for it. See which months you can close.
On a phone
Phones don't show the Year board. They show a Period picker and a
Periods list, newest month first. Each row has the state icon, the short
month name, a red count of blocking checks when there are any, any tags, and a
done/total counter once the close has started. The line under the month name
reads:
| State | Line under the month name |
|---|---|
| Open | Open, or Open — up next on the month whose turn it is |
| In Review | In Review |
| Closing… | Closing… |
| Closed | Closed followed by the date it was closed |
| Closed – restated | Restated followed by the signed net income change, for example Restated −$1,284.16 |
| Hard-locked | Signed off followed by the date it was signed off |
| Locked, not closed | Locked, not closed — optional close, or Locked, not closed |
A bold Books locked through line, with your hard close date, sits above the newest month the hard close date covers. Everything below the line is frozen.
How a month moves between states
The ordinary path runs one way: Open → In Review → Closing… → Closed. From there:
- A late change restates the month. An entry, edit or adjustment dated in a closed month still posts on its date. When the month's own change goes above your Review threshold, nightly detection or a Re-check turns it Closed – restated. A change at or below the threshold is recorded, and the month stays Closed. See when a closed month changes.
- A re-sign-off returns it to Closed. The re-sign-off saves a new revision of the report pack. If the change goes back to zero on its own, the month also returns to Closed, and History records Restatement cleared.
- Moving the hard close date forward hard-locks it. Every closed month that ends on or before the new date becomes Hard-locked. You can't move the date past a month that's waiting for a re-sign-off. See move the hard close date.
- Lowering the hard close date releases it. The months the date no longer covers go back to Closed. They stay signed off and aren't reopened. See lower or clear the hard close date.
- Reopening pulls back a mistaken sign-off. You can reopen only the latest closed month, and never a Hard-locked one. The month returns to In Review, never to Open, with its history intact. See reopen a closed month.
- A close that doesn't finish goes back to In Review. A month never stays on Closing… because something went wrong.
- A Locked, not closed month can be closed for the record. Close for the record starts its checklist like Start close does. Once it's closed, it reads Hard-locked when the hard close date covers it, or Closed with a Locked by tag when only a provider lock does.
A month that only reads Balance moved doesn't change state. Its tag clears when the earlier month is re-signed. History then records a revision with refreshed balances and no sign-off.
A month that reads Open but already has a record
Open means the close hasn't been started. It doesn't mean SKU.io has never touched this month. Export pack and Capture provider balances both create a month's record without starting its close. The month still reads Open, still shows a preview checklist, and still offers Start close. Nothing is committed until you press it.
Months before your books began
There's no state for "before we started". Months earlier than your accounting start date don't appear at all, and the Year board won't go back past the first year your books cover. A business with no accounting history yet sees No accounting history yet and Months appear here once your accounting start date is set and entries begin generating — then you can run a formal month-end close.
History events and revision kinds
Expand History at the bottom of a month's drawer to see everything that happened to the month, newest first. Each line shows what happened, the date and time, and who did it, or System when SKU.io did it. A reason, when one was given, is quoted underneath.
Events
| Event | When it's recorded |
|---|---|
| Close started | Someone started the month's close with Start close or Close for the record. A month in review always says who started it. |
| Took over preparing this month | Someone used Take over preparation, so they became the month's preparer. See review and close a month someone else prepared. |
| Closed and signed off | The close finished and the month was signed off. |
| Restatement detected: and the signed change, for example Restatement detected: −$1,284.16 | Nightly detection or a Re-check found the month's numbers had moved since its sign-off. |
| Restatement updated: and the new signed change | The change moved again before anyone re-signed. |
| Restatement cleared: the difference went back to zero | The books came back to what was signed, so the month returned to Closed without a re-sign-off. |
| Re-signed after a change of and the signed change, or Re-signed | Someone re-signed the month. The reason they gave is quoted underneath. |
| Reopened | Someone pulled the sign-off back. Their reason is quoted underneath. |
Moves of the hard close date and changes to a provider's own lock date don't belong to one month, so they aren't in a month's History. They're listed in the History table on the Hard close date card in Accounting → Settings → Close, with the columns Date, Change, By and Reason:
| Change | By | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| The old date to the new date, for example Dec 31, 2025 to Mar 31, 2026 | The person who moved the hard close date | The reason they gave |
| The same, after a chip naming the connection, for example Xero lock | Daily import | Imported from and the connection name |
Revisions
Every sign-off saves the month's report pack as a numbered revision. History lists each revision as its own line, with an Open revision link that opens that revision's pack.
| History line | Revision kind, as the Report pack picker names it | Who makes it |
|---|---|---|
| Revision 1 saved | Close | The person who closed the month. Each later close after a reopen saves the next number. |
| Revision 2 saved | Re-sign-off | The person who re-signed the month. Any notes they typed show underneath. |
| Revision 3: balances refreshed, no sign-off | Balances refreshed | System. It's recorded on a later Balance moved month when an earlier month is re-signed, so the later month's saved balances catch up. Nobody signed it. |
The Report pack picker lists the revisions newest first, in the form Revision 2: Re-sign-off, Mar 3, 2026. A Closed – restated month also offers Live books. See read the close reports.
What each checklist result means
The Close checklist mixes two kinds of row. Automated checks carry a status icon and SKU.io grades them for you. Manual items carry a tick box, and you confirm them yourself.
Automated checks
| Icon | Meaning | Effect on the close |
|---|---|---|
| Green tick in a circle | Passed. Nothing is outstanding on this check for the month. | Counts as done. |
| Amber warning triangle | A warning-level check found something. The row's one-line summary says what, for example 4 still in flight. | The month can still close, but you must acknowledge the item in the close dialog. |
| Red cross in a circle | A blocking check is failing. | The close is refused until you fix it, unless the check can be closed over with a reason. See what stops a close. |
| Grey clock face | Not run yet. | Click Re-check to grade it. |
| Grey minus in a circle, with the row dimmed | Not applicable. The reason is printed underneath, for example Payment posting has not started for this period. | Counts as done, and never needs acknowledging. |
Keep these points in mind when you read a checklist quickly:
- A red cross only ever appears on a blocking check. A warning-level check that finds a problem shows the amber triangle. Each failing blocking check also appears in the Blocking checks card above the checklist, and their count is the red N blocking chip.
- A dimmed row isn't a failed one. A blocking check that doesn't apply this month also drops its Blocking chip, because it blocks nothing.
- A check that can't finish fails at its own level. A blocking check that couldn't run shows the red cross. A warning-level one shows the amber triangle.
The grey clock appears briefly on a month you just started. It also appears on a check that was added after the month was started, because SKU.io adds new checks to an existing checklist and grades them at the next Re-check.
Manual items
| Tick box | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Empty | To do. Nobody has confirmed this item for the month. |
| Ticked | Done. The name of the person who ticked it and the day they did, for example Jul 16, show under the title. |
Manual items are the three built-in review items (Review Income Statement, Review Balance Sheet and Review Inventory Valuation & COGS) plus your own items in the Custom group. Left unticked at close time, each one works like a warning: the close dialog lists it with — not ticked on the checklist and asks you to acknowledge it.
You can untick an item while the month is In Review. Once the month is closing or closed, the tick boxes are read-only.
What counts as done
The progress ring in the drawer (25 of 33 done), the N/M done line on the tile and the per-group counters all count these three things as done:
- an automated check that passed
- an automated check that's not applicable
- a manual item that's ticked
Everything else counts as outstanding: warnings, blocking failures, checks not run yet and unticked items. A month can close well short of a full count, because acknowledging a warning lets the close through without turning the row green.
Acknowledged at close
On a closed or reopened month, a manual item left unticked at sign-off shows a blue check-circle outline in place of its tick box. Hover it to read Acknowledged at close: the month was signed off with this item outstanding. Every acknowledged row, automated or manual, carries the line Acknowledged at close under its title. An acknowledged warning keeps its amber triangle. It's a record, not a result. The problem behind it is still there. It only says that the person who closed the month knew about it.
Next steps
- The Close tab at a glance: every card, drawer section and dialog
- The close checks: what each automated check measures
- When a closed month changes
- Re-sign-off a restated month
- How the hard close date works
- Close a month