Start Your Year-End Close in September, Not December

December is a terrible month to discover that your books need attention.
Everyone is busy.
Owners want reports.
Vendors want payments.
Employees are taking time off.
Tax preparation is approaching.
And suddenly someone discovers an unreconciled account from March.
That is why September is a much better time to start preparing for year-end.
Think of September as the Cleanup MonthYou don't have to close the entire year in September.
The objective is to identify problems while there is still time to fix them.
Start with your outstanding items.
Review Old ReceivablesLook at unpaid balances.
Some are legitimate.
Some may require follow-up.
Some may simply be old records that should have been resolved months ago.
Don't allow old balances to become invisible because they have been sitting there for too long.
Review Owner BalancesOwner balances deserve special attention.
Check for:

• Unexplained credits
  
• Outstanding advances
  
• Unallocated income
  
• Missing expenses
  
• Unresolved distributions
  

If an owner asks about their year-end financial position, you want the answer to come from clean records—not a last-minute investigation.
Reconcile EverythingSeptember is also a good time to review reconciliation status.
Don't wait until December.
If there are discrepancies, investigate them while the transaction history is still relatively fresh.
Look at Your Chart of AccountsA year-end review is a good opportunity to identify categories that have become messy.
You may find:

• Duplicate accounts
  
• Unused accounts
  
• Inconsistent expense coding
  
• Miscellaneous categories containing too many transactions
  

Cleaning these up can make year-end reporting much easier.
Don't Forget Vendor RecordsReview vendor balances and documentation.
Look for:

• Missing invoices
  
• Unpaid bills
  
• Duplicate vendor records
  
• Incorrect vendor information
  
• Unresolved credits
  

A clean vendor file makes the final months of the year much easier.
September Gives You TimeThe biggest advantage of starting early is not that you finish early.
It is that you have time to investigate.
If you discover a problem on December 29, the question becomes:
"How quickly can we fix this?"
If you discover it in September, the question becomes:
"Why did this happen, and how should we correct it?"
That is a much better position.
Acrebook supports property management bookkeeping, reconciliations, owner statements and financial reporting.
Phone: +1 (732) 242-4135
Email: info@acrebook
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