What is a close calendar?

Definition

A close calendar is the dated plan of working-day due dates and named owners for finishing the books. On the books, this is a schedule that sits beside the ledger, not an account you debit or credit.

It tells the shop which working day each step is due. The person who owns that date is written on the same line.

Nothing on this calendar posts. It only times the work that will later hit the Balance Sheet and the Income Statement.

Where it shows up

Balance sheet: Related to the dates that get monthly statements issued.

P&L: Related to the dates that get monthly statements issued.

Cash flow: Related to the dates that get monthly statements issued.

See also: Close Checklist · Month-End Close · Cutoff

When you look at your Balance Sheet, this calendar is not a printed line. The dates on it are the dates that get that statement issued.

When you look at your Income Statement, the same thing is true. The calendar times the work; the statement reports the month.

On the Statement of Cash Flows, nothing from the calendar prints as its own line. Cash still moved on the days it moved; the calendar only says when the rec of those days is due.

A high or low balance does not apply here. This is a schedule of dates and names, not an account.

The last date on the calendar is usually the day the Financial Statement Package leaves the shop. Statements due working-day +5 means that bundle is due that day.

You will also see the calendar in a shared spreadsheet or on a wall by the desk. The general ledger does not hold it.

How it works

Someone writes the June dates before June ends. Each task gets a working-day number, counted from the first business day after month-end.

How a close calendar is built:

• Write the month dates before month-end, counted in working days from the first business day after month-end
• Give each task a due working-day number and a named owner
• Keep each line to a date, a short task name, and an owner
• Mark lines done as dates pass; a missed date is a late close, not a journal entry
• Finish when statements go out on the last date; next month gets its own calendar

The bank reconciliation is due working-day +1, and accounts payable is due working-day +3. Statements are due working-day +5.

Each line names an owner. If that person is out, the date is still on the calendar, so someone else can cover it.

The calendar is not the work itself. The bank reconciliation still has to be finished; the calendar only says it is due on working-day +1.

As dates pass, owners mark their lines done. A missed date is a late close, not a journal entry.

When statements go out on the last date, the June calendar is finished. July will have its own dates and its own owners.

The calendar can be a spreadsheet, a shared board, or a printout on the wall. What matters is that every due date has a name next to it.

Do not load the calendar with every step of the work. Keep each line to a date, a short name for the work, and an owner.

Example

An eight-person shop writes a June close calendar before month-end. The bank reconciliation is due working-day +1, AP is due working-day +3, and statements are due working-day +5.

The bookkeeper owns the bank rec date, and the office manager owns AP. The owner owns the statement date.

If working-day +1 is Wednesday, July 1, the bookkeeper finishes the rec that day and marks the line done. Nothing posts because of that checkmark.

The rec work posted its own items. The calendar only recorded that the date was met.

On working-day +3, the office manager finishes AP. On working-day +5, the Financial Statement Package goes out.

If AP slips to working-day +4, the statement date is at risk. The calendar makes that slip visible while there are still days left.

If the bookkeeper is out on working-day +1, the owner can see the name on the line and cover the rec. The date does not move unless the shop agrees to move it.

Common mix-ups

A close calendar is not a close checklist. The checklist is the task-by-task list of everything that must be done; the calendar is the dated schedule of when those tasks are due and who owns them.

A close calendar is not the month-end close itself. The close is the work of finishing June so statements can be issued; the calendar only times that work.

A close calendar is not a period lock. Locking the period stops later posting into June; the calendar never locks anything.

Related terms

• Close Checklist: The task-by-task list of everything that must be done to close a period.
• Month-End Close: The monthly version of the close, ending in issued financial statements.
• Period Close: The general routine of finalizing the books for a monthly, quarterly, or annual period so statements can be issued.
• Accounting Period: The span of time a set of financial statements covers.
• Cutoff: The rule that transactions land in the period in which they actually occurred.
• Financial Statement Package: The bundled set of statements and schedules delivered after a close.
• Period Lock: Closing a period in the system so no further entries can be posted to it.
• Year-End Close: The heavier close at fiscal year end, including closing entries and audit preparation.