Accounting Periods

Accounting periods (the Monthly Close Checklist page in the app) control when transactions can post. Closing a period rejects edits or new entries dated inside it; locking adds stronger protection. The Monthly Close Checklist, a close-readiness score, and multi-reviewer sign-offs help you finish month-end with confidence. Every close, lock, override, and reopen is captured in the audit trail.

Key capabilities

• Three states — open → closed → locked
• Closing blocks posting and edits to any date inside the period
• Locking requires the period be closed first and sign-offs from two different people
• Closing is refused while serious blockers remain, unless you use Close Anyway with a recorded reason
• Reopen requires a reason and an owner or admin; the audit trail records who and when
• Bulk close-and-lock for historical transfer (1–120 periods)
• Create a period for any date range (new periods default to a calendar month); overlapping ranges are refused
• Optional automatic period creation and close preparation (see Pro tips)
• Four-phase Monthly Close Checklist: Clean Up, Reconcile, Adjust, Review
• AI close-readiness check with itemized findings
• Unified close score shown in the Daily Brief
• Agent run table showing where each close job stands, who owns it, and whether it is overdue
• Manual checklist acknowledgements and sign-offs by role
• Requires the CFO Suite add-on (or a firm plan that bundles it)

How it works

A period starts open. Closing records who closed it and when; locking promotes a closed period once two different people have signed off. Reopening (always audited) returns it to open so corrections can post.

stateDiagram-v2
  direction LR
  [*] --> Open
  Open --> Closed: Close
  Closed --> Locked: Lock
  Closed --> Open: Reopen
  Locked --> Open: Reopen
  note right of Closed
    Closed and Locked both reject
    postings inside the period
  end note

How to use it

1. Open Accounting Periods (the Monthly Close Checklist) and pick the Focus period; click New period if the month does not exist yet.
2. Work the four phases: categorize and review transactions and match bills (Clean Up), finish bank reconciliations (Reconcile), clear anomalies (Adjust), then confirm the trial balance, P&L variances, and the controller's final review (Review). Each row links to the page where you fix it; Mark Signed Off records the manual steps.
3. Click Readiness on an open period (or Run Readiness on the checklist) for an AI check before closing.
4. Click Close on the period's row and confirm — postings dated inside the period are now rejected. If items remain, the button shows the count and opens Close with unresolved items, where Close Anyway needs a reason of at least 3 characters.
5. Under Sign-offs, each reviewer picks a role, adds optional notes, and clicks Sign off as .... When two different people have signed off, a closed period locks automatically; you can also click Lock on the row once the requirement is met.
6. Use Bulk Lock Historical to close and lock older months in one pass.
7. To correct something, click Reopen and give a reason (owners and admins only).

Pro tips

• Close periods as the last step of month-end so reconciled data cannot be edited by accident.
• Drive the score to 100% before locking — unreviewed and uncategorized transactions carry the heaviest penalties.
• Sign-offs count different people, so one person signing under two roles still counts once.
• Ask Regent to turn on automatic period creation, or monthly close preparation that files the close for your approval (nothing closes without it). There is no settings screen for these yet.
• Use Download Month-End Package on the same page to export the period's reports as PDF or Excel; see the Month-End Package article.
• The Agent run panel lists each close job with owner, status (Planned, Running, Done, Blocked, Failed, Skipped), the business day it is due, evidence, and what is blocking it. DayZero, not the agent, marks a job Overdue.
• Reopen sparingly with a clear reason; frequent reopens signal control weaknesses.
• For onboarding with years of history, bulk close-and-lock through the cutover month.

In-depth guide

Status and transitions

Only open periods can be closed; only closed periods can be locked. Close is refused while serious (high-severity) blockers remain: uncategorized or unreviewed transactions, unreconciled accounts, unresolved anomalies, verification exceptions. Close Anyway needs a reason of at least 3 characters and records the bypassed blockers in the audit log. Reopen needs a reason and owner or admin access. Bulk close-and-lock (1 to 120 periods per call) closes any open period first, then locks it without requiring sign-offs; already-locked periods are skipped and reported.

Close score components

The page shows three manual checklist steps (trial balance, P&L variance, controller final review); the score also counts balance-sheet review, revenue recognition, accruals, depreciation, payroll, and intercompany acknowledgements. Sign-off roles are Controller, Owner, Reviewer, or a custom role, each saving the score at that moment.

Period close does not create journal entries — it is a control layer. Closing against a date with no existing period auto-creates the monthly period, then closes it.