The Month-End Close Checklist (Free Template for Finance Teams)
Benoit Baervoets · · 7 min read Key Takeaways
- A month-end close checklist turns a stressful, error-prone process into a repeatable routine with clear owners and a live view of progress.
- This template lists 34 recurring close tasks, grouped by category and sequenced by target working day.
- Assign a preparer and reviewer to every task and track status from a dropdown. Most delays come from unclear ownership, not missing steps.
- Tag one or multiple entities per task, and treat the checklist as a living document you tighten after each close.
A good month-end close checklist does something simple but powerful: it turns a stressful, easy-to-botch process into a routine anyone on the team can run. Nothing gets forgotten, ownership is clear, and you can see at a glance how far along the close is.
Below is the full checklist, the same 34 tasks in the downloadable template, grouped by category and sequenced by target working day (the number of business days after period-end). If you want the reasoning behind each step rather than just the task list, read the full walkthrough in The Month-End Close Process.
The free Excel template is a ready-to-use workbook covering the recurring tasks of a typical month-end close. It is one flat, filterable table with a live progress strip and columns for target working day, category, preparer, reviewer, status, and entity, plus a short note on what “done” looks like and how Eagl helps with each task. Slice it by working day for a day-by-day timeline, by status to see what is still open, or by entity or owner. Tag one or multiple entities per task, or duplicate the tab per entity for a fully separate close. It works in Excel and imports straight into Google Sheets.
How to Use This Checklist
Three habits make the difference between a checklist that helps and one that gathers dust.
First, assign a preparer and a reviewer to every task. The most common reason a close runs long is not a missing step, it is a step with no clear owner that quietly stalls in a handoff. A name next to each line removes that ambiguity, and a second name keeps the review honest.
Second, work the status column. Update each task from the dropdown as you go, from “Not started” to “In progress” to “Ready for review” to “Done.” The progress strip at the top of the template recalculates automatically, so anyone can see how far along the close is without asking.
Third, treat it as a living document. After each close, spend ten minutes on what slowed you down, then adjust the target working days, owners, and tasks. Over a few months, this habit alone will meaningfully shorten your close.
For groups, use the entity column to tag one or multiple entities per task, or duplicate the tab per entity when you want a fully separate close.
What’s on the Checklist
The template lists 34 recurring tasks, grouped by category and sequenced by target working day (WD), the number of business days after period-end. Here is the full list.
Intercompany (target WD 2)
- Identify intercompany transactions
- Reconcile intercompany balances
- Intercompany eliminations
- Transfer pricing
Cash & Bank (target WD 4)
- Reconcile cash balances
- Reconcile credit cards
Payroll & Benefits (target WD 4)
- Payroll booked
- Payroll provisions and reversals
- Bonus and commission accruals
Revenue (target WD 5)
- Invoice processing and completeness
- Revenue recognition
- Credit notes check
- Validate unbilled invoices
Accounts Receivable (target WD 5)
- Client payment transaction matching
- Review receivables aging report
- Doubtful debtors booked
Expenses (target WD 5)
- Bills and supplier invoices received
- Expenses booked
- Prepaid expenses
- Expense amortization
- Costs capitalization
- Expense provisions
- Interest expenses and accruals
Accruals & Deferrals (target WD 5)
- Validate accrued and deferred costs
- Validate accrued and deferred revenue
Fixed & Intangible Assets (target WD 5)
- Asset additions and disposals
- Depreciation
- Reconcile depreciation table to accounts
Reporting (target WD 5)
- Prepare management reporting
- Finalize board deck
Accounts Payable (target WD 7)
- Supplier payment transaction matching
- Review payables aging report
Tax (target WD 9)
- Sales and VAT taxes
- Tax payments and provisions
Where Teams Lose the Most Time
A checklist tells you what to do, but it helps to know which lines tend to eat the calendar so you can resource them properly. Across most teams, three areas dominate:
- Reconciliation, especially cash and balance sheet accounts, which traditionally means pulling reports and comparing balances by hand
- Intercompany work, where a single mismatched balance between entities can hold up the entire group close
- Late-arriving data, which forces rework on steps you thought were finished
The teams that close fastest do not power through these during close week. They do the work continuously through the month so the checklist is mostly confirmation rather than scramble.
Closing Faster With Less on the Checklist
The most effective way to shorten your close is to have fewer open items by the time month-end arrives. That is exactly what continuous, automated review makes possible.
At Eagl, our AI agents review every transaction the moment it posts, across every entity, currency, and ERP. Coding errors, missing accruals, and intercompany mismatches surface during the month and come with a proposed correction you approve in one click. It is why the template has a column for how Eagl helps on each task. By the time you open this checklist, most of the work behind it is already done.
For the full step-by-step process behind this checklist, including how long the close should take, read The Month-End Close Process.
About Eagl
Eagl is an agentic close management platform for high-volume, multi-entity finance teams, built to become the financial operating system for the office of the CFO. It runs account reconciliation, accrual management, and financial controlling on a data-quality layer that corrects errors as it automates, so output stays auditable. Finance teams including Reneo, Bluecrux, and Upvest rely on Eagl to close faster across multiple entities and currencies without sacrificing control.
Ready to see it in action?
Discover how Eagl transforms your financial operations with a personalized demo.
Request demoRelated articles
A Faster Close: How to Get There
The average finance team spends 6+ days closing their books each month. The technology, data, and processes needed to speed up the close already exist. What's missing is structure, focus, and the right foundation.
A New Way for Finance Teams
It is time for a new way of doing finance. From reactive to proactive, fast, accurately, and with confidence. A look at why the finance function is fundamentally broken — and how intelligent systems can fix it.
Accrual Management: A Complete Guide to Accruals, Prepayments, and Provisions
What accrual management is, the accrual lifecycle from booking to settlement, the main types of accruals every controller tracks, the challenges that trip teams up, and how continuous, automated tracking keeps your balance sheet clean.