Month-End Processes

• Review unauthorised Purchase Orders and Goods Received Notes (GRNs), and outstanding orders.

• Cancel or write off any that are no longer needed

For required purchase, sales, and other income and expenditure ledgers, check all:

• Income and outgoings have been entered

• Posted documents have been allocated

• Payments have been made or chased

For location specific ledgers, the tasks must be completed for each location's ledger.

• Record overtime claims

• Run and review Payroll reports

• Create or import a salary journal to the appropriate account, then check against Trial Balance control accounts

• Process payroll payments

• Before processing the VAT return, the monthly VAT period must be reconciled

• Close the VAT Period

At the end of the current month or beginning of the next, only reclaimed VAT amounts that have not been received should be in the VAT period.

• To close the current accounting period, set the Access level to 8.

Run a Trial Balance including period 00, save a copy, then check: 

• All funds and expenditure are accounted for

• Any amounts that do not appear to be correct

• Make sure no balances are against the Payment Run Clearing Account nominal

• Check and reconcile the balances for all control account nominals

• Post any transactions missing from the Cashbook, bank interest or charges, or transfers between bank accounts

• Reconcile all bank accounts, then run the Bank Reconciliation report

• Investigate differences identified on the Bank Reconciliation report

• For your auditor to request bank confirmation letters, provide details of new bank accounts

Calculate and process:

• Accruals and accrued income

• Prepayments

• Deferred Income

• For fixed assets posted to the Income and Expenditure account that must be capitalised, post a journal to move them to the required balance sheet nominals

• Make sure all new assets for each location are in their Fixed Asset ledger

• Check your Trust and Academy fixed asset register agrees with management account costs, depreciation, and net book values

• If completed monthly, post depreciation

• In the Trial Balance, check for incorrectly posted fixed asset values

• Process asset disposals

• Obtain any land or building valuations

• For your auditors, provide property and asset leases in place for the year, with any EFA approvals

Post details relating to any of the following in the applicable accounts: 

• Ex-gratia

• Compensation

• Gifts

• Losses

• Severance payments

• Heritage assets

• Indemnities

For any funds your organisation have been awarded or raised: 

• Check reimbursements

• Post fund payments