Month-End Close Checklist — SKILL.md

Orchestrates and validates the full month-end close for a QBO client.

Reads clients/{slug}/sop.md to determine which checks apply,

runs automated close checks against QBO, scores each item,

proposes journal entries for missing items, tracks progress with CDC,

and outputs a controller-ready Excel workbook.

Trigger

Use this skill when:

• User says "run close", "month-end close", "close checklist", or "close [client] for [month]"
• Monthly close workflow is needed for any QBO-connected client
• Re-running close to check if open items have been resolved

Do NOT use for:

• P&L variance analysis → use pl-quick-compare or pl-deep-analysis
• Bank reconciliation only → use bank-reconciliation
• Budget vs. actual → use budget-vs-actual

Script Location

scripts/pipelines/month-end-close.py

Usage

# Standard close run
python3 scripts/pipelines/month-end-close.py --slug sb-paulson --month 2026-03

# Skip GL drill (faster; prepaid/depr/payroll checks have limited data)
python3 scripts/pipelines/month-end-close.py --slug willo-salons --month 2026-02 --skip-gl

# Re-run as items get resolved (CDC tracks progress between runs)
python3 scripts/pipelines/month-end-close.py --slug glowlabs --month 2026-03

# Force fresh QBO pulls (ignore CDC cache)
python3 scripts/pipelines/month-end-close.py --slug sb-paulson --month 2026-03 --rerun

# Custom output directory
python3 scripts/pipelines/month-end-close.py --slug sb-paulson --month 2026-03 --out ~/Desktop/close

# QBO Sandbox
python3 scripts/pipelines/month-end-close.py --slug sb-paulson --month 2026-03 --sandbox

Arguments

Close Checks

SOP Integration

The pipeline reads clients/{slug}/sop.md and parses it for:

• AR Aging — auto-disabled if SOP contains: no accounts receivable, POS collection,

AR aging: ❌, or AR: Not applicable

• Intercompany — disabled by default; enabled if SOP contains: multi-entity,

intercompany: ✅, or consolidated

• Watch notes — special SOP signals become tab notes in Excel

(e.g. interest expense, cash burn, deferred revenue, SAFE)

Client SOP Quick Reference

Outputs

Excel Workbook

Saved to ~/Desktop/MonthEndClose_{slug}_{YYYY-MM}_Run{N}.xlsx

Completion Score

Completion % = (PASS + N/A) / Total × 100
Close is "READY" when FAIL = 0 and ACTION = 0

Proposed JE Format

Each proposed entry has:

• Debit Account
• Credit Account
• Amount (Decimal; "TBD" if unknown)
• Memo / basis
• Urgency: HIGH | MEDIUM | LOW

CDC (Change Data Capture)

Cache file: .cache/month-end-close/{slug}-{YYYY-MM}.json

• First run: full snapshot saved, no delta
• Subsequent runs: shows status changes (FAIL→PASS = "Resolved ✅", PASS→FAIL = "Regressed ⚠️")
• Re-run the pipeline as items are resolved — CDC tracks progress automatically
• Use --rerun to force fresh QBO pulls without clearing CDC history

Check Logic Summary

Bank Recon

Checks .cache/bank-reconciliation/{slug}.json for a completed reconciliation matching the

close period end date. If found and is_reconciled: true → PASS. If different period or

missing → ACTION NEEDED with command to run.

Trial Balance

Pulls QBO TB report via qbo report tb, sums all debit and credit columns, validates

|debits - credits| < $0.02. OUT OF BALANCE → FAIL with proposed suspense entry.

AP / AR Aging

Scans QBO Balance Sheet for AP/AR account balances. Flags material balances ≥ $500 as

ACTION NEEDED. Proposes accrual entry for largest outstanding item > $2,500.

Prepaid Amortization

Compares prior-month BS prepaid balances to current. If prior balance > $0 and no GL

activity or balance reduction → ACTION NEEDED with estimated monthly amort entry

(straight-line over 12 months as placeholder).

Depreciation

Checks fixed asset accounts on BS + scans GL for depreciation/journal entries to

accumulated depreciation accounts. No activity on period with known fixed assets → ACTION NEEDED.

Payroll Reconciliation

Sums payroll GL accounts for current period, compares to prior P&L payroll total.

Flags if variance > $500 or > 15% month-over-month.

Revenue Recognition

Checks deferred revenue BS balance for movement. No change with known balance → ACTION NEEDED

with estimated recognition entry (straight-line over 12 months as placeholder).

Accrued Expenses

Compares accrual account balances prior-vs-current. Flags individual account changes ≥ $1,000

or near-zero reversal from significant balance.

Intercompany

Only runs if enabled by SOP. Checks for non-zero intercompany/due-to/due-from balances.

Net balance ≠ $0.02 → ACTION NEEDED with elimination entry.

Dependencies

• Python 3.10+ with openpyxl (pip install openpyxl)
• Node.js QBO client with valid auth tokens
• Client SOP at clients/{slug}/sop.md (optional but recommended)
• Completed bank-recon run for bank_recon check to PASS

Related Pipelines

Bank Recon must be run first — month-end-close reads its CDC cache to verify completion.

Notes

• All financial math uses Python Decimal for precision
• Proposed JE amounts marked "TBD" when determination requires human review (e.g. depreciation schedule)
• SOP parsing is additive: missing SOP = all checks enabled with defaults
• Run multiple times freely — CDC log accumulates close progress history