Period oversight

Accounting periods gives each cost period a name, fiscal year, start date, end date, status and close notes. The Ledger and Reconciliation page brings journal, period and reconciliation exceptions that are still open into view. Finance Reviewer can inspect draft journals and released variances before recording close notes. The period status distinguishes Open, Closed and Locked. The operating team should use those statuses consistently across each organization.

• Check the calendar. Confirm the period start and end dates before adding cost documents or journals.
• Inspect open work. Review draft journals and variances awaiting reconciliation.
• Record closure context. Use close notes to explain the status of the period and outstanding decisions.

Agree which organization and fiscal calendar a period serves. Define who may close a period and what evidence must be checked before closure. Decide how a later correction enters the ledger when its source belongs to an earlier period. A locked period should have an identified owner for exceptions, so the team does not solve a cutoff problem by changing dates without explanation.

At month end, Finance Reviewer checks a division period nearing its end date. Cost Journals Unposted shows a draft entry whose debits and credits still need review. Variances Awaiting Reconciliation shows a released amount with a ledger reference. The reviewer follows each source, checks the journal status and writes a close note. The team records any move from Open to Closed through its agreed close procedure. A later correction can be traced to that note and the journal that changed the balance.

The close conversation should begin with the unresolved items, not the calendar date alone. Check whether a draft journal is awaiting a balance correction or a released variance still lacks inspected ledger evidence. Record the owner of each exception before changing the period status. If an exception remains after close, the close note should say what it is and where its later correction will be recorded, so the next reviewer can follow it. Compare the journal posting date with the period start and end dates. Keep the variance record number in the review notes so the next finance reviewer can find the same case.

• Accounting Period Schedule — Review open and closed periods by start and end dates.
• Variances Awaiting Reconciliation — Locate released differences needing ledger inspection.

See the variance release process for the reconciliation handoff, and implementation for the first period review.