The tables behind Financial Close Management

The per-Entity close schedule. Anchors every close period and every closing task due date to a workday calendar (US Federal holidays + firm-specific holidays + weekends). One row per Entity per fiscal year.

Open period instances. One row per Entity per fiscal period (month or quarter). Lifecycle: Not started → in progress → Reviewed → lock pending → Locked, with Reopened as a recoverable off-ramp that requires Controller + Admin dual approval. On reopen-and-relock, the workflow writes a second period locks row preserving the original audit trail; the lifecycle returns to Reviewed → lock pending → Locked again with a new lock signature.

Reusable task templates that materialize into closing tasks the moment a close period is created. Versioned via effective from; in-flight close periods are not retroactively rewritten by a template change.

DAG predecessor relationships between templates (e.g. “Post payroll JE” depends on “Receive payroll register”). Cycles are rejected on template save.

Instance tasks per close period. One row per active template per period, with resolved Owner / Reviewer / due date. The day-to-day checklist surface for the Accountant and Senior Accountant.

Threaded discussion on a single closing task. Used for handoff notes, blockers, and reviewer feedback.

Open close-related issues — the catch-all log for anomalies that did not yet become a formal Deficiency or rejected recon but need visibility. The Close Manager works this list daily.

Reusable recon templates per Account — one per balance-sheet account that is reconciled at close. Carries the subledger source that the nightly auto-match uses to pull the comparison balance.

Per-Account per-Period recon. The audit-quality artifact: opens with GL balance vs subledger balance, captures every variance dollar as a reconciliation items line, attaches evidence, and walks not started → Prepared → Reviewed → Approved with hard segregation between Preparer and Reviewer. Approver must also differ from Preparer (three-eyes on material accounts; where Controller is Approver, this is naturally satisfied since Controller is rarely also a recon Preparer). System validation enforces Preparer ≠ Approver at row save.

Variance items — one row per dollar of GL-vs-subledger difference the Preparer can identify (timing item, in-transit, accrual, error). SUM must equal Variance for the recon to advance to Reviewed.

Supporting documents — bank statement PDF, subledger aging report, inventory valuation report, fixed-asset register snapshot. Links to the document store; the file URL is frozen on Approved.

Formal sign-off record. One row per reconciliation revision and certification capacity; the immutable certification artifact for the audit trail.

Per-JE review queue. Rows are created for every posted JE that matches a JE review thresholds rule (Amount above L1 or above L2, or by Type — Manual JEs always reviewed, auto posted only above threshold). Lifecycle: Pending review → Approved | Rejected → Reposted.

Configuration for which JEs need 4-eyes review. Tiered by amount (L1, L2) and per JE Type. One active set per Entity.

Per-Account flux analysis for a close period. Captures month-over-month change vs the prior closed period; when the change breaches Threshold an Explanation is required and approval gates sign-off. The “what changed and why” surface that auditors expect.

Drill-through to the JEs that drove the variance. Populated by the flux-analysis-prep workflow — the top N JEs by absolute amount in the period for the Account.

Open close-related issues — the catch-all log for anomalies that did not yet become a formal Deficiency or rejected recon but need visibility. The Close Manager works this list daily.

Control catalog. Each control is a documented activity that mitigates a specific financial-reporting risk in the company-defined control program. Owned by SOX Lead; this catalog does not certify regulatory compliance.

Periodic test record. One per SOX control per period (per the control’s Frequency). Captures Tester, test date, Sample size, and Result; ineffective results raise a control deficiencies row.

Sampled-item evidence — the population sample used for the test, with each item’s pass/fail. The substance of audit defensibility.

Flagged deficiency log. Created automatically when a SOX control tests row closes with Result IN (deficient with compensating, significant deficiency, material weakness). Tracked through Remediation.

Open close-related issues — the catch-all log for anomalies that did not yet become a formal Deficiency or rejected recon but need visibility. The Close Manager works this list daily.

Per-role per-Period sign-off ceremony. One row per required role (Reviewer = Senior Accountant cohort, Approver = Controller, Auditor = Internal Auditor concurrence). The signoff-routing-and-completion- gate workflow checks that all required Signoffs are Approved before allowing close period status: Reviewed → lock pending. Only ledger confirmation permits Locked.

Per-role per-Period sign-off ceremony. One row per required role (Reviewer = Senior Accountant cohort, Approver = Controller, Auditor = Internal Auditor concurrence). The signoff-routing-and-completion- gate workflow checks that all required Signoffs are Approved before allowing close period status: Reviewed → lock pending. Only ledger confirmation permits Locked.

The close-period management rep letter signed by Controller and CFO at sign-off. Carries company-approved representation text, the exact period evidence revision, and separately assigned signatures. The system does not supply a legal conclusion or certify compliance.

One controlled lock request per close revision. Pending and failed attempts are explicit. Successful records retain the authoritative ledger confirmation and immutable audit-pack identity. An authorized reopen keeps the same close periods identity, increments its revision, and later produces a new lock request without overwriting earlier successful evidence.

Dual-authorized request to reopen the same ledger period. Final confirmation increments close period revision, invalidates affected review decisions and preserves the prior frozen lock and audit pack. The integration can never claim Reopened from an unconfirmed request.

Per-period read-only grant for an External Auditor user. The grant is the system-of-record that backs the External Auditor role’s scoped read on ClosePeriods and the period’s full audit pack. Granted by Controller, defaults to a 90-day window, optionally revoked early; every access against the grant is audit-logged behind AccessLogURL.

Open period instances. One row per Entity per fiscal period (month or quarter). Lifecycle: Not started → in progress → Reviewed → lock pending → Locked, with Reopened as a recoverable off-ramp that requires Controller + Admin dual approval. On reopen-and-relock, the workflow writes a second period locks row preserving the original audit trail; the lifecycle returns to Reviewed → lock pending → Locked again with a new lock signature.

A scoped employee identity directory synchronized from the organization identity or HR source. This reference supports ownership and approval attribution; it does not add payroll or HR administration. Role membership alone never grants access to every directory field. External auditors and portal users receive only the identities needed for their granted work.