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- Financial Close Management
- Features
- Journal and variance review
Journal and variance review
Journal and variance review connects two close questions: whether selected posted entries have been reviewed and why account balances moved. Journal entry reviews refers to the entry and revision owned by the ledger. Flux analyses record a reproducible current-versus-comparison-period basis and the required explanation. These records support the close decision while accounting continues to own posting, correction and reversal. A review outcome never silently changes a posted journal.
OverviewJE Reviews Pending Me×
Financial Close Management · Journal and variance review
New
JE Reviews Pending Me
Journal entry reviews
| Review number | Close period | JE reference | JE date | Type | Prepared by | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JER-85549 | Northstar Europe, September 2026 | JE-2026-0918 | 22 Oct | Auto posted | Mateo Silva | |
| JER-18721 | Northstar Services, September 2026 | JE-2026-0924 | 24 Oct | Manual | Leila Rahman | |
| JER-38630 | Northstar Services, September 2026 | JE-2026-0931 | 04 Nov | Recurring | Owen Patel | |
| JER-81014 | Northstar Property, Q3 2026 | JE-2026-0937 | 22 Oct | Reversing | Camila Duarte | |
| JER-47927 | Northstar Treasury, September 2026 | JE-2026-0942 | 26 Oct | Adjusting | Owen Patel |
6 of 6 records
JE-2026-0918Journal entry reviews · JER-85549
Auto postedClose periodNorthstar Europe, September 2026
JE date22 Oct
Prepared byMateo Silva
Amount310
Threshold levelBelow threshold
What you can do
Route entries using the effective policy
JE Reviews Pending Me shows the assigned reviewer the entry, preparer, amount and threshold level. Amounts above the configured upper threshold route to Controller / CFO. The lower threshold and configured always-review types route to Senior Accountant. Retain the evaluated currency and effective rule. Exclude the preparer from the reviewer pool and reject invalid threshold ordering. The review must refer to the same source revision the person actually inspected.
Follow a rejection through its resolution
A rejected journal review retains the reason and an issues log item. The ledger’s reversal or replacement chain supplies the accounting correction; a replacement entry receives its own required independent review. Merely marking the original review Reposted is not resolution evidence. Keep the original entry, rejection and verified correction available together. Open Issues Log makes unresolved work visible to the close manager until the policy-defined resolution has actually been demonstrated.
Approve explanations on a stable basis
Unexplained Flux identifies account movements needing commentary, while Flux Awaiting Approval holds prepared explanations for Controller / CFO. Compare complete, compatible period snapshots and retain the effective thresholds. A zero comparison balance leaves the percentage undefined while the absolute movement remains available. An explanation must be approved against its current source revision; a nonempty text box or a previous month’s decision cannot clear the final close gate.
What your team sees
- JE Reviews Pending Me. Route entries using the effective policy.
- Open Issues Log. Follow a rejection through its resolution.
- Flux Awaiting Approval. Approve explanations on a stable basis.
Rollout checks
Check amounts below, at and above each threshold, including an always-review manual entry. Attempt self-review and a mismatched journal revision. Follow a rejection through a verified reversal or reviewed replacement. For variance, compare a zero prior balance, a negative movement and a changed source batch. Confirm that each outstanding required decision remains visible before period sign-off.
Before rollout, agree the entity and period population, source-system ownership and the people assigned to each decision. Preserve existing accounting identifiers during migration and reconcile imported totals to the owning system. A preview on this website does not provision a live connector or grant a user financial authority. In Proto, configure the corresponding records and actions, test permitted and rejected operations through the API as well as the interface, and retain the implementation evidence before releasing the application.
Record the accepted pilot evidence with the exact configuration revision so subsequent changes can be compared to the behavior Finance reviewed.
What it keeps track of
Data model- Journal entry reviews
- 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.
- JE review thresholds
- Configuration for which JEs need 4-eyes review. Tiered by amount (L1, L2) and per JE Type. One active set per Entity.
- Flux analyses
- 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.
- Flux analysis lines
- 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.
- Issues log
- 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.
Who uses it
Permissions- Senior Accountant
- Reviews assigned lower-tier entries and prepares variance explanations.
- Controller / CFO
- Reviews higher-tier entries and approves required variance.
- Close Manager
- Follows outstanding issues.
- Internal Auditor
- Reads the evidence without changing the accounting decisions.
Set up Financial Close Management your way.
Start free, then use Proto to change fields, steps and approvals before your team goes live.