MosoFin skill · month-end-close-checklist · learning guide

From a list that fits your business to books that tie out

This page shows how the skill plans and tracks a month-end close, one level at a time. It starts with what closing means. It ends with the check that last month's reported balances are still in the books. The page quotes every rule from the skill and works every number in front of you.

The rules are the skill's ownThe page quotes each rule word for word, with the file and section it comes from.
Outside sources back the factsThey are an APQC benchmark, an IRS publication, an OpenStax textbook and two GAO publications. Each one has a number and a link.
The page shows the mathOpen "Check it yourself" on any level. Follow every line on a calculator.
Your numbers, your checkAt the end, enter up to 10 balance sheet accounts of your own. A second tool counts the tasks on your list.
Rule: quoted from the skill Fact: from a cited authority, numbered like 1 Example: made-up figures, calculated in full
How it thinks

Twelve rules the whole skill runs on

Every level below applies one or more of these rules. The examples use one made-up company, Northbrook Trading. It is a single US entity in professional services, with its books in US dollars on the accrual basis. It closes October 2026 as a hard close under US GAAP, with a materiality threshold of $5,000. Day 1 is Monday 2 November and Day 7 is Tuesday 10 November. The owners come from its close template.

Learning path

Six levels, from simple to complex

Check it yourself

Check your own continuity

Enter up to 10 balance sheet accounts, or load an example. For each account, type last period's closing balance as you reported it. Then type the same balance as the books show it now. The page finds the difference for each account and adds the differences. This is the check in Step 6 of references/method.md. The page sends nothing anywhere.

AccountLast period as reportedSame date, books nowDifference

The page takes a difference as the balance in the books now minus the balance as reported. A credit balance, such as accounts payable, goes in as a positive number. Two reads of the books today always agree, so the first column must come from last month's close pack. Without it, the skill writes "not performed". If no account differs, the period continues. If accounts differ and the differences add to 0, someone moved an amount between accounts in a prior period. If the differences do not add to 0, a prior period changed after someone reported it. A reclassification may be proper. Someone must know about it before this month's statements go out.

Scope your list

Tick what is true for your business. The page starts from the 48 tasks on Days 1 to 7 in Step 1 of references/method.md. It removes and adds tasks with the rules of Step 2. The 5 pre-close tasks always stay.

What the chart and the files show
Industry, from the profile

Professional services adds WIP unbilled and project profitability. SaaS adds deferred revenue release, ARR/MRR calculation and customer churn analysis. E-commerce adds returns reserve, gift card liability and loyalty accrual.

The SaaS list in Step 2 names deferred revenue release, and Day 3 already holds that task. The page counts the list as the method writes it, so your count may be 1 lower. The skill takes each answer from the books and writes the evidence beside it. The industry tasks are a judgement, and the owner makes the decision. On a cash basis, Step 2 removes most accruals, but it does not say which. So this tool does not count them.

Using it

What it asks, needs and gives back

Asks firstDo you want to use MosoFin for this run, or upload the data yourself? Which period do you close, and is it a soft or a hard close? What is your target close date? Which reporting framework do you use? Do you report on a cash or an accrual basis? Who is on your team, who owns each task, and do you have a close template and last month's close? What is your materiality threshold?
NeedsThe skill needs the trial balance for this period and the prior period. For the continuity check, it also needs last month's trial balance as you reported it. The chart of accounts, the journal entries of the period and last month's close make the result better. You type in the calendar, the framework, the accounting basis, the owners and the materiality threshold.
Gives backThe skill gives back a close workpaper with nine sheets. They are the close calendar, task detail, open items, variance tracker, materiality, final tie-out, lessons learned, scoping and coverage. It asks before it makes an Excel file.
NeverThe skill never uses MosoFin before it asks you. It reads nothing before you answer its questions and say yes to its summary. It never locks the books, posts an entry or marks a task complete. It never assumes a materiality threshold. It never saves balances, variances, statuses or close results.
Sources

Where every fact on this page comes from

The rules are the skill's own. The facts below come from five outside sources. They are an APQC benchmark, an IRS publication, an OpenStax textbook and two GAO publications. MosoFin checked each one on 27 October 2026 from search results and did not open the pages. Follow the link for today's wording.

    Not backed by an outside authority. The day-by-day structure, the task list, the scoping rules and the Evidence column are the skill's own. MosoFin made up Northbrook Trading and every figure in the examples. The page marks them where they appear.