Month-end close automation: the checklist that starts itself on the 1st
Month-end close automation for the work that happens the same way every month. On the first business day Sai works through your close checklist: it pulls the reports and exports each step needs, updates the prepaid, accrual and depreciation schedules, ties balances to the ledger and writes a status note showing what is done and what is waiting for review. Journal entries are drafted for your approval; nothing is posted without you.
The routine
# Routine: Month-end close checklist
Schedule: Monthly, on the 1st at 8:00 AM
Runs on: Berry's computer
Ask me before acting: yes
Stop a run after: 2 hours
## Each run
1. Open the Close checklist and the close workbook for last month. Make a dated copy of the workbook first.
2. For each step, pull the report it needs (trial balance, AR and AP aging, bank reconciliations, payroll summary, fixed asset register).
3. Update the schedules: prepaids, accruals, depreciation, deferred revenue. Keep formulas; paste values only into input tabs.
4. Tie each balance sheet account to its schedule and record the difference.
5. Draft the journal entries the schedules call for, with support attached, as drafts.
6. Mark each step Done, Needs review or Blocked, with a one-line note.
## Rules
- Never post, approve or reverse journal entries.
- Never change a closed period.
- If a number doesn't tie, record the difference; don't plug it.
## Send me
Checklist status, accounts that don't tie, and draft entries waiting for review.What is month-end close automation?
The month-end close is the set of steps an accounting team completes after each month ends so the financial statements are accurate: reconciling accounts, updating schedules such as prepaids, accruals and depreciation, recording adjusting entries and reviewing the results. Month-end close automation takes over the repeatable steps, like pulling reports, updating schedules and tying out balances, so people spend the close on review and judgment.
Most close checklists repeat almost exactly each month, which is what makes them a good routine.
How this routine works through the close
On the first business day of the month Sai starts the checklist:
- Prepare the workbook. Sai makes a dated copy of last month’s close workbook so nothing is overwritten.
- Pull the reports. Trial balance, agings, reconciliations and payroll summaries come from your accounting and payroll systems.
- Update the schedules. Prepaids, accruals, depreciation and deferred revenue are rolled forward in the workbook, formulas intact.
- Tie out. Each balance sheet account is compared with its schedule; differences are recorded, never plugged.
- Draft and report. Journal entries are drafted with support for your review, and each checklist step is marked done, needs review or blocked.
What you get on the 1st
The close then starts at review instead of at data gathering.
- A dated close workbook with schedules rolled forward
- Reports for every checklist step, pulled and filed
- Accounts that don’t tie, with the difference
- Draft journal entries with support, waiting for approval
- A checklist status note for the team
Ways to speed up the month-end close, compared
Teams usually combine more than one of these.
| Method | Setup | Works with your existing workbook | Covers systems without integrations | Ongoing effort |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A checklist and spreadsheets, by hand | None | Yes | Yes | High every month |
| Close management software | High: implementation project | Replaces it | Only integrated systems | Medium |
| Accounting system automations (recurring entries, rules) | Low | No | No | Low, for the steps they cover |
| A Sai routine | Paste the routine, share the checklist and workbook | Yes | Yes, through each system’s screens | Low: review and approve |
Close software is worth it for large, multi-entity teams. Smaller teams that already run the close from a checklist and a workbook get most of the time back by automating the gathering and tie-outs. Weekly reconciliations from bank and credit card reconciliation make the cash steps quick, and Excel automation covers workbook-heavy steps.
When should the routine run?
On the first business day of the month, early enough that reports are ready when the team starts. Some steps, like accruals that depend on late bills, can be re-run on day three. Set Stop a run after generously, since the close touches many systems.
Set up the routine in Sai
- Copy the routine above and paste it into Sai, or click Start with Sai.
- Set the schedule to Monthly, on the 1st at 8:00 AM.
- Keep Ask me before acting on. Sai drafts entries and asks before anything unusual.
- Share the Close checklist and workbook, and give Sai view access to the accounting and payroll systems.
- Run it alongside your next close and compare before relying on it.
The AI bookkeeping guide covers the daily work that makes the close shorter.
Why use a computer use agent for the close?
A close touches the accounting system, payroll, banks, billing and a workbook full of formulas, and most small teams have no integration between them. A computer use agent works in each system the way your accountant does, keeps the workbook as it is, and leaves every judgment and posting to people.
Sai ranks at the top of OSWorld, the open benchmark for computer use. In the close, that reliability shows up as complete, repeatable steps and differences that are reported rather than hidden.
Skills this routine uses
- Excel automation: Clean, merge and update workbooks, refresh a model from new numbers, and build the weekly report in the real Excel app.
- QuickBooks automation: Enter bills, attach receipts and code bank transactions in QuickBooks Online by your rules, with big bills and unknowns left for you.
- NetSuite automation: Enter vendor bills in NetSuite from the PO and receipt, attach the PDF and leave each one Pending Approval, with mismatches left for you.
Related guides
- AI bookkeeping: Bills, receipts and close
- Routines in Sai: How schedules, approvals and run limits work
- AI chief of staff: Board numbers after the close