Month-End Close Guide

Last updated: January 24, 2026

Overview

The month-end close feature in Monk helps you formally close accounting periods, track key financial balances, and prevent accidental backdating of invoices into closed periods. This guide walks you through the process of closing a month-end period.

Prerequisites

  • All invoices for the period should be reviewed and reconciled before closing

  • Outstanding invoices should be addressed or acknowledged

Accessing Month-End Close

Navigate to Accounting > Close in the left sidebar to access the month-end close page.

Month-End Close List

The page displays all previously closed periods with key financial balances:

Column

Description

Period

The closed month (e.g., Dec 2024)

AR Start

Accounts receivable balance at period start

AR End

Accounts receivable balance at period end

Sales Start

Sales balance at period start

Sales End

Sales balance at period end

Deferred Rev Start

Deferred revenue balance at period start

Deferred Rev End

Deferred revenue balance at period end

Closed By

User ID of who closed the period

Created

Date when the period was closed

Closing a Month-End Period

Step 1: Select Period

Click the Start month-end button to open the month-end close wizard.

Period Selection

Select the start and end dates for the period you want to close. Monk automatically suggests the next unclosed period based on your previous closes.

Important: The selected period cannot overlap with any existing closed periods. If an overlap is detected, you'll see an error message and need to choose different dates.

Step 2: Review Outstanding Invoices

After selecting the period, review any outstanding invoices dated within the selected timeframe.

Outstanding Invoices

If outstanding invoices exist: Check the acknowledgment box to confirm you understand some invoices remain unpaid before continuing. Clicking on any invoice row opens the invoice details in a new tab for review.

If no outstanding invoices: You can proceed directly to the confirmation step.

Step 3: Confirm and Close

Review the closing summary before finalizing.

Close Summary

Click Close period to finalize. This action:

  1. Records the closing balances in your month-end close history

  2. Enables warnings for any future attempts to create or modify invoices dated within the closed period

After Closing a Period

Once a period is closed:

  • Warning on backdated invoices: Users will see a warning modal if they try to create or edit an invoice with a date that falls within a closed period

  • Audit trail: The close is recorded with the user ID and timestamp

  • Immutable record: Closed period records cannot be modified or deleted

Troubleshooting

"Selected period overlaps an existing closed period"

Cause: The dates you selected include days that are already part of a closed period.

Fix: Adjust the start and/or end dates to avoid overlapping with previously closed periods.

Cannot continue from outstanding invoices step

Cause: There are invoices with remaining balances in the selected period.

Fix: Either:

  1. Collect payments on the outstanding invoices before closing

  2. Check the acknowledgment box to proceed with outstanding invoices

Warning appears when creating new invoices

Cause: You're trying to create an invoice dated within a closed period.

Fix: Either:

  1. Use a date after the closed period

  2. Proceed with the warning if backdating is intentional (requires confirmation)