Month-end close and accountant handoff

Close readiness inputs

Close is easier when the period has a complete evidence set, visible payment state, and a clear list of unresolved questions.

• Evidence for the period: receipts, supplier invoices, sales invoices, statements, payout reports, contracts, exports, and notes for unusual items.
• Task state: owner-side business questions answered, accountant-side questions clearly assigned, and unresolved blockers still visible.
• Bank and matching state: imported bank rows, suggested or confirmed matches, unmatched transactions, missing receipts, partial payments, and payout gaps.
• Accountant handoff context: the person or firm reviewing the month, the period being prepared, and the expectation that professional decisions remain with the accountant.

Month-close workflow

Close is a workflow check, not just a button. Use it to confirm that the month can move from preparation into review without losing open issues.

1. 01Check evidence completenessReview whether the main monthly sources are present: invoices, receipts, bank rows, payout reports, statements, contracts, and notes. Missing sources should be explicit.
2. 02Clear owner-side blockersResolve tasks where the owner knows the fact: business purpose, private context, missing receipt explanation, payment relationship, or unusual transaction context.
3. 03Review bank and matching gapsCheck unmatched rows, suggested matches, missing documents, partial payments, refunds, and platform payouts before assuming the month is ready.
4. 04Separate owner questions from accountant judgmentDo not force the owner to decide accounting treatment. Leave VAT, classification, period treatment, corrections, and approval to the accountant.
5. 05Confirm handoff readinessThe prepared month should show ready work, open exceptions, source evidence, owner answers, and payment context in one place for review.
6. 06Move into accountant reviewHandoff means the accountant can inspect, adjust, reject, approve, ask questions, and control export readiness. It is not automatic filing.

What Hans prepares

Hans assembles the period into reviewable context. The value is in organizing the month and making unresolved issues visible before accountant review starts.

• Readiness signals for evidence, tasks, bank rows, matching, unresolved exceptions, and items that may need accountant attention.
• A clear view of blockers, such as missing documents, unanswered tasks, unreadable sources, unmatched rows, and payment gaps.
• Prepared review context that keeps sources, owner answers, candidate details, and payment links connected.
• Handoff material that separates prepared work from unresolved work instead of presenting one silent final result.

What people decide

Close readiness depends on people making the decisions that belong to their role.

• Owners decide and supply business facts: why a payment happened, whether an item belongs to the business, which document is missing, and what context should be added.
• Accountants decide professional treatment, corrections, approval, rejection, period handling, export readiness, and whether the evidence is sufficient for their work.
• The team decides whether the month is ready to hand off or whether a blocker should stay open until evidence or judgment is available.
• No close flow should imply that open exceptions are solved merely because the period has reached a deadline.

What accountant handoff means

Handoff is prepared context for review. It should reduce chasing and reconstruction, while keeping accountant control visible.

• The accountant can see the evidence, payment context, owner answers, open and resolved tasks, prepared proposal context, and close state for the period.
• The accountant can still review, adjust, reject, approve, ask questions, and control period or export decisions where those actions are part of their process.
• The owner should not treat handoff as filing, tax submission, or final accounting approval. It is the point where prepared work becomes review material.
• The best handoff shows both what is ready and what is still uncertain, because visible uncertainty is safer than hidden guessing.

Blockers that should not be ignored

Some blockers are small owner follow-ups; others affect accountant review. Both should stay visible until the right person resolves them.

• Missing or unreadable evidence: incomplete invoices, cropped receipts, missing statement pages, absent payout reports, or documents from the wrong period.
• Unanswered owner tasks: business purpose, private or mixed-use context, missing receipt explanation, unusual payment, or who a counterparty is.
• Bank gaps: unmatched rows, payment amounts that do not align, partial payments, refunds, duplicates, or payouts that need settlement detail.
• Professional questions: VAT, classification, period treatment, approval, rejection, and export readiness should remain with the accountant.

After close readiness

Once the owner-side month is ready, continue with the review and handoff resources that match the next responsibility owner.

• Open Accountant review to understand how prepared work reaches the firm and where accountant control remains.
• Open DATEV handoff to understand export-context expectations without assuming automatic filing or import success.
• Open Matching payments and bank reconciliation if payment gaps are still the main blocker.
• Open Trust and access when the question is who can see evidence, decisions, and handoff context.