Month-end close review

Use an automation when every close review should start from one definition and retain an independent run record. The automation prepares evidence; a qualified person remains responsible for accounting judgment and sign-off.

Prepare the project

Create a restricted project for the close process. Add the approved reconciliation instructions, account mapping, materiality rules, output template, and relevant source credentials. Prefer read-only external accounts where the workflow does not need to post or modify records.

Define one review run

Create a manual automation whose instructions specify:

1. the period and approved source records;
2. the fields and totals to reconcile;
3. the tolerance and mismatch categories;
4. the evidence required for every exception;
5. assumptions that must remain visible;
6. the review packet format; and
7. that the automation must not approve or post the close.

Require the run to distinguish a confirmed match, an explained mismatch, an unresolved mismatch, and an inaccessible source.

Validate before scheduling

Use Run now against a known closed period and compare the packet with the signed records. Then test a deliberate mismatch and a missing source. Keep all write actions denied or ask-gated where operation controls are available; otherwise remove write permission from the external account.

After a reviewer accepts the structure, use a one-time schedule for the next close or a conservative recurring schedule aligned with the reporting calendar. Inspect each run from history and record sign-off outside the agent result where your control process requires it.