What is FloQast Close Checklist?
Definition
FloQast Close Checklist is a structured list of period-end accounting tasks managed in FloQast to help finance teams complete reconciliations, journal entries, reviews, approvals, and reporting activities on time. It supports Close Checklist discipline by giving each task a clear owner, due date, status, dependency, and evidence trail.
How FloQast Close Checklist Works
A FloQast Close Checklist organizes monthly, quarterly, and annual close activities into a controlled close calendar. Finance teams use it to track whether bank reconciliations, prepaid schedules, accrual entries, fixed asset updates, revenue checks, and financial statement reviews are complete.
The checklist is usually aligned with Close Calendar (Group View) requirements so entity-level, department-level, and group-level tasks are visible in one place. This helps accounting leaders monitor progress, review open items, and prepare reporting packs with stronger confidence.
Core Components
Task ownership: Assigns preparers and reviewers for every close activity.
Due dates: Links tasks to month-end, quarter-end, and year-end reporting deadlines.
Dependencies: Shows which tasks rely on prior postings, reconciliations, or approvals.
Review status: Tracks whether tasks are open, prepared, reviewed, or approved.
Evidence: Stores supporting schedules, explanations, comments, and signoff records.
Role in the Financial Close
The FloQast Close Checklist supports Close Checklist Automation by turning recurring close activities into standardized, trackable tasks. Instead of managing deadlines only through spreadsheets or email threads, finance teams can monitor completion status, review evidence, and identify exceptions in a single close view.
It is especially useful in a Multi-Entity Close Process where subsidiaries, regions, or departments must complete their own tasks before consolidation begins. For example, one entity may need to finish account reconciliation before group finance can finalize intercompany eliminations and consolidated reporting.
Controls and Audit Readiness
A close checklist strengthens governance by making task ownership, review evidence, and approval history easier to document. This supports Close External Audit Readiness because auditors can review who prepared a task, who approved it, when it was completed, and what support was attached.
It also supports Segregation of Duties (Close) by separating preparer and reviewer responsibilities. A well-designed checklist can include Preventive Control (Close) tasks such as review of unusual journals, unreconciled accounts, late postings, and material balance changes before reports are finalized.
Key Metrics
Common FloQast Close Checklist metrics include on-time task completion rate, overdue task count, reviewer turnaround time, reopened task count, open exception aging, and close cycle time. These metrics help finance leaders compare actual close performance against a Close Timeliness Benchmark.
For example, if a close checklist contains 400 tasks and 360 are completed by the deadline, the on-time completion rate is 90%. A higher rate usually indicates clear ownership, strong sequencing, and timely review. A lower rate may show that task dependencies, evidence readiness, or approval timing need better alignment.
Best Practices
Effective checklist design starts with standardized task names, clear owners, practical due dates, and defined review levels. Teams should group tasks by close phase, entity, account type, and risk level so reviewers can focus on the most important balances first.
Finance teams can also use Close Exception Management to track unresolved variances, missing evidence, late approvals, and unusual account movements. Over time, checklist data supports Close Continuous Improvement by showing which tasks repeatedly miss deadlines and where close sequencing can be improved.
Summary
FloQast Close Checklist helps finance teams manage period-end accounting tasks, approvals, reconciliations, evidence, and reporting deadlines in a structured close environment. It improves close visibility, supports audit readiness, strengthens controls, and helps teams complete financial reporting with greater consistency.
