· Reviewed by Nimra Khalid
What is month-end close outsourcing?
Month-end close outsourcing means an external accounting team performs the steps that turn a month of transactions into finished financial statements: reconciling every account, posting accruals, prepaids and depreciation, checking cut-off, reviewing and locking the period. You keep your software and your accountant. The provider runs the checklist on an agreed calendar and hands you reviewed statements.
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Month-end close: what we do and how it runs
Month-end close outsourcing means an external accounting team performs the steps that turn a month of transactions into finished financial statements: reconciling every account, posting accruals, prepaids and depreciation, checking cut-off, reviewing and locking the period. You keep your software and your accountant. The provider runs the checklist on an agreed calendar and hands you reviewed statements.
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What it is
Month-end close outsourcing means an external accounting team performs the steps that turn a month of transactions into finished financial statements: reconciling every account, posting accruals, prepaids and depreciation, checking cut-off, reviewing and locking the period. You keep your software and your accountant. The provider runs the checklist on an agreed calendar and hands you reviewed statements.
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What you get
A written close checklist with a sign-off log, run the same way every month
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How it runs
Accruals, prepaids, depreciation and cut-off posted, not skipped
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Discovery call
We map your entities, software, reporting audience and current close, and note which steps are done today, which are skipped and where the time goes.
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A named accountant, a backup and a team lead
Inside your own software, on a fixed close calendar, with a reply from a person within 1 business day. Call +1-657-777-0006 or start a quote.
Get a custom quote 06 / 06
Who it is for
Owner-operators
Your books are posted but the month is never really closed: no accruals, no locked period, and the P&L changes every time someone looks at it. You want final numbers you can act on.
Finance managers and controllers
You own the close but it takes three weeks because you are doing the preparation as well as the review. A dedicated accountant runs the checklist so you review, approve and move on.
Businesses reporting to a lender, board or investor
Someone outside the company expects statements on a fixed date each month. You need a close that finishes on the same day every month, with a record of who did what.
What's included
- Close checklist built around your chart of accounts and business
- Bank, card and payment processor reconciliations completed
- Balance sheet account reconciliations with supporting schedules
- Accrued expenses and accrued revenue posted and reversed on schedule
- Prepaid expense and deferred revenue schedules updated
- Fixed asset additions, disposals and monthly depreciation posted
- Revenue and expense cut-off checked against invoices and bills
- Inventory, work-in-progress or job cost adjustments where relevant
- Payroll and sales tax liabilities agreed to filings
- Intercompany balances tied and eliminated where you have several entities
- Period locked in your software after review and your approval
- Monthly financial statements with a short note on what changed and why
Deliverables and KPIs
| Deliverable | KPI we report | Cadence |
|---|---|---|
| Completed close checklist | Every step signed off by preparer and reviewer on the agreed calendar | Monthly |
| Reconciled balance sheet | Every balance sheet account supported by a schedule | Monthly |
| Adjusting entries | Accruals, prepaids, depreciation and cut-off posted before statements are issued | Monthly |
| Financial statements | P&L, balance sheet and cash flow issued after Two-Tier Review | Monthly |
| Open items and variance note | Unusual movements explained and open questions listed with owners | Monthly |
| Locked period | Period closed in your software with a change log for any later entry | Monthly |
KPIs are what we measure and report, agreed per engagement. Service-level commitments are set in your agreement.
How it works
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Discovery call
We map your entities, software, reporting audience and current close, and note which steps are done today, which are skipped and where the time goes.
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Close checklist and calendar
You grant accountant access and read-only bank feeds. We draft your CloseTrack checklist and a close calendar agreed with you, then run a parallel close on the most recent month.
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Dedicated accountant assigned
A named accountant, a trained backup and a team lead take over. The first live close clears any historical unreconciled items and sets the schedules for accruals, prepaids and depreciation.
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Close, review, report
Each month the accountant works the checklist, the team lead reviews under Two-Tier Review, you approve the lock, and the statements and variance note land in LedgerDesk.
Software we work in
How much does month-end close cost?
Month-end close is priced as a flat monthly fee based on the number of entities, balance sheet accounts and adjusting entries each month, and the reporting you need at the end. It usually replaces or extends a bookkeeping plan rather than sitting on top of it. Pricing depends on volume and scope, so we send a custom quote within 1 business day.
What moves the quote
- Number of entities and balance sheet accounts to reconcile
- Volume of accruals, prepaids, fixed assets and deferred revenue schedules
- Reporting required: statements only, or management pack and dashboards
- Close calendar you need and the condition of the books today
Market benchmarks
| Market | Typical range | Source |
|---|---|---|
| US | Outsourced bookkeeping with a monthly close runs $150 to $1,600 per month; review-backed plans $400 to $800; Pilot $499 to $989 by revenue band | indinero, RadCity, NerdWallet (2026) |
| UK | Fixed fees £100 to £1,500 per month for bookkeeping and monthly management accounts | UK provider pricing surveys (2026) |
| Canada | C$300 to C$2,000 per month; most SMBs C$400 to C$800 | Outsource Bookkeeping CA, TheAccTaxCo (2026) |
| Australia | Fixed A$300 to A$1,500 per month for a typical small business | Australian bookkeeping fee surveys (2026) |
Third-party ranges for orientation, not our prices.
Get a custom quote No setup fee. Month-to-month.
Month-end close for your industry
Case study
25-day close to 5-day close
Case studyFrom a 25-day close to a 5-day close for a marketing agency
A marketing agency on the US West Coast with retainer and project clients was closing its books around the 25th of the following month. By then the numbers were too old to act on. Client profitability was a guess, pass-through media costs were booked when the supplier invoice arrived rather than when the spend ran, and retainer revenue was recognized whenever the invoice went out. The agency engaged LedgerBPO for month-end close, financial reporting and invoicing and billing. A named accountant, a backup and a team lead worked inside the agency's QuickBooks Online, bill-approval tool and time-tracking system. The close moved from 25 days to 5 days, and the founders now review client margins in the first week of the month instead of the last.
- Days to close the month255
Security and compliance
- Accountant-role access only; you own the software and the data
- Read-only bank feeds where available; every payment is released by you
- MFA everywhere, per-client access log, and the period lock protects closed months
Full control list on the security page and country rules on the compliance page. Certifications are listed only when held.
Frequently asked questions
How much does month end close outsourcing cost?
Pricing depends on volume and scope, and we send a custom quote within 1 business day. As a market reference, US outsourced bookkeeping with a monthly close runs $150 to $1,600 per month, review-backed plans typically $400 to $800, and Pilot lists $499 to $989 depending on revenue (indinero, RadCity, 2026). The number of entities, accounts and schedules is what moves our quote.
How fast will my books be closed each month?
On a close calendar agreed with you at the start, based on when your statements, payroll reports and processor settlements arrive. Market practice for small and mid-sized businesses is a close inside the first two weeks of the following month, and a shorter close is realistic once bank feeds and payout connectors are in place. We set the calendar with you rather than promise a day before we have seen the books.
What is the difference between bookkeeping and a month-end close?
Bookkeeping records and categorizes transactions as they happen. The month-end close is the set of steps that turns those records into final statements: reconciling every account, posting accruals, prepaids and depreciation, checking cut-off, reviewing and locking the period. Our bookkeeping service includes a close; this service is for businesses that need the close run as a formal, documented process.
What is on the close checklist?
Reconciliations for bank, card, processor and every balance sheet account; accrued expenses and revenue; prepaids and deferred revenue; fixed assets and depreciation; payroll and sales tax tie-outs; inventory or job cost adjustments; intercompany; cut-off checks; review; and the period lock. The checklist is built around your chart of accounts and reviewed with you every quarter.
Who reviews the close before I see the numbers?
Your team lead does, under our Two-Tier Review process. The named accountant prepares each step, and the team lead checks the reconciliations, the reasonableness of accruals and the movements in every P&L line before the statements are released. Both sign-offs are logged in CloseTrack with a timestamp.
Can you close the books if my bookkeeping is behind?
Not until it is current. We start with a catch-up bookkeeping project to bring the ledger up to date and reconciled, then run the first close. Trying to close on top of an unreconciled backlog produces numbers nobody trusts, so we sequence it properly and quote the catch-up separately.
Will you lock the period in my software?
Yes, after the review and with your approval. Locking the period in QuickBooks Online, Xero or Sage stops later entries from changing a month you have already reported on. If a correction is needed later, it is posted in the current period with a note, or the lock is lifted with your approval and the change logged.
Do you produce management reports as part of the close?
The close produces the P&L, balance sheet and cash flow with a short variance note. If you need a management pack, KPI dashboard, budget versus actual or a lender or board pack, our financial reporting, KPI dashboards and investor reporting services build those from the closed numbers on the same calendar. Year-end adds the adjusting entries and tax-ready package described on our year-end close page.
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