Fiscal officers often want clarity about their monthly responsibilities. Oversight of accounting and recordkeeping functions have many of the same month-end tasks. It is important to have a standard monthly review process in place to confirm there are no errors in the financial reports and to identify whether actions need to be taken to put the unit in a better financial position.
The following month-end checklist is intended to help fiscal officers establish policies and procedures that promote better operations, reliable reporting, and ensure compliance with internal and external governance requirements. It is intended as a starting point for developing a more detailed month-end checklist that reflects your entity’s policies and procedures.
Reconcile cash and investment accounts to bank statements
It is hard to trust the data on the monthly financial reports if the accounting system does not reconcile to the bank statements. Doing this monthly allows time to investigate any discrepancies and prevents year-end surprises. The review process should include internal controls.
Gateway monthly engagement uploads
Upload bank reconciliations, board minutes and fund ledgers to Gateway no later than 45 days after the last day of the month.
Transaction analysis
Review monthly reports
Prepare monthly financial reports for the board
Providing standard monthly reports helps to communicate the current financial status to the Board. When possible, use reports out the accounting system to streamline the process of generating monthly reports.
This checklist is intended to help start the process of developing a more detailed month-end checklist that reflects your entity’s policies and procedures. Please refer to the State Board of Accounts website for further guidance on monthly fiscal officers’ duties.
If you have any questions or need assistance with the above, contact our team.