# Closing the month without a CFO, in seven working days

URL: https://www.orla.finance/en/guides/month-close
Markdown twin of that page. Append `.md` to any Orla page URL to get one.

A kit for a small company whose books are kept by the founder and finished by an outside accountant: who does what, a seven-day close calendar, the account codes conversation you have once, and the package and email that end the month.

Field guide 02, October 2026 edition: 10 pages · 6 steps · 5 checklists · 6 templates. Free: a PDF and its templates in one ZIP, sent by email from https://www.orla.finance/en/guides/month-close.

#### Your accountant isn't slow, they're reconstructing your month

For a founder who keeps the books during the month and hands them to an outside accountant at the end of it.

An outside accountant who bills ten hours for a twelve-person company's month is rarely doing ten hours of accounting. They're asking what a $3,180 card charge was, waiting for a statement nobody downloaded, and re-importing a file because a row changed after you sent it.

Almost all of that is work only you can do, because you were there. The guide moves it to your side of the table, in a fixed week, so that what reaches the accountant is a file they import and a short email, and their hours go to the parts that need an accountant.

#### The short version

- Your job ends at "every row is explained and has its paper." Adjusting entries are the accountant's.
- Map your categories to their account codes once, together, and never guess a code again.
- Close on a fixed day. A month that keeps moving after you hand it over costs more than a late one.
- Send a file and seven lines of email, not a folder.

#### What's inside

1. Who does what: Write the line between you and the accountant. Template 1, who does what at month end (page 3).
2. The close calendar: Seven working days, the same every month. Template 2, the close calendar, and a checklist before day 1 (page 4).
3. Every movement in: An account nobody remembers is the expensive one. Template 3, the account inventory (page 5).
4. Every row explained: And the paper behind it. Template 4, the receipt ask, and the checklist for a finished row (page 6).
5. Account codes, once: One call, with their chart open. Template 5, category to account code, and what to bring to the call (page 7).
6. Close and hand over: One file, one email, one rule for changes. The package checklist and Template 6, the handover email (page 8).
- What went wrong in August: A closed month moved, and it was nobody's fault: a card refund dated in August arrived after the accountant had imported the file. What to do the same day. (page 9).

#### The templates

- 01-who-does-what.csv: Agreeing the line with your accountant
- 02-close-calendar.csv: The seven days, by person
- 03-account-inventory.csv: Every account, and whether it agrees
- 04-receipt-ask.txt: Asking for one receipt so it gets answered
- 05-account-codes.csv: The mapping call
- 06-handover-email.txt: The seven-line email

#### The illustrative case

The same studio as field guide 01: twelve people, a Delaware LLC, dollars in Mercury, euros and pounds in Airwallex, a TRON wallet for the contractors paid in USDT, and an outside accountant who works in Xero.

Northwind is a demo company. Its books are seeded in Orla, and every screenshot in the guide is a frame recorded from the working product on those books. The names, amounts and addresses are invented.

The guides are general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. What applies to your company is a question for your accountant and, where a country's rules come in, a local adviser.