A checklist the books tick off themselves.

The default template · business days after month end

Day two to day eight, and the books do most of it.

This is the trades default, as the product defines it. Rename tasks, re-date them, or add your own; every close keeps its own copy, so edits never rewrite history.

1. day 2
   Bank feeds reviewedticks itself

   Every bank transaction dated in the month is categorized and reviewed.

2. day 3
   Bank accounts reconciledticks itself

   Each active bank account has a completed reconciliation through month end.

3. day 3
   Draft entries postedticks itself

   No journal entry dated in the month is still a draft.

4. day 3
   Staged materials relieved on completed jobsticks itself

   Materials staged to a job that finished in the month have been relieved to it.

5. day 3
   Customer deposits released on completed jobsticks itself

   Deposits held for jobs that finished by month end have been released to revenue.

6. day 4
   Accruals rolled forwardticks itself

   Every accrual schedule ties to its ledger balance at month end.

7. day 4
   A/R ties to open invoicesticks itself

   The receivables control account equals the open invoice balance.

8. day 4
   A/P ties to open billsticks itself

   The payables control account equals the open bill balance.

9. day 4
   Plan visits not double-countedticks itself

   No maintenance-plan visit was also invoiced.

10. day 4
    Job costs tagged to a jobticks itself

    Cost of goods sold in the month carries a job tag, so per-job margins are real.

11. day 4
    Every category maps to an accountticks itself

    No activity in the month sits in a category that reaches no ledger account.

12. day 4
    Completed jobs invoicedticks itself

    Every job finished in the month has an invoice, or a plan visit that earned it.

13. day 5
    Vendor bills through month end entereda person's tick

    Supplier invoices dated in the month have arrived and are in.

14. day 5
    Tie-out checks run cleanticks itself

    The full check suite has run for the month with no blocking failure.

15. day 6
    Close narrative revieweda person's tick

    The month-end narrative has been read and its action items noted.

16. day 7
    Period locked and signedticks itself

    The period is locked; the close is signed.

17. day 8
    Close package sent to the ownera person's tick

    The signed package has gone to the person who pays for it.

An open evidence task says why in a sentence: “2 completed jobs still hold $1,500 of customer deposits,” and links to the screen that fixes it.

The reconciliation

One figure. It ties or it doesn't.

The record

Signing captures what the month took.

At the moment you lock the period, the close records its own activity, so a practice can say “August: signed Sep 5, 60 hours” instead of guessing.

Every AI entry on the way to this record waited on a card. See how on Autopilot with limits.

Six questions

What a controller asks first.

What does "the close is a record" mean?

Each month's close is one object in Poof: who started it and when, where it stands, and what it took. The status is derived from the books, never typed. When you lock the period, the close captures its own activity: transactions reviewed, entries posted, decisions made by a person and by a rule, corrections, and hours from start to signature. Reopening keeps the signature on record.

Which tasks tick themselves?

Thirteen of the seventeen in the default template are evidence-bound. They complete when the books prove them and cannot be ticked by hand: feeds reviewed, bank reconciled, drafts posted, deposits released, accruals tied, A/R and A/P tied, job costs tagged, and so on. Each open one says why in a sentence and links to the screen that fixes it. The other four are a person's tick, recorded with who and when.

How does the reconciliation work?

Statement ending balance, less the books at period end, plus what is booked but not on the statement, less what is on the statement but not booked. One figure. The screen reads it from the server, completion stores the same number, and the close's bank-reconciliation check reads that. Outstanding items carry forward: a check written in July that clears in August is on August's book side, and a first reconciliation lists what was still open from before it.

What is the five-day guarantee?

Your books closed within five business days of month end, or the next month is free. It starts with your first close after a complete calendar month with your feeds connected. Historical cleanup and migrations are scoped separately. A close is ready when feeds are reviewed, the bank reconciles to one figure, and every card in Approvals is decided; cards left waiting past day five pause the clock.

Can I change the checklist?

Yes. A person can rename tasks, re-date them, deactivate ones that do not apply, and add manual rows. Evidence-bound tasks keep their evidence. Every close stamps its own copy of the template, so a later edit never rewrites history.

What happens when a task is late?

A task past its due date on an open close is an insight, a card in Approvals with a one-tap "mark done" for a manual task, and one message per close per day on the channels you subscribe to: Telegram, SMS, Slack, or email. The sweep re-reads the books before it decides what is late, so it never nags about a bank account you reconciled that afternoon.