Month-end owner review meeting and handover pack

Closing the books is only half the job. The other half is getting the owner to look at the numbers, answer the questions the bookkeeper cannot answer alone, and make the calls that only an owner or director can make. A monthly owner review meeting of 30 to 45 minutes does that, provided the bookkeeper sends a written pack beforehand so the meeting is spent on decisions rather than on reading.

When to hold it and who should be there

Hold the meeting once the month is closed: bank accounts reconciled, sales and purchase ledgers posted, payroll journal in, and accruals and prepayments done. For most small businesses that means somewhere between the 7th and the 12th working day of the following month. Much later and the information is stale; much earlier and the figures will still move.

Keep the attendance small: the person who did the books, the owner or managing director, and anyone else who approves spending. In a limited company with several directors, decide which director owns the finance actions so nothing falls between two people.

Put the meeting in the calendar for the whole year at the same point in the month. A fixed slot in the close calendar is what stops it being skipped in a busy month.

The handover pack the bookkeeper sends after the close

Two working days before the meeting, the bookkeeper sends one email or one shared folder link with everything below. The owner reads it in advance; the meeting itself does not walk through it line by line.

1. Close status note. Three or four sentences: which accounts are reconciled, what is estimated (an accrual for an energy bill not yet received, for example), and anything still missing that could change the figures.
2. Management accounts. Profit and loss for the month and year to date against budget or the same month last year, and a balance sheet. The management accounts guide covers the layout.
3. Open items list. Every unresolved entry with its amount and age: unmatched bank lines, items in suspense, unexplained differences on supplier statements, invoices waiting for approval.
4. Queries for the owner. Written as questions with a suggested answer, so the owner can reply “yes” or correct it. “£86 at a hardware shop on the company card on the 14th: repairs, or personal? Suggested: repairs.”
5. Deadlines in the next six weeks. VAT return and payment (one month and seven days after the end of the VAT period for online filers), PAYE and National Insurance (the 22nd of the following month when paid electronically), corporation tax instalments or the nine-months-and-one-day payment, and any Companies House filing such as the confirmation statement. Show the amount where it is known.
6. Cash position. Bank balances on the last day of the month and a short forecast of the next few weeks’ receipts and payments.

A 40-minute agenda

For the profit and loss discussion, start with movements against budget rather than absolute figures. A short variance analysis prepared in advance answers most “why is this higher?” questions before they are asked.

Reports to bring to the table

Keep the set short and the same every month, so trends are visible at a glance:

• profit and loss, month and year to date, with comparison column
• balance sheet at month end
• aged debtors, with any account over 60 days highlighted
• aged creditors, showing what falls due in the next 30 days
• the VAT liability for the open quarter so far
• the open items list from the pack

If the business tracks a handful of ratios, add them as one line at the top. Gross margin and debtor days usually tell an owner more than the full statements do.

Decisions only the owner can make

The bookkeeper records and reports; the owner decides. Typical items that need an answer in the meeting:

• Chasing or writing off a customer debt: whether to escalate under the credit control routine, offer a payment plan or stop supplying.
• Which suppliers to pay when cash is tight, and whether to ask any of them for longer terms.
• Personal or business for any unclear spending, especially on company cards.
• Drawings or dividends. Dividends need sufficient distributable profits, so the bookkeeper should flag the retained earnings position before the owner commits.
• Estimates the bookkeeper has made, such as an accrual or a stock figure, which the owner may know better.
• Spending commitments coming up: equipment, hires, price changes.

Making the meeting stick

Record each action with a name and a date in a simple log that opens the next month’s pack. An example of what three lines might look like:

If the same open item appears in three consecutive packs, it needs a different approach, not another reminder. Software that keeps the reconciliations and reports in one place shortens the pack considerably; a free Nexbal trial is a low-effort way to see whether that works for your close.