The checklist runs code against the ledger and returns passed or blocked with the reason. Nobody can quietly tick a box the books do not support.
Eleven standard tasks, each one a function that inspects the ledger. Automated tasks act; review tasks report. None of them are checkboxes.
The journal itself refuses an entry dated inside a locked period. Reopening demands a written reason and is recorded as an audit event.
Recognition, amortisation and depreciation are keyed by item and period. Re-running the close after a correction posts nothing twice.
Subledgers frozen · bank reconciliations complete · revenue recognised · prepaids amortised · depreciation posted · FX revalued · AR ties out · AP ties out · deferred revenue roll-forward ties · trial balance balanced · material movements explained.
Subledgers freeze while accruals, recognition, FX and manual adjustments still post. That is the state the checklist runs in, so review does not have to fight the books.
Period-over-period P&L variance, largest first. A movement clearing both an absolute and a relative threshold blocks the close until someone writes down why. The first trading period is exempt — there is nothing to vary from.
An accrual posts at period end and its reversal posts on day one of the next period, immediately. The reversal is not a promise to remember; it is already in the ledger.
Prepaid amortisation and straight-line depreciation with salvage, both generated once and posted a period at a time, each summing exactly to the amount being spread.
A blocked task can be waived — by a named person, with a reason, visible on the checklist afterwards. The close moves, and the exception is legible.
March cannot close while February is open. The order is enforced, so a reopened month cannot hide under a closed one.
The demo runs on a seeded company with a live close waiting — two real blockers and agents holding proposals.