# Accounting Close Preparation Desk

Educational worksheet for accountants, bookkeepers, controllers, and finance operations teams. It is not accounting, tax, audit, attest, legal, investment, payroll, or compliance advice. Use only organization-approved systems. Never place taxpayer data, bank or card details, payroll records, credentials, customer information, or confidential financial records into an unapproved AI service.

## 1. Close boundary card

- Entity/internal reference: ____________________
- Period: ____________________
- Accounting basis and reporting framework confirmed by qualified owner: Yes / No
- System of record: ____________________
- Approved source systems: ____________________
- Approved AI/computer tools and permitted data classes: ____________________
- Prohibited data: ____________________
- Preparer: ____________________
- Reviewer/posting authority: ____________________
- Tax/audit/attest escalation owner: ____________________
- Payment/payroll authority: ____________________

## 2. Source and period ledger

| Source ID | Exact source/system | Period/date | Owner | Completeness confirmed by | Extraction status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S-01 |  |  |  |  | not started / extracted / human verified |
| S-02 |  |  |  |  | not started / extracted / human verified |
| S-03 |  |  |  |  | not started / extracted / human verified |

AI may organize approved data. It may not decide that a source is complete, reliable, authorized, or controlling.

## 3. Reconciliation preparation table

| Account/process | Ledger amount | Independent/source amount | Difference | Source IDs | Status | Human resolution |
|---|---:|---:|---:|---|---|---|
| Cash/bank |  |  |  |  | open / explained / resolved |  |
| Receivables |  |  |  |  | open / explained / resolved |  |
| Payables |  |  |  |  | open / explained / resolved |  |
| Payroll/liabilities |  |  |  |  | open / explained / resolved |  |
| Inventory/fixed assets/other |  |  |  |  | open / explained / resolved |  |

AI may calculate a supplied difference and flag mismatches. The reviewer determines source reliability, accounting treatment, materiality, evidence sufficiency, and resolution.

## 4. Variance and missing-evidence queue

| Queue ID | Observed difference/missing item | Exact source | Neutral question | Assigned owner | Evidence received | Reviewer disposition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q-01 |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Q-02 |  |  |  |  |  |  |

Use neutral questions. Do not let AI invent explanations, supporting documents, classifications, business purpose, tax treatment, or management representations.

## 5. Proposed-entry review card

This card documents a proposal; it does not post an entry.

| Proposal ID | Source evidence | Accounts/debit-credit proposed | Period | Rationale drafted from approved notes | Qualified reviewer decision | Posted by/date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| J-01 |  |  |  |  | approve / revise / reject |  |

- [ ] The proposal links to source evidence.
- [ ] AI did not invent an amount, account, date, vendor, customer, or purpose.
- [ ] A qualified human determined the accounting treatment.
- [ ] Segregation of duties and posting authority were followed.
- [ ] The person/tool preparing the proposal could not silently post it.
- [ ] Posting evidence and reviewer identity were retained in the approved system.

## 6. Tax, audit, filing, and payment hard stops

Stop the AI workflow and route to the authorized professional/process if work touches:

- tax positions, elections, deductions, credits, nexus, classification, filing, signature, representation, or advice;
- audit or attest planning, evidence sufficiency, materiality, risk assessment, sampling, conclusions, opinion, or signature;
- management representations or alteration/fabrication of evidence;
- payroll release, vendor/customer bank changes, refunds, transfers, payments, or disbursements;
- journal-entry approval/posting, period lock, close certification, or financial-statement issuance;
- suspected fraud, theft, control failure, data incident, regulator inquiry, or legal hold.

## 7. Close-review receipt

- All source periods and owners confirmed: Yes / No
- Reconciliations independently reviewed: Yes / No
- Every open difference has an owner/disposition: Yes / No
- Proposed entries approved and posted only by authorized humans: Yes / No
- Tax/audit/attest matters routed to qualified professionals: Yes / No
- No payment, payroll, filing, signature, or external communication was automated: Yes / No
- Confidential information stayed in approved systems: Yes / No
- Close certified by / date: ____________________

## Safe prompt using synthetic or expressly approved inputs

> Act as an accounting close-preparation clerk, not an accountant of record, tax professional, auditor, controller, approver, or payment operator. From the approved source-linked tables, create: (1) a missing-evidence list, (2) supplied-number difference calculations, (3) neutral variance questions, (4) a proposed-entry review queue without posting, and (5) a close checklist. Do not invent facts, documents, amounts, classifications, business purpose, accounting treatment, tax treatment, audit conclusions, or management representations. Do not file, sign, post, lock a period, send a message, change bank details, or initiate a payment. Mark every uncertainty for qualified human review.