Automated Close: Client Setup & Close Workflow

Kraal's Automated Close system manages month-end and period-end close with templated, dependency-gated checklists. This guide covers setup and the full close workflow.

TIP

For a full reference of every section on the Client Detail page, see the Client Detail Page — User Guide.

Prerequisites

Before setting up automated close, ensure:

• The client record exists in Settings > Clients
• The client has a chart of accounts configured
• Bank feeds or transaction sources are connected

Setting Up Close for a Client

Step 1: Verify the client record

1. Go to Settings > Clients and select the client.
2. Confirm contact information and org context are correct.
3. Ensure the client's ERPNext instance is provisioned and connected.

Step 2: Set up Chart of Accounts

Choose one of three paths:

Method	Best for
Apply Standard Template	Fastest option. Use when the client follows a standard chart structure.
Build with AI	Generate a COA from transactions or bank statements. Good for new clients.
Sync from ERPNext	Use when the client already has a COA in ERPNext. Requires a working connection.

Step 3: Confirm ERPNext readiness

1. Refresh the client's guided setup readiness.
2. If ERPNext is ready but the chart looks stale, run Sync ERPNext COA.
3. For accounting dimensions, click Refresh from ERPNext in the accounting dimensions section.

Step 4: Select a close template

In the Close Configuration section:

1. Select a template from the dropdown.
2. Optionally skip non-required steps.
3. Optionally add client-specific steps.
4. Preview the sequence to confirm the order.
5. Click Save.

Step 5: Configure accrual schedules (optional)

If the client uses accrual basis accounting with recurring adjustments:

1. Go to the Accrual Schedules panel.
2. Define recurring accrual logic — accounts, amounts, and frequency.
3. Save the schedule.

Close Templates

Close templates define the sequence of steps required to complete a period close. Templates are dependency-gated — each step specifies which preceding steps must be complete before it can begin.

Key features:

• Firm-wide templates — create standard templates that apply across all clients
• Client overrides — customize individual steps per client without changing the base template
• Step types — automated tasks (run by AI), manual tasks (require user action), and approval gates (require sign-off)
• Dependencies — define which steps block others (e.g., "Post all transactions" must complete before "Trial balance review")

To manage templates, go to Settings > Close Templates.

Close Overview

Close Overview is your central view for monitoring close progress across all clients. It shows:

• One close queue — every client ranked worst-first, with each multi-entity client's entities listed inline
• Portfolio summary — monthly progress, total exceptions, and portfolio status
• Priority Alert — the worst live risk, with a one-click filter to the rows behind it
• Catch-up queue — the older months a client still has open
• Action Center — the next real step for each row, plus bulk actions across selected clients

Access it from the sidebar under Manage Close. For the full walkthrough, see Close Overview; for working a single period, see The Close Sheet.

Close Period

A close period represents a specific accounting period (typically a month) being closed. Each period moves through a defined lifecycle:

1. Collecting — gathering transactions, bank data, and source documents
2. Processing — posting transactions, running categorization, applying accruals
3. Reconciling — matching bank transactions, reviewing required account reconciliations, and resolving variances
4. Review — reviewing trial balance, financial statements, and adjustments
5. Closed — period is finalized and locked

How close periods are created:

Close periods are not created one at a time — they are generated from the client's close schedule:

1. Open the client's close setup wizard.
2. Confirm the close template and accounting basis, and review readiness.
3. Click Generate Close Schedule.
4. Kraal creates the client's monthly close periods from the schedule, including any historical catch-up months (see Historical Close Catch-Up below).

Once a period starts, the close checklist populates with steps from the assigned template.

Historical Close Catch-Up

Use historical close catch-up when you onboard a client after the start of the year or after several months of bookkeeping have already occurred. For example, if a client joins Kraal in April 2026 and still needs January, February, and March closed, Kraal can create those historical monthly close periods from the client's go-live or cutover date.

When to use it

Use catch-up when:

• The client is new to Kraal but has prior months that still need formal close work.
• The client has a go-live, cutover, or onboarding start date before the current month.
• You want each historical month to move through the normal close checklist, review, approval, binder, and lock process.

Do not use normal catch-up for very old cleanup projects that require more than 24 monthly periods. Those should be handled as a migration or support-assisted cleanup plan.

New client setup flow

1. Open the client's onboarding or close setup flow.
2. Set the go-live, cutover, or onboarding start date to the first month you need to catch up.
3. Generate the close schedule.
4. Kraal creates monthly close periods from that start date through the current month, up to the 24-month safety cap.
5. Kraal starts only the first historical period automatically.
6. Complete, review, approve, and lock the first period.
7. When that period reaches a terminal state, Kraal starts the next historical period.
8. Continue month by month until the client is caught up.

Example: if today is April 2026 and the client needs January through March closed, set the start date to January 1, 2026. Kraal creates January, February, March, and April periods. Work January first; after January is closed or locked, February starts, then March, then April.

Existing client repair flow

If a client already exists and close periods are missing:

1. Open the client's Automated Close or accounting close page.
2. Look for the Catch Up banner.
3. Click Catch Up to repair the close schedule.
4. Kraal creates any missing monthly close periods from the client's configured go-live, cutover, or onboarding start date through the current month.

The repair action is idempotent. Running it again should not duplicate existing close periods; it only fills missing periods.

Safety rules

• Catch-up creation is capped at 24 monthly periods.
• Only the first catch-up period is kicked off automatically.
• Later periods start sequentially only after earlier periods are closed or locked.
• Kraal enforces earlier-period completion before advancing, so teams do not accidentally close later months before prior months are finalized.
• The Catch Up banner appears only when Kraal has setup metadata, such as a go-live, cutover, or onboarding start date, and detects missing periods.

Close Checklist

The close checklist is the step-by-step task list for completing a period close. Each item shows:

• Step name and description
• Status — not started, in progress, complete, or blocked
• Assignee — who is responsible (user or AI)
• Dependencies — which steps must finish first
• Due date — target completion date

Steps that are blocked by incomplete dependencies are visually distinguished and cannot be started until their prerequisites are met.

Working through the checklist:

• Click a step to see its details and take action
• Automated steps can be kicked off with a single click
• Manual steps include instructions and a completion toggle
• Approval gates require explicit sign-off before downstream steps unlock

Close Binder

The Close Binder is the compiled output package for a completed close period. It contains:

• Financial statements — P&L, balance sheet, cash flow statement
• Trial balance — detailed trial balance for the period
• Bank reconciliation summaries — reconciliation status for each account
• Supporting schedules — accrual schedules, depreciation schedules, and adjustments
• Variance analysis — period-over-period comparisons and explanations

Generate the Close Binder from the close period view once all checklist items are complete. The binder can be exported as a PDF package for client delivery or audit review.

How the binder picks the financial package:

• The binder embeds the monthly financial package that matches the close period's accounting basis — a cash-basis close never binds an accrual package (and vice versa), even if the accrual one is newer.
• The binder prefers a fresh package. If only a stale one exists (books changed after it was generated), the binder still builds, but the staleness is flagged in the binder's index.
• The binder index records exactly which package version it embedded (generation time, basis, entity). Once a package is regenerated later, this is how you prove which version a delivered binder actually contained.

Supporting schedules: the binder also carries a supporting_schedules/ section with the workpapers behind the period's adjusting entries — the fixed-asset rollforward, amortization schedules (prepaid and deferred revenue), debt amortization schedules, lease schedules (liability and right-of-use), and the allowance-for-doubtful-accounts rollforward. Each ships as data plus a spreadsheet rendering where available, so reviewers can tie every adjustment back to its schedule without leaving the binder.

The binder is the retained close record. For a separate traceable or what-if working paper, use the Formula-Driven Register Workbook from the Debt, Leases, Prepaid & Deferred, or Fixed Assets register. Editing a downloaded formula workbook does not change or supersede the binder.

If you retry a report inside the binder panel, the panel refreshes automatically until the regeneration finishes — no manual reload needed. The Regen button for a report is disabled while that report is already regenerating.

On lock: locking the period archives a snapshot of the close pack ZIP as of lock time. The archived copy is the audit record for that lock; regenerations after an unlock produce new versions without touching it. The financial statements inside the close pack match the delivered monthly financial package, so the close record and the client deliverable can't disagree.

Financial Packs

Financial Packs are pre-configured report bundles that compile multiple financial reports into a single deliverable. Use them to generate client-ready reporting packages.

Included reports:

• Profit & Loss statement
• Balance sheet
• Cash flow statement
• AR/AP aging summaries
• General ledger excerpts
• Custom schedules (if configured)

To generate a Financial Pack:

1. Open the client's close workspace, use Manage Close, or open Report packs from ChatIQ.
2. Select the reporting period.
3. Choose which reports to include.
4. Click Generate.
5. Review the compiled pack and export or share it.

Financial Packs can be generated independently of the close process — you do not need an active close period to create one.

Package freshness and versions

Kraal tracks whether the books changed after a package was generated:

• A package is marked Stale (badge in pack history, reason on hover) when new entries post into its period, when the period is unlocked or reopened, or when a daily consistency check detects that the ledger no longer matches the package.
• The close page's package gate warns "Package delivered, but reports changed since — regenerate before sending" instead of showing green for a delivered-but-outdated package.
• Regenerate builds a new version first and only then supersedes the old one, so a failed regeneration never leaves the period without a package.
• Once a close is finalized, a package that was generated mid-month (interim) is not reused as the final deliverable — generation produces a fresh final version with the post-close numbers.
• Year-to-date columns respect the client's fiscal year start, and amounts are labeled in the client's or entity's currency.

While a package build is running for a period, the Generate button is disabled to prevent duplicate concurrent builds. See Package stale for the full banner reference.

Close Engine

The Close Engine is the automation system that powers the close workflow. It orchestrates:

• Task sequencing — runs steps in the correct order based on template dependencies
• AI task execution — executes eligible steps assigned to the AI, such as running reconciliation. Scheduled recurring Journal Entries are generated as drafts and still require review and submission; see Recurring Entries.
• Status tracking — monitors completion and updates the checklist in real time
• Notifications — alerts you when manual steps are ready or when issues arise

The Close Engine runs in the background once a close period is kicked off. You can monitor its progress from Close Overview or the individual period's Close Sheet.

Related guides

• Close Overview — the firm-wide close queue: summary bar, Priority Alert, catch-up months, Action Center, and bulk close actions.
• The Close Sheet — working a single period, including the package due date and document requests.
• Account Reconciliation — reviewing balance-sheet coverage, support, differences, client input, and signoffs for the period.
• Close Items in Depth — what each automated close item (tax provision, bad debt allowance, prepaid amortization, deferred revenue, payroll accruals, depreciation, cutoff analysis, period closing voucher) computes and what to review.
• Accrual Identification — accruals Kraal believes the period is missing, with the reason and support behind each proposal.
• Errors & Risk Review — duplicates, posting errors, and risk signals raised as dispositionable findings.
• Multi-Entity & Intercompany Reconciliation — consolidation, intercompany elimination, NCI, equity method, and cross-currency handling.
• FX Revaluation — how foreign- currency monetary accounts are revalued at period-end.
• PBC Engagement Tracking — track the documents and data each engagement needs from the client.

Troubleshooting

• Steps won't progress — check that prerequisite steps are marked complete. Steps are dependency-gated and won't start until blockers are resolved.
• Close period stuck — verify that bank reconciliation is complete, required account reconciliations do not have blocking gates, and all transactions are posted for the period.
• Template changes not reflected — template changes apply to new close periods. Existing periods use the template version that was active when the period was created.
• Close Binder generation fails — ensure all required checklist items are complete before generating.
• Package shows a Stale badge — the books changed after the package was generated (new postings, an unlock/reopen, or ledger edits caught by the daily check). Regenerate the package and re-deliver if it had already been sent. See Package stale.
• Generate Financial Package is greyed out — a package build is already running for this period. Wait for it to finish; the page updates automatically.
• Reopened a period by mistake — re-close it, then regenerate the period's package; the reopen marked existing packages and reports stale on purpose.
• Historical months are missing — confirm the client has a go-live, cutover, or onboarding start date, then use Catch Up from the Automated Close page.
• Catch Up does not appear — Kraal may not have enough setup metadata to know where catch-up should begin. Add or confirm the client's go-live/cutover date during setup.
• More than 24 months are needed — use a support-assisted migration or cleanup plan. The normal catch-up path intentionally stops at 24 monthly periods.