PERIOD END CLOSURE CHECKLIST

BALANCE SHEET
Documentation Required

Additional Comments, Suggestions for

Approach

Frequency Preparer Signature

Fixed assets (Tangible/Intangible/Financial

Investments)

Specification and documentation of goodwill, Input to (e.g. Restructuring plans/Office

Movements etc.) and Process for Impairment
amortization of goodwill and impairment.
Testing should be documented, incl. the Results
(even if zero) of Management Review and
decision process should be available.

Specification and documentation of other

intangible FA and related amortization.
Reconciliation to fixed asset register:
specification net book value opening
balance-additions-retirements-depreciation.
Review FA movements

For all valuation areas (fiscal/ local statutory and

US GAAP)
Include review of P&L related to FA disposals;
Reconciliation for all Valuation areas (fiscal/ local
statutory and US GAAP) should be available as
well as analysis & reconciliation between the
valuation areas.

Specification and documentation of

impairment Testing of Tangible Fixed Assets

Schedule FA physical count

Feeders: Verification sales by location or

account to justify the cost of providing free
equipment.
Review Capital expenditure approval Tracking

Even if test does not lead to any Result Impact,

process to tests and decisions made are
required
Documentation of Process and Results from
count e.g. Losses taken, changes/deletions from
Register should be available. Ensure proper
authorisation approval process has been
performed.
Review result and input to impairment tests

Y
M

Y
Every 3Y

Inter-company accounts
Communication of late fiscal month IC
transactions
All differences above >5 USD k will be
Confirmation and reconciliation of intercompany balances with other JD companies questioned

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M
M

Date
Reviewer Signature
completed If Appl.

BALANCE SHEET
Documentation Required
Stocks
Schedule stock counts (including
consignment, equipment, machines and
spare parts) and agree frequency (minimum
1 wall-to-wall count per year)
Results of (cycle) counts held during the
month (if applicable) and the adjustment
booking that have been made accordingly
(FD, or other person assigned by FD, to
approve the adjustment before booking)

Additional Comments, Suggestions for

Approach

Frequency Preparer Signature

If local/fiscal requirements allow, avoid the wallto-wall cycle count activity around year-end.

Frequency and Results of cycle tests should be

available in Year-end package

Reconciliation sub-ledger total to general

ledger amount including analysis of
differences and negatives (if any)

Particularly review the variance analysis for

materiality, and in such a sense that adjustment
of the standard cost prices at balance sheet date
might be required

Calculation and specification of stock

provision, including movement (cross
reference to P&L)

Analyse quantity of Stock on hand versus Sales

in the past year. Make assumption for the
provision based on Excess Inventory: between
1-2 years; 2-3 years; above 3 years;; no Sales
in prior year period: 100% provision. (With
respect of equipment/machine items, the
methodology is the same, but the comparison
can be made with the usage of the related
chemicals.)
Reconcile any variance of the Stock Provisions
between local statutory and concern/Hyperion
reporting.

Specification of slow moving stock and

rotation/ageing analysis on possible
obsolete and slow moving inventories
Check all UAB/Unilever positions tie up to
zero
Specification of all consignment stock per
location

M
Q

Trade Accounts Receivables

Complete monthly posting of bank
transactions

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Date
Reviewer Signature
completed If Appl.

BALANCE SHEET
Documentation Required

Additional Comments, Suggestions for

Approach

Frequency Preparer Signature

Reconciliation sub-ledger total to general

ledger amount including analysis of
differences (if any)
Analysis of % of credit notes and major
causes
Ageing overview of trade debtors in total
amounts
Review goods returned
Overview of customers and receivable
amounts above the agreed credit limits
Review open sales orders (including service
orders) to ensure proper billing and monthend cut-off
Reconciliation of GDNI (Goods delivered not
invoiced)
Specification of doubtful debtors
(categorised per risk level)
Specification of officially declared bankrupt
debtors
Calculation and specification of provision
doubtful debt including movement (cross
reference with P&L)

Specification and ageing of other

receivables
Specification of AR balances with negative
amounts
Specification of bad debt written off,
including specification of recuperated taxes
and including proper authorisation
Calculation of Rebates and Ship-through
provisions

Prepaid expenses & deferred income

Specification prepaid expenses and
deferred income, including review of regular

M
M
M
M
M

M
M
Q
M

Documentation of reasons for negative AR

positions and follow up procedures are required

M
M

See also Accruals; calculations should tie back

to contract details, and level of sales to date.

Documentation at invoice level/individual

contracts.

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Date
Reviewer Signature
completed If Appl.

BALANCE SHEET
Documentation Required

Additional Comments, Suggestions for

Approach

Frequency Preparer Signature

release to P&L

Specification of receivables for bonuses,

commissions, marketing refunds or other
claims and supplier bonuses
Specification of accrued income

Documentation should tie back to contracts and

related purchase levels.

Cash & Banks

Reconciliation of cash on hand (actual cash
vs. cash book and general ledger)
Reconciliation of short time deposits (bank
statement vs. general ledger)
Reconciliation of short time deposits (bank
statement vs. general ledger)
Reconciliation bank accounts (bank
statement vs. general ledger) including
specification of cash and cheques in transit
Petty Cash - overview of cash at hand per
location
Equity
Reconciliation of Hyperions equity with
statutory equity

M
M

Cross check the information with Deferred Tax

Provisions; analyse the difference to the main
Balance Sheet Headers.

Movement schedule of equity and related

specification

Suspense Accounts
Create list of all suspense accounts
(regarless B/S heading) and analyse open
item details

Perform age analysis of all open items and

earlier review processes performed to solve
these open items.

Short Term Borrowings and Inter-company

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Date
Reviewer Signature
completed If Appl.

BALANCE SHEET
Documentation Required

Additional Comments, Suggestions for

Approach

Reconciliation short term loans (bank

statement vs. general ledger)
Reconciliation inter-company loans including
counterpart confirmation

Trade accounts Payable

Complete monthly posting of bank
transactions and invoices
Reconciliation sub-ledger total to general
ledger amount including analysis of
differences and debit balances (if any)
Specification of intermediate accounts GRNI
(invoices to be received, goods to be
received, unmatched receipts).
Ageing analysis by supplier
Specification of outstanding purchase orders
(reconciled and cleared for unmatched and
old items)
Income/Profit Tax
Specification of accrued taxes and loss
compensation
Deferred taxes
Specification of deferred tax calculation and
movement schedule

Frequency Preparer Signature

M
Analysis of debit balances and follow up process
should be documented

Review that open items are not older than 3

months

Q
M

Review total tax position, including potential

prepayments which may require offsetting

Analyse the tax calculation back to the main

Balance Sheet Headers, and split each of the
differences in valuation to Permanent (no
deferred tax impact) and Temporary Differences
(deferred tax is applicable); see also Excel tool
issued by Tax Department

Other Short term Accruals

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Date
Reviewer Signature
completed If Appl.

BALANCE SHEET
Documentation Required

Additional Comments, Suggestions for

Approach

Frequency Preparer Signature

Specification accrued expenses/costs

A recurring process and approach should be

taken to confidently estimate the costs of goods
and services received in the Staff Costs area
e.g. Involve all Budgetholders to estimate costs
applicable to the current period, but for which
invoices are not yet received.
The level of detail to allocate the accruals to the
correct budget codes may vary, however a
review process to proof/justify the total level of
accruals taken is required.
Where less detail in the accrual process is
performed, a couple of year's historical data and
justification thereof may be required.

Specification accrued transport

Freight costs provisions for incoming goods

should be able to tie back to goods received,
these type of accruals in case of standard
costing are often system triggered.

Warehouse and Distribution Costs and

provisions re Sales should be estimated, using
either contracts, historical data, and Sales
activitiy
Calculations should tie up to the existing
contracts and related level of sales;
documentation should be based on individual
customers

Specification accrued customer

commissions

Specification accrued customer bonuses

Specification accrued interest

Calculation and specification of all other

liabilities such as: provision 13th month and
provision holiday pay, bonus to employees

Calculation should tie to contract agreements

Based on Year to date data, provisions need to
be estimated. Review process of the total level
of accruals taken is required.

Provisions
Specification and Documentation should be
available for all Non-current provisions and
Liabilities,

M
M
M

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Date
Reviewer Signature
completed If Appl.

BALANCE SHEET
Documentation Required

Pension and similar retirement provisions

should be documented and reconciled back
to Towers Perrin information

Restructuring provisions, review and

updates

A potential list of contingencies should be

available, and documentation/argumentation
is required why these are not included in the
accounts.
A list of future liabilities and their
documentation is required.

Additional Comments, Suggestions for

Approach

Actuals should be reviewed against original MEA

budgets, and variance should be analysed for
potential adjustments or releases.

Reconciliation trial balance and P&L to

reporting package. Detail and document US
GAAP journal entries
Variance analysis are required for all
reporting lines
FD to review (high-level) all direct GL entries
for unusual amounts/transactions before
reporting

General
Check on balances of trial balance
Reconcile all suspense accounts
Run month-end FX revaluation
Print of final balance sheet and P&L account Cross check the information back to Net Equity
from local system and Hyperion as working and Deferred Tax
document for filing purposes

Frequency Preparer Signature

If necessary, document any irregularities which

were not resolved before the Reporting

M
M
M
M

Analysis both against budget, and prior

year/opening data
M

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Date
Reviewer Signature
completed If Appl.

Profit & Loss

Documentation Required

Frequency Preparer Signature

Turnover & Cost of sales

Analytic review of sales, cost of goods sold and gross margin: comparison of monthly and
YTD actual to budget, including detailed explanation of major differences. At a minimum at
customer segment level, including exceptional margin explanation)
Specification and review of unsatisfactory margins
Specification realised/accrued discounts/bonuses and other supplier payments booked in the
margin per supplier
Specification of amount of credit notes issued/received
Specification of other adjustments/bookings in the margin
Specification of the amount of payment discount paid to customers and received from
suppliers
Reconciliation of movement in VAT accrual with VAT on sales
Analytic review of factory results: comparison of monthly and YTD actual to budget, including
detailed explanation of major differences
Price increasing analysis per customer/market sector/product level
Operating Expenditure
Analytic review of operational expenses: comparison of monthly and YTD actual to budget
operational cost categories, including detailed explanation of major differences
Reconciliation of specified payroll with expense in the general ledger and bank payment
Reconciliation of depreciation expenses with fixed assets register
Operating income/costs (in case of material difference actual vs. budget)
Specification interest income and expenses
Specification of other financial income and expenses
Analysis of average debt position and relating interest expenses

M
M
M
M
M
M
Q
M
Q

M
M
M

M
M
Q

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Date
completed

Reviewer If Signature
Appl.