A five-day month end close for UAE companies: the twenty-step checklist

Everything else depends on cash being right, so start there. Download statements for every bank, card and gateway account and reconcile them.

Assign each step to a named person, even in a three-person team. A checklist without owners becomes a list of things everyone assumed someone else had done. Tick each step with the date it was finished, and keep the ticked list with the month’s management accounts as a record of the close.

• 1. Upload and reconcile every bank account, including USD and EUR accounts
• 2. Reconcile credit cards and payment gateway clearing accounts
• 3. Count petty cash and post the top-up
• 4. Update the PDC register: cheques deposited, cleared, bounced, still on hand

With cash matched, the ledgers for customers and suppliers can be trusted.

• 5. Confirm all sales for the month are invoiced, including milestone and recurring invoices
• 6. Allocate unapplied receipts and credit notes; review the AR ageing
• 7. Enter all supplier bills received; chase missing tax invoices
• 8. Review the AP ageing and agree large supplier balances to statements

Salaries for the month are due on the first day of the next month under the wage rules published on u.ae, so the payroll journal and WPS payment should already be prepared.

• 9. Post the payroll journal and agree it to the WPS payment
• 10. Accrue end-of-service gratuity, leave salary and air tickets
• 11. Accrue expenses received but not yet invoiced: utilities, rent, professional fees
• 12. Post prepayments released this month, such as insurance and annual licences
• 13. Release deferred revenue and customer advances earned this month

Now the entries that do not come from a document.

• 14. Post depreciation and check new assets were capitalised, not expensed
• 15. Revalue foreign currency balances at month-end rates
• 16. Update inventory: stock count or system adjustment, and cost of sales
• 17. In a VAT quarter-end month, prepare the VAT 201 draft and review exceptions; returns are due 28 days after the period ends

The final day is for review, not entry.

Our view: step 18 is where most closes fail. Owners skip the variance review because the numbers “look fine”, and errors from steps 1 to 17 slip into the next month. Ten minutes comparing this month with last month and with budget catches the large mistakes.

• 18. Compare P&L and balance sheet with last month and budget; explain large movements
• 19. Check suspense and clearing accounts are clear or explained
• 20. Lock the period and send management accounts to the owner

In HelloBooks, the most time-consuming steps are where the AI agent does the first pass. It matches uploaded bank, card and gateway statements; reads and posts supplier bills; drafts recurring accruals, deferred revenue releases and depreciation; and builds the VAT 201 draft from the ledger for you to review before you file on EmaraTax yourself.

Ask “what is still open for the October close?” and it lists unreconciled lines, bills missing tax invoices and accounts with unusual movements. A person still reviews, approves and locks the period. Firms closing books for many clients can see every client’s close status in one place under the White-Label License, and checklists can be tailored per client on request.