Most failed closes fail not for lack of work but because the work was done in the wrong order. A close is a sequence: each block consumes the output of the one before it, and skipping one forces you to redo the three that follow. The dates live in our accounting and tax calendar, and what to count in our year-end inventory checklist. This page answers the other question, the one that costs most when ignored: in what order.
The sequence, in four blocks
- Block 1, stop the flows. Set a cut-off date and stop attaching documents to the year that is ending.
- Block 2, count and confront. Physical stock, third-party balances, bank, cash: establish what actually exists.
- Block 3, adjust. Accruals, prepayments, impairments, depreciation: correct what the count revealed.
- Block 4, close and produce the statements. Final trial balance, result, financial statements, and only then the filings.
- The single rule. No block starts until the previous one is frozen, or its figures move under your feet.
1. Why order changes the result, not just the comfort
Each block produces data the next one needs. A receivable impairment is computed on a customer balance; if that balance is still moving because a December invoice arrives in January, the impairment is wrong and has to be redone. The CGNC requires assets and liabilities to be identified and measured at the close: identifying comes before measuring, and that is not a wording detail.
| Block | What it needs from the previous one | What breaks if inverted |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Stop the flows | Nothing, it is the starting point | Everything after it rests on sand |
| 2. Count | A frozen cut-off date | You recount after every late document |
| 3. Adjust | Observed quantities and balances | Provisions and depreciation computed on wrong bases |
| 4. Close | Validated adjustments | The result changes after the shareholder decision |
The cost of inverting is not theoretical: it is a full redo of the block concerned and everything depending on it, usually during the week your accountant is waiting for the file.
2. Block 1 — stop the flows before counting anything
Cut-off is the one closing decision you cannot recover from. It means deciding, for each flow, whether it belongs to the year ending or the next one, and then holding to that.
- Announce the cut-off date to the team and to anyone who commits spending.
- Stop issuing documents dated in the closing year once the date has passed.
- List deliveries made but not invoiced, and invoices received for goods not delivered.
- Isolate goods in transit and goods held by third parties.
- Record the last number of every document series.
- Freeze stock movements, or failing that document every movement of the day.
The last series number is the most useful document in the file: it lets you prove later which invoices belong to which year, without depending on anyone’s memory.
3. Block 2 — count, and confront the record with reality
This block observes; it does not yet correct. The aim is observed figures, not expected ones. The counting method is in our inventory checklist; what matters here is the order the confrontations happen in.
- Stock: Physical count set against theoretical stock. The variance is recorded, not corrected yet.
- Third-party accounts: Customer and supplier subsidiary ledger reconciled to statements and confirmations received.
- Bank: Full reconciliation: uncashed cheques, transfers in flight, charges not yet booked.
- Cash: Actual count of the cash, variance recorded with its date and its author.
- Fixed assets: Physical existence checked against the register: a disposed or retired asset must no longer sit in assets.
At the end of this block you hold a list of variances. That is the expected deliverable: an identified, dated variance beats one absorbed without trace.
Do not start adjusting while the cut-off is still open
This is the most frequent and most expensive inversion. While an invoice can still be attached to the closing year, every provision, every impairment and every stock movement computed before the cut-off closes will have to be recomputed. Close first, adjust second, even if closing costs you two days.
4. Block 3 — adjust, in the order the corrections depend on each other
Adjustments have their own internal sequence. Accruals come first because they change the balances everything else is computed on.
- Attach expenses and income to the year: invoices not received, invoices to issue, accrued expenses, accrued income.
- Strip out prepaid expenses and deferred income, which belong to the following year.
- Post stock movements from the quantities counted in block 2.
- Impair receivables that have become doubtful, once customer balances are final.
- Book depreciation and provisions, on a now up-to-date asset base.
- Check that every adjustment carries supporting evidence and an author.
The classic mistake is to book depreciation first because it is predictable. It depends on the fixed-asset register corrected in block 2: an unrecorded disposal produces a charge on an asset the company no longer owns.
5. Block 4 — close the accounts, and only then file
The last block turns a set of entries into statements you can be held to. It starts only when no adjustment is still pending.
| Step | What it produces | Condition to start it |
|---|---|---|
| Final trial balance | Closed balances of every account | No adjustment outstanding |
| Accounting result | The result for the year | Balanced and validated trial balance |
| Move to the tax result | The taxable base | Accounting result closed |
| Financial statements | Balance sheet, CPC and annexes | Result validated |
| Shareholder decision | Approval and appropriation | Statements available |
| Filings | Tax and social submissions | Accounts approved |
Filing deadlines belong to the accounting and tax calendar. The sequencing rule is simply that no filing is prepared on a result that can still move.
Mistakes to avoid
- Starting with depreciation because it is predictable.
- Correcting inventory variances during the count instead of recording them.
- Leaving the cut-off date implicit and discovering it in January.
- Computing a receivable impairment on a balance that is still moving.
- Preparing a filing on a result that is not closed.
- Forgetting to record the last number of each document series.
Frequently asked questions
Where do I start a close I have never done before?
With the cut-off date, before any counting. Set it, announce it, record the last number of each series, and stop attaching documents to the closing year. The rest of the sequence depends on that decision.
Can stock be counted before the cut-off is closed?
Technically yes, usefully no. A count run while deliveries are still arriving has to be adjusted delivery by delivery, which costs more than waiting for the close.
Do I have to wait for the close to know my result?
No, and waiting is not advisable. An interim accounting position gives an estimate during the year; the close turns it into a result you can be held to. The two do not carry the same level of proof.
Who decides the closing date?
The articles of association set it, and it is not necessarily 31 December. The choice and its consequences are covered in our dedicated guide to choosing the closing date.
Can BelloPOS close the books for me?
No, and no till software can. BelloPOS Pro keeps the journals, produces the trial balance and exports the file for your accountant; closing the accounts, the tax options and the filings remain a decision taken with your accountant.
What to take away
A clean close is not a fast close, it is an ordered one. Stop the flows, establish what exists, adjust on observed bases, then close. Every block taken in order removes a redo; every block taken early creates one.
Sources
The figures and rules quoted above come from these pages, read on the date given in the article.
- Ministry of Economy and Finance, General Code of Accounting Standardisation, read 1 September 2026
- Moroccan Tax Administration, 2026 General Tax Code
- Ministry of Justice, Company Law 5-96, read 30 August 2026
Produce the trial balance and the closing file
BelloPOS Pro keeps the journals, produces the trial balance and exports the file your accountant expects. The purchases and customer balances that feed the close start with Go.
Read next
Other practical guides on the same subject:
- Accounting cut-off in Morocco: matching costs and revenue to the right year
- Annual accounting and tax calendar for a Moroccan small business
- Year-end inventory in Morocco: a checklist for a small business
- Accounting years in Morocco: how to choose a closing date
- How to read a trial balance and spot an accounting anomaly