I Hate Quarter Close

It is another short blog week.  I cannot help it; it is the quarter close.

Accounting is a routine job.  Every month, I have a schedule of tasks that I complete in a specific order so that our financial statements are correct.  I have two weeks of reconciliations and journal entries to make sure all the accounts are accurate for the month.  Next, I have one week of management reporting to highlight specific account activity for the executives.  Finally, I have one week (maybe a bit more until the end of the month) where I review things that other accountants have completed, process certain types of business transactions, and work on special projects.  My monthly schedule is quite full, and although I have slower days, I never have completely free time.

Every three months, my routine is expanded from the normal busy month.  I am still responsible for everything that needs to be done on a monthly basis.  Then, there are extra reconciliations and journal entries that are only done on a quarterly basis.  All of them still must be done in the same two week time period.  There are a few additional reports that are completed for management.  Plus, there are schedules that must be prepared for the filings with the SEC and requests from the auditors that are due during the same week as the management reporting.  The last week is spent on the normal array of tasks but with more stuff to review because all the other accountants did extra journal entries and reconciliations as well.  As the review is happening by both our team and the auditors, everybody hopes that nobody finds anything that was done incorrectly.  When we do, it causes a landslide of journal entries to correct and reports to fix that must be done immediately because the SEC deadline is non-negotiable.  I work extra hours at night and on the weekend every quarter, and I still never feel like I have put in the appropriate amount of time to make sure things are done accurately.

I will not even go into the fiscal year end, and the extra work that requires.  It is still six months away, and I am not ready to think about it yet.

My brain is completely fried from the additional work, the long hours, and the intense mental energy I dedicate to the quarter close.  Although my goal is to always write real blogs, I have a feeling I will continue to fall back on short “quarter closes suck” type blogs at least once during those periods.  I just do not have the time and brainpower left to dedicate to the blog.  Work has taken it all.

See you next week!