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Month-End Closing Process

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Introduction
Month-end closing in ABC company is performed to finalize a snap shot of transactional activities for the previous month. It is an important activity that provides the basis for financial and management reporting of the company. It is performed for the last time for a particular month to ensure that all transactions are posted and reflected on reports. The month is officially closed when all of the month end processes are complete (including posting.) The month being closed remains open for seven additional business days in the new month in order to process all prior month transactions. There is about 20 staff involved in this process in finance department, and the system used is Oracle.
The objective of this business …show more content…

To gain an understanding of the month-end closing process, I interviewed staff in general ledger, fixed assets, tax, accounts receivable, accounts payable and payroll (all in the above list). I reviewed their duties’ checklist to better understand some details with potential high risks. Also, I interviewed director of the process to get an overview of the process.
Findings
Based on the testing and all the interview information, I got the below findings:
• The access to the Oracle system is strictly controlled. When one wants to apply for a new access to the system, he/she needs to get the approvals of his/her supervisor, M. A in the general ledger and M. S—supervisor of the closing process. IT department will not open a new account until one got all the necessary approvals and signatures. IT department provides management a list of access rights information once necessary; managers will review the list and make sure no inappropriate access exists.
• For the control of journal entries, there’re policies that require all the supporting documents should be kept with journal entries for external auditors’ review. There’s, however, no review by supervisors before making journal entries. When I was interviewing with the director of the process, he admitted that it is an

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