The Restaurant365 Month-End Close Checklist
Everything that has to be true before you trust the P&L — in the order a restaurant specialist actually works it inside R365.
Most restaurant closes go wrong in the same handful of places: sales that don't tie to the deposit, AP entered to the wrong period, inventory never counted, and a P&L reviewed before it's actually done. Work these seven phases in order every period and your prime cost will finally mean something. Check each box as you go. This close is one piece of the bigger picture — see our complete guide to restaurant bookkeeping for the full system.
Daily Sales Reconciliation
If sales don't tie out daily, nothing downstream is trustworthy.
- Confirm every day has a sales entry. No gaps in the daily sales journal for the whole period — including closed days.
- POS ties to R365. Net sales, comps, voids, and discounts per the POS (Toast, Square, Aloha, etc.) match the daily sales journal.
- Deposits match sales. Credit card batches and cash deposits landing in the bank reconcile to recorded sales, day by day.Chase the timing gap: cards settle 1–2 days after the sale.
- Tips reconciled. Charged tips, tip-outs, and tips paid on payroll all account for each other — no tips stuck in a clearing account.
- Gift cards & 3rd-party. Gift card sales/redemptions and delivery apps (DoorDash, Uber Eats) recorded to the right accounts, net of fees.
Accounts Payable
COGS is only as accurate as the invoices entered in the right period.
- All invoices entered. Every vendor invoice with an in-period date is in R365 — including ones that arrived after month-end.
- No duplicates. Run the duplicate-invoice check; confirm nothing was entered twice via AP automation + manual entry.
- Correct GL & category. Food, beverage, supplies, and expense invoices are coded to the right GL account and item category.
- Approvals cleared. No invoices stuck in the approval workflow at close.
- Statements reconciled. Key vendor statements agree to AP — catch missing credits and unbilled deliveries.
Bank & Credit Card Reconciliation
The books aren't done until every account reconciles to the statement.
- Every bank account reconciled to the statement, ending balance matched, zero unexplained items.
- Credit cards reconciled and expenses coded (not dumped into a single "credit card" account).
- Merchant fees booked. Processor fees recorded as expense, not netted silently against sales.
- Clearing accounts flat. Undeposited funds / sales clearing / tips clearing net to zero or a known, explainable balance.
- Transfers matched between accounts and entities — no double-counted movement.
Payroll & Labor
Labor is half of prime cost — book it to the right period.
- Payroll posted for every run in the period, split to the correct locations and GL accounts.
- Wages accrued. Days worked but not yet paid (period-end split pay periods) accrued so labor isn't understated.
- Employer taxes & benefits recorded alongside gross wages.
- Tips reconciled to payroll — charged tips collected vs. tips paid out agree.
Inventory & COGS
No ending inventory count = a food cost number you're guessing at.
- Ending inventory counted and entered for the period (not rolled forward from last month).
- COGS calculated as beginning + purchases − ending, by category (food vs. beverage).
- Waste, comps & spoilage accounted for so they don't hide inside food cost.
- Theoretical vs. actual food cost variance reviewed for anything out of range.
Journal Entries & Accruals
Match expenses to the period they belong to, not the month they were paid.
- Prepaids amortized — insurance, rent, subscriptions spread to the right months.
- Accruals booked for utilities, invoices not yet received, and other known unbilled costs.
- Depreciation recorded for equipment and build-out.
- Recurring & allocation entries (rent allocations across locations, management fees) posted.
- Sales tax liability reconciled to what's owed.
Review, Report & Lock
A close you didn't review is just data entry.
- P&L reviewed by location — margins sane, no account with an obviously wrong balance.
- Prime cost calculated (COGS + labor as a % of sales) and compared to target and prior periods.
- Balance sheet scanned — no negative assets, stale balances, or clearing accounts left open.
- Period-over-period review — explain any line that moved more than expected.
- Reports delivered to ownership with a short narrative, not just a raw export.
- Period locked in R365 so the numbers can't shift after close.
Rather have someone run this every month?
This is exactly what we do — the full close, inside your Restaurant365, so you get a clean prime cost and a P&L you can trust without touching the platform.
See Restaurant365 Bookkeeping →