Practical guide
Distribution period close: which data must reconcile
Before period close, distribution documents should be completed or explained, stock movements reconciled, and payments and receivables matched to accounting facts. Unresolved integration errors belong in the close control.
- ERP and Accounting for Distribution
- Aktashwater: accounts receivable broken down by product group
- For finance directors
In detail
For operations, finance and IT leaders, this article explains what to prepare before period close and who confirms reconciliation results. Operational data readiness, completed control tasks and accounting close are different states. Finding the cause of a discrepancy does not mean its impact has been resolved.
Start with the reconciliation scope: company, period, time zone, event date and posting date. Keep the extraction time and version of each dataset. A document received after extraction may belong to the period under review; the responsible finance role determines its treatment and whether reconciliation must be repeated under company policy. Message receipt time alone does not determine the transaction period.
Compare equivalent data: warehouses, products, units, currencies, statuses and valuation basis. A reservation is not a physical stock movement, and acceptance for processing is not posting. Matching grand totals may hide an omission and a duplicate, so retain links to source documents and explain any permitted differences separately.
Check each flow according to its meaning: partial shipment, physical receipt of a return, inventory movements, receipt and allocation of payment. A promise to pay does not settle a debt, and a received return may still await the sales adjustment. An open receivable or unfinished order is not automatically an error: its position at the period boundary and its agreed accounting treatment must be explained.
Each exception needs a cause, impact on the result, owner, decision and evidence. Accepting a risk does not make the data match: company policy defines who may accept an exception and under what conditions. If an exchange outcome is unknown, first check the receiving document using the original identifier; retrying without that check may create a duplicate. Repeat affected reconciliations after a correction. If an approved exception remains open, record its next review, due date and owner. Moving the task into the next period does not resolve the discrepancy or replace approval by the responsible finance role.
For a process discussion, prepare an anonymised example from a previous period: two comparable extracts, linked documents, a discrepancy and its resolution. Record who confirms readiness, what blocks the next step, and how late data or changes after review are handled. Preserve a new version, reason and renewed approval instead of silently changing the record. Automation and access restrictions are agreed for each project.
How it is applied
- Select a company and period, then agree dates, time zone and the scope of two comparable extracts.
- Prepare linked sales, return, inventory and payment documents with their source and accounting statuses.
- Prepare a discrepancy register with the cause, impact, owner, decision and evidence of the outcome. For an approved exception that is still open, name the owner and next review date.
- Define the reviewing role, blocking conditions and rules for permitted exceptions, late data and renewed reconciliation.
- In a pilot, check a partial transaction, an omission or duplicate, an unknown exchange outcome and a change after extraction; retain the final review record.
Practical checklist
- No intermediate-status document remains unexplained.
- Stock balances and movements follow the agreed reconciliation method.
- Payments and receivables connect to accounting facts.
- Integration errors are resolved or accepted with an accountable reason.
Scope and limits
Specific accounting procedures, forms and deadlines follow company policy and country requirements. This guide addresses operational data readiness, not professional accounting advice.