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Year-End Hub: What We Need to Close Your Books

Walk through how we close your books in Finaloop and what we need from you + all the guidance you need along the way.

Written by Emily Burrows

About

Finaloop’s team of accountants closes your books for you, so you can head into tax season confident, organized, and fully prepared.

To wrap up your books accurately, we just need a few confirmations and reviews from you. The Year-End Hub centralizes everything we need in one simple checklist.

Once you complete your part, we take it from there.

This step-by-step guide walks you through:

  • What to expect

  • Each checklist section

  • Important deadlines

  • What happens after you submit

  • Direct links to detailed guides

You can also watch the full walkthrough video of the Year-End Hub here:


1. How the Year-End Process Works

There are four stages to closing your books.

1) You Complete the Checklist

We consolidated all required confirmations into one centralized checklist.

Some tasks may ask you to:

  • Confirm balances

  • Review specific screens

  • Provide missing information

That’s it. Once everything is marked complete just submit your checklist.

2) Finaloop Performs a Deep Review

After submission:

  • Our bookkeeping and tax experts review your entire account

  • We validate balances

  • We reconcile accounts

  • We optimize your books for tax reporting

3) We Reach Out If Anything Is Missing

If we identify anything that needs clarification, such as:

  • Missing transactions

  • Incorrect balances

  • Incomplete documentation

We’ll contact you with clear, simple next steps. Your responsiveness helps us finalize everything smoothly.

4) We Lock Your Books

After all confirmations and follow-ups are resolved:

  • We lock your books in Finaloop

  • Your books become tax-ready

  • You can safely share reports with your CPA


2. Important Deadlines

At the top of your Year-End Hub, you’ll see your personalized deadline timeline.

Deadlines vary depending on:

  • Your tax structure

  • Your filing requirements

  • Whether you have already completed your Balance Sheet setup in Finaloop

  • Wether you are catching up historical books and are closing multiple years instead of just one.

The deadline ensures:

  • We have time to review after you submit

  • Your CPA has enough time to file

Please complete your checklist by the date shown in your account. Submitting early gives everyone breathing room and reduces last-minute stress.

If you miss the deadline:

  • We will still do our best to finalize your books

  • We recommend filing a tax extension and paying estimated taxes to avoid penalties

If you haven't yet completed your Balance Sheet:

Completing your Balance Sheet is part of your financial foundation and a crucial step to complete before we can close your books. If you're new to Finaloop and haven't yet completed your Balance Sheet setup, you'll first be directed to your Balance Sheet Hub before you can continue your Year-End Hub checklist.


3. Year-End Checklist: What We Need From You

Below is a breakdown of each section and what we’re asking you to confirm so we can close your books accurately.


Accounting and Tax Information, Banks, Transactions

1) Accounting & Tax Information

Please confirm:

  • Fiscal year period

  • Legal entity

  • Tax entity type

If anything changed during the year, contact Support before proceeding so we can update it properly.


2) Banks

Click 'Go to Banks' to access your Banking Year-End Checklist. We need you to:

  • Confirm closing balances for flagged accounts

  • Review closing balances for reconciled account (optional)

Our team relies on this confirmation before we finalize balances.

Learn more about how bank reconciliation works and what we need from you in this guide: 👉 Bank reconciliation guide


3) Transactions

> Categorize Open Transactions

Before we can close your books, we’ll need all transactions to be categorized. If there are any open transactions that we need your input on, you’ll see this task to give us the input we need to categorize them.

This task auto-completes once resolved.


> Review Unmatched Payouts & Transfers

When funds move between stores, processors, banks, or credit cards, we match both sides to keep everything reconciled. If we don't see a corresponding match or something needs clarification, we’ll ask for guided input.

This ensures revenue and transfers are properly recorded before we finalize.


> Report Missing Business Transactions

If any business activity did not go through connected accounts, please add it so your books reflect the full picture.

Examples:

  • Income paid to personal accounts

  • Business expenses paid from personal accounts

  • Related-party payments

👉 Guide on reporting transactions.


Accounts Receivable (A/R), Accounts Payable(A/P) - Only for Accrual Books

1) Accounts Receivable (A/R) - Shopify Orders

While Shopify syncs in real time, we perform a year-end validation to ensure everything is fully aligned.

To confirm your Shopify receivables balance, we need you to:

  1. Approve our Shopify collaboration request (all stores) if you haven’t yet done this

  2. Confirm your Net Unpaid Shopify Orders balance as of Dec 31.

It’s helpful to review your Unpaid Orders tab to ensure:

  • Offline payments are linked

  • Test orders are voided

  • Over-collected or uncollected balances are closed

  • Giveaways or replacements are categorized properly

  • Historically paid orders are marked correctly

Once confirmed, we can finalize your Shopify A/R.

🎥 Video walkthrough on managing your unpaid orders.


2) Accounts Receivable (A/R) - Invoices

To ensure your wholesale and B2B invoices are accurate before year-end, please ensure:

  • Payments are linked to invoices

  • Invalid invoices are closed or voided

  • Missing invoices are added

  • Your A/R balance is confirmed


3) Accounts Payable (A/P) - Bills

On the Bills page:

  • Categorize uncategorized bills

  • Link paid bills

  • Add missing bills

  • Confirm your A/P balance

We rely on this confirmation before finalizing your payables.


Inventory, Loans, Payroll

1) Inventory

Complete the inventory checklist on your Inventory page. This checklist will vary based on the COGS method you use but the end goal is all the same - to ensure your inventory and COGS are perfectly aligned and ready to go for tax purposes.

Learn more:


2) Loans

To review and confirm your loans, please:

  • Fill in missing loan details

  • Confirm all loans are reflected

Our team validates loan balances and interest before closing.

👉 Guide to managing your loans.


3) Payroll

> Employer taxes paid outside Gusto

If you use Gusto, we'll sync all your payroll tax data automatically. If you use another payroll provider, add total employer taxes paid.

> Officer Compensation outside Gusto

Add total officer compensation paid outside Gusto (or enter 0).


Other Items

This list will be customized based on the specific set up and relevant numbers for your business. Here are some common included items:

1) Sales Tax

Report sales tax from any non-integrated channels and confirm your liability balance. Check out our guide for understanding where to find your sals tax liability balance.

Adjustments are reviewed by our team before posting.

Guide to reviewing your sales tax liability balance:


2) Security Deposits

Confirm your Security Deposits balance as of Dec 31. We review any changes before updating your books.


3) Investments

Confirm your Investments balance as of Dec 31. You'll see the amount on the costs basis, not the fair value of the investment.

We review any changes before updating your books.


4. After You Submit

Once your checklist is complete:

  1. Our team performs a full review

  2. We reach out if clarification is needed

  3. We finalize adjustments

  4. We lock your books

Finaloop closes your books for you, we just need the confirmations from you so we can get this done quickly and accurately.


Need Help?

Contact us via [email protected] if you have any questions. We’re here to make sure your year-end is smooth and fully handled.

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