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Seasonal Guide

Q4 Year-End Close: How You Prepare in October–December Determines Your Q1

Most Q1 reconciliation errors are caused by Q4 close problems. This guide covers what to do before December 31.

Q4 year-end close is the critical preparation phase that determines how clean your Q1 reconciliation will be. From October through December, property teams must ensure all vendor invoices are posted, accruals are accurate, capital vs. operating expense classifications are correct, and CAM pool configurations are updated. Shortcuts in Q4 become errors in Q1.

Key Dates (5)

Date / TimeframeWhat Happens
October–NovemberReview CAM pool GL account assignments, update for any mid-year additions
November 30Soft close: identify missing invoices and outstanding accruals
December 15Post all estimated year-end accruals
December 31Hard close: all transactions must be in the system
January 5–10Final adjusting entries and accrual true-up

Phase Checklist (8 items)

Review all CAM pool GL account assignments against current chart of accounts
Confirm all vendor invoices for operating expenses are posted before December 31
Post year-end accruals for invoices not yet received
Review capital vs. operating expense classifications for any major repairs
Confirm management fee calculation matches lease terms
Update tenant pro-rata denominators for any mid-year lease changes
Verify gross-up settings are current in your ERP
Document any unusual expenses that will require explanation in tenant statements

Common Mistakes

1Posting capital improvements to operating expense accounts — these are not recoverable in most leases
2Missing year-end accruals for invoices that arrive in January for December services
3Not updating CAM pool GL mappings when new vendor expense categories are created
4Leaving the prior year's denominator in place after mid-year tenant changes

Where CapVeri Fits

CapVeri's GL anomaly detection flags potential classification errors before year-end close — identifying accounts that may contain capital items, unusual expense spikes, or unrecognized vendor categories. Running a preliminary CapVeri analysis in November gives you time to correct issues before the close, rather than discovering them in January when statements are already due.

Related Resources

Year End CAM ReconciliationYear End Operating Expense True UpCAM Presend Checklist

Free Tools for This Phase

Cam Leakage EstimatorRecovery Gap AnalyzerCam Gross Up Calculator

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