Altitude 7
OperationsWorkflow

Month-End Close Pack

Last updated April 27, 2026

What it does

Connect Cowork to the folder where your accounting team drops the monthly reports. Build one Skill that pulls the five recurring exports, combines them into a single workbook with reconciliation tabs, and flags any variance over a threshold. Schedule it. Ops work is repetitive, file-heavy, and exactly what scheduled Skills were built for. This is the “hours back per week” conversation that wins over the CFO.

What you need first

  • ·A folder where the recurring reports always land (NetSuite exports, brokerage statements, fund admin reports, etc.)
  • ·A clear naming convention so Cowork can identify which file is which
  • ·A reconciliation policy: what reconciles to what, and what variance threshold flags an exception
  • ·An example month done by hand, so you can validate the first run against a known answer

The prompt

Run the month-end close pack for {MONTH} {YEAR}.

Inputs (all in this folder):
1. NetSuite GL trial balance: trial-balance-{YYYYMM}.xlsx
2. Fund admin NAV report: nav-{YYYYMM}.xlsx
3. Prime broker custody statement: pb-statement-{YYYYMM}.pdf
4. Bank reconciliation report: bank-recon-{YYYYMM}.xlsx
5. Prior month close pack for comparison: close-pack-{prior YYYYMM}.xlsx

Build a single workbook named "close-pack-{YYYYMM}.xlsx" with these tabs:

Tab 1 — Summary: high-level NAV, P&L, and AUM figures with month-over-month deltas.
Tab 2 — Trial Balance: GL data, formatted, with prior-month side-by-side.
Tab 3 — NAV Reconciliation: fund admin NAV vs internal calculation. Flag variance > {THRESHOLD}.
Tab 4 — PB Recon: PB custody vs internal positions. Flag any unreconciled positions.
Tab 5 — Bank Recon: cash positions vs bank statement. Flag breaks.
Tab 6 — Variance Log: every flagged item with: source, expected, actual, variance, suggested explanation.

Format consistently with last month's close pack. Don't overwrite the source files. Don't change historical numbers.

What good output looks like

  • ✓A close-pack workbook that matches last month's structure exactly
  • ✓A populated variance log — even an empty one is informative
  • ✓No source files touched
  • ✓Summary tab that's sendable to the CFO without reformatting

Make it a Skill — and schedule it

Save as month-end-close. Schedule the task to run on the 5th of each month at 7 AM. Your accounting team walks in to a finished close pack waiting for review, not a blank workbook waiting to be built. This is the canonical use case for scheduled tasks.

Common pitfalls

  • Validate the first three runs by hand. Catch any reconciliation logic that's off before it becomes monthly muscle memory.
  • Naming conventions are non-negotiable. If filenames drift from the convention, the Skill will break. Lock it down with the accounting team.
  • The variance log replaces the “email asking why X doesn't reconcile.” Make sure it has enough detail that the team can investigate without going back to source.