Closing the books in a day

By Priya Nair, product. Six minutes.

Month-end used to mean a weekend. Here is what it looks like for Quayside Roasters now, a coffee wholesaler with two shops and eleven staff.

Morning: the review queue

Forty-one transactions were matched overnight. Six are waiting: three card payments from a new customer, two supplier refunds and a bank fee. Each shows the best three candidates. Ten minutes.

Midday: receipts

Staff forwarded 28 receipts during the month. Twenty-six attached themselves to card transactions. Two are photographed menus, deleted.

Afternoon: the return

The VAT return is a report. The accountant opens it, checks the two flagged items, files it. The books are closed on the fourth.