Day three of close. Four accounts won't tie.

The problem

Month-end close is spread across the ledger, an emailed stock count and a folder of journals. Each time a client calls, you lose your place in the reconciliations and have to find it again.

In the video: “Day three of close. The ledger's in one window, the stock count's in an email, the journals in another file.”

How PlexiDesk handles it

In PlexiDesk, month-end close gets one desk. A desk is one canvas for one piece of work, and the video tours three of its widgets:

1. What doesn't tie

   In the video: “Every reconciliation, and the four that don't tie.”

   A Table widget keeps every reconciliation as a row, with typed columns for the balance, the difference and the status. Filter or group it to see only the accounts that do not tie.

2. The fixes

   In the video: “The journals that fix them, with the evidence.”

   A Page widget holds the journals that fix them, with headings, lists and to-dos, next to the evidence they rely on.

3. The source

   In the video: “The exchange rate you need, open right beside it.”

   A Browser widget keeps the exchange-rate page open on the desk and remembers it, so it is there next time you open the desk.

When something else comes up

In the video: “Then a client needs their cash forecast. Switch desks. Close waits exactly where you left it.”

The other job gets a desk of its own, so switching does not mean packing anything away. In the video, “Month-end close” stays exactly as it was while “Fernhill cash forecast” is open. Open desks sit side by side as tabs in the open items strip, a click apart, and Resume writes a short note on where a desk stands for when you come back to it.

One desk for each piece of work. Nothing to hunt for.

Try it

Try an accountant deskThe interactive demo builds a ready-made desk for this kind of work in your browser. Nothing to install.

Or set up the desk yourself from a template: each one lists the widgets it needs and how to set it up in PlexiDesk.

• Desk template

  Year-end accounts desk: one client, every query and document in one place

  A desk for one client's year-end: the draft accounts, a table of every open query with its amount and status, a chart of the quarter that looks wrong, the client's documents and only their mail.

Related reading

• Blog

  The real cost of context switching, and how to switch less

  Switching between tasks costs time and the thread you were holding. What the research says, and practical ways to switch less and recover faster.

• Blog

  How to pick up where you left off: write a re-entry note

  Before you stop, write four short lines: where you are, what you decided, what is open and what comes next. Coming back gets much easier.