Comparison
FIXE
Accounts Payable
Financial Reporting
FIXE
Accounting Calendar
Month-End Close
FIXE
You should have a finished P&L within 10 business days of period close, and within 5 is achievable. Each month follows the same order: sales and cash, vendor invoices, payroll, delivery, reconciliations, review, then the P&L. When a close slips, it's usually late documents or an unowned step, not the accounting.
Start with the close timeline, then see how calendars, weekly flash reports and accruals fit in.
Start here
- Restaurant month-end close timeline guide for 2026: A day-by-day restaurant month-end close plan: what happens on which business day, who owns each step, and why the close slips when it slips.
- How fast should a restaurant get its P&L after the period closes?: Within 5 business days is achievable and within 10 is reasonable. Here is what has to happen during a period-end close, what makes it slow, and how to shorten it.
- Why your P&L arrives too late to matter: An accurate P&L that arrives 4 to 6 weeks late can't change a single decision. Here's how fast a restaurant P&L needs to be, and how to fix a late one.
Everything else in this guide
- 13-Period Accounting for Restaurants: Why Your Calendar Months Are Lying to You: What 13-period (4-4-5) accounting is, why calendar months distort restaurant comparisons, and who should actually switch. Plain talk from Ryan at FIXE.
- Comparing restaurant accounting calendars: Monthly vs. 4-4-5 vs. 13-period: Restaurants can follow financial calendars with 4-week, 4-week and 5-week blocks each accounting quarter, monthly, or in 13 4-week periods.
- The Restaurant Weekly Flash Report: How to watch your week without closing the books: A restaurant weekly flash report tracks just three live numbers: sales, hourly labor, and COGS. Here's how to build the weekly ritual, from Ryan at FIXE.
- Comparing Accrued vs. Incurred restaurant bookkeeping: You incur expenses and record them as money leaves your bank account. Accrual spreads out expenses across the time period that expense covers
Frequently asked questions
Why does my restaurant P&L take so long to come back?
Usually it's waiting on documents, not accounting. Vendor invoices arriving late or on paper, inventory counted whenever someone has time, and slow answers to coding questions cause most of the delay. Capturing invoices when deliveries arrive fixes more than anything else.
What do I have to do for the month-end close?
The first few days are mostly yours: final sales posted, cash deposited, every vendor invoice submitted and inventory counted on a fixed day. Your bookkeeper can't close what they don't have, so set a hard invoice cutoff and answer close questions within a day.
Should my restaurant use 13 periods or calendar months?
Thirteen equal four-week periods give every period the same number of each weekday, so comparisons show how you ran the restaurant, not how the calendar fell. Calendar months line up more easily with rent and other monthly bills. Either works; switching back and forth doesn't.
What should I watch between monthly P&Ls?
A weekly flash report: one page tracking sales, hourly labor and cost of goods sold. Fixed costs like rent and salaried managers are set once and spread evenly, so you get a number close enough to act on without closing the books every week.
Your next step
Want a quick read on your own books? Get your Restaurant Financial Health Score.
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