You buy a proper close tool. You're diligent. Every step ticked, every rec inside the platform. This is the new discipline.
Then comes a WD1 close with no slack in it - and something in the tool won't clear. A sync stuck, a step blocked, a rec that refuses. Month-end doesn't wait for software. So you do what every finance professional does: close it in Xero, reconcile in Excel, build the pack there.
Now the tool wants last month loaded, reconciled and closed before it will look at this one. Hours of duplicating work you've already shipped. You'll get to it next month, you tell yourself. You don't.
You're still paying £100 a month for a tab you haven't opened since March. You never cancel - next month you'll get back into it. Meanwhile the actual close lives in Excel, where everyone ends up.
Close wherever you like - Xero, Excel, our rec screens if they help. Postlock was never in the way. When a month is done, lock it and type the figure you reported. Two minutes, even three months late. It watches from there.
| 1 | Choose the month | March 2026 |
| 2 | Lock it - every balance snapshotted | 🔒 |
| 3 | Type the net assets you reported | 128,402.16 |
A tool you can drop for three months and pick up in two minutes is a tool that's still in use next year.