AppFolio Month End Close Checklist for Property Accountants

Owners judge property managers on two things they can see every month: their statement and how fast it arrives. A clean close in five business days signals a company in control. A close that drags to the 15th signals the opposite. Here is a month end checklist that keeps AppFolio closes fast and defensible.

Before month end (last week of the month)

• Clear the AP inbox: enter every invoice received, code it to the right property and GL account, and chase vendors for missing bills you know are coming.
• Review unapplied payments and prepayments, and resolve them while the context is fresh.
• Confirm move outs are processed: deposits accounted for, final ledgers accurate.

Day 1 to 2: Reconcile

• Reconcile every bank account in AppFolio against statements. Investigate every unmatched item now, not later.
• Reconcile security deposit accounts separately and confirm they tie to liability balances.
• Review undeposited funds and clear anything stale.

Day 2 to 3: Review ledgers and accruals

• Scan resident ledgers for negative balances, duplicate charges, and misapplied payments.
• Post recurring journal entries and management fees, and verify fee calculations against agreements.
• Review the GL for obvious miscodings, especially repairs versus capital items.

Day 3 to 4: Owner statements and distributions

• Generate draft owner statements and review the exceptions: negative cash owners, unusual expenses, large variances against last month.
• Write one sentence explanations for anything an owner will ask about. Proactive notes prevent inbound calls.
• Process distributions per each owner's instructions.

Day 5: Publish and report

• Send statements, archive the close package, and log the close date.
• Report internally: delinquency, cash position by property, and any items carried into next month.

Staffing the close

None of this requires a CPA for every step. It requires disciplined, detail oriented execution inside AppFolio, which is exactly the profile of a trained remote property accounting assistant. Many Revaya clients run the full checklist above with a remote accountant at 50 to 70 percent below the cost of a local hire, with month end close in five business days as a tracked SLA.

Talk to an expert about taking your close off the owner's desk.