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If you’re closing your books weekly, use this checklist to make sure everything flows cleanly from Garde into your accounting system. The weekly cadence is tighter, so staying on top of these tasks daily makes the actual close painless. Pro tip: Give yourself about 5 days after the official close of your period to finish up. Once it’s closed in Garde, the numbers are locked — they won’t change while you’re finalizing everything in QuickBooks.

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The checklist

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1. Set your Close Books date

Enter the new date into Garde for each closing period. Use the last day of your period. When: Update at least a few days before your period ends. Don’t set it retroactively. Where: Accounting > Close Books. How to close books in Garde.

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2. Review the New Item Review report

The integrity of your product database is the foundation for all Garde reporting. If products aren’t correctly assigned or conversions are off, you could see incorrect inventory valuations or costs hitting the wrong GL codes. When: Daily is ideal. Stretched for time? Review on Mondays (so the previous week’s product data is correct and inventory is valued right) and Fridays (so product data is clean ahead of weekend inventory counts).

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3. Approve invoices (if using Invoice Approval)

Approving invoices is the last step before they’re available for reporting and exporting. If invoices are sitting in approval, they won’t export. When: Every other day at minimum. If you’re stretched, follow the Monday/Friday cadence from step 2.

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4. Export data

Make sure your accounting system has all invoices processed through Garde, plus all sales entries, transfers, and commissary orders. When:
  • Auto-export: Review on Tuesdays before books are closed for the week. Check for any errors.
  • Manual export: Review daily.
Pro tip: Review the export screen each week before you pay your vendors to make sure your accounting system matches Garde.

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5. Close out commissary orders (mark as shipped)

Do this on the day items arrive at the restaurant. There’s no way to bulk-change dates to backdate deliveries later. (Ask us if you want to enable auto-ship on these orders.) When: Daily. Timely management here keeps your cost reporting accurate.

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6. Post inventory adjustment

Review all reports to make sure counts are correct before posting:
  • Review Inventory Summary
  • Review Usage Report
  • Review Theoreticals (if set up)
When: Weekly, before you close your books.

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7. Close books

The final step. Before you close, confirm:
  • All commissary orders have been shipped (on the correct date)
  • All invoices, sales, transfers, and commissary orders have been exported
  • Inventories have been closed and posted to accounting
Then close those books and move on to the next week.