> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://guide.garde.app/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Closing the books

> The monthly close ritual — journals flow daily, the close is a checklist.

**Who:** your accountant or bookkeeper.
**When:** journals flow daily; the close ritual is monthly.

Garde turns POS sales, approved invoices, and completed counts into journal entries and pushes them to QuickBooks. The deep reference lives in the [Accounting section](/accounting/overview) — this page is the monthly ritual.

## The cockpit

**Accounting → Home** shows every location for the selected month with a status badge — **Clear**, **Ready to export**, **Fix required**, **Needs setup**, **Prior month backlog** — plus cards for **Sales Journals**, **Invoices to Review**, and **Category Mapping**.

<img src="https://mintcdn.com/garde-590480cc/_mqzEGtuOpABOw5M/images/screenshots/accounting-home.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=_mqzEGtuOpABOw5M&q=85&s=2a7f300a1769e4c203cc7d3473f63fb5" alt="Accounting Home with per-location statuses" width="1600" height="1050" data-path="images/screenshots/accounting-home.png" />

## The three journals

* **Sales Journals** — one entry per location per day from your POS. Review, then export — or enable **Auto-Export Daily Sales Journal** in Chain Settings and only touch exceptions. See the [Daily Sales Journal guide](/accounting/daily-sales-journal/introduction).
* **Inventory Journals** — period entries turning approved invoices and completed counts into COGS and inventory movements.
* **Delivery Journals** — reconciles third-party deposits (DoorDash, UberEats, Grubhub) against sales, fees, and payouts. See the [Delivery Journals guide](/accounting/delivery-journals/introduction).

<img src="https://mintcdn.com/garde-590480cc/_mqzEGtuOpABOw5M/images/screenshots/sales-journals.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=_mqzEGtuOpABOw5M&q=85&s=8df104618b98d0970b809014ddcbf601" alt="Sales journals list" width="1600" height="1050" data-path="images/screenshots/sales-journals.png" />

## The close, in order

1. Every invoice for the month **approved** — the Invoices to Review card reads zero ([daily habit](/operating-guide/daily-invoices) paying off). Each invoice carries its own export status, and blocked ones name exactly what's missing.
2. Month-end **counts completed** at every location ([monthly counts](/operating-guide/monthly-counts)).
3. Clear **Fix required** and **unmapped** badges — unmapped categories or accounts block export. Mappings live under **Accounting → Setup**.
4. Export everything **Ready to export**; reconcile in QuickBooks.