Field notes · 17 February 2026
Cut-off testing without derailing month-end
How revenue and purchase cut-off samples work, and how finance teams can stage shipping documents so auditors do not block the close.
Cut-off asks a simple question: did revenue and costs land in the correct period? The testing feels disruptive only when shipping papers and invoices are scattered across desks and chat threads.
What we sample
Shipments and invoices a few days either side of year-end, matched to the general ledger. For manufacturers, delivery notes and customer acceptance evidence matter as much as the invoice date.
Staging tip
Create a labelled folder — physical or shared drive — for the final ten business days of the year and the first five of the new year. Drop every outbound and inbound document there as it happens. When fieldwork starts, the sample population is already assembled.
If cut-off fails
A single large shipment booked early can force a prior-period adjustment discussion. Catching that in your own review before we arrive is far less painful than discovering it in the clearance meeting.