Executive summary
Two-to-three paragraph narrative highlighting top risks, material variances, and recommended actions for leadership review and rapid decision-making.
A consistent Monthly Report standardizes how teams capture performance, risks, and corrective actions so leadership can compare periods and allocate resources reliably.
Ensure roles are assigned in writing (preparer, reviewer, approver) to support accountability and retention requirements.
Responsible for financial schedules, reconciliations, and final sign-off. Reviews supporting ledgers and confirms that balances reconcile to the general ledger before approval; documents any adjusting entries and retains backup per retention policy.
Approves project-level metrics and action plans. Confirms progress against milestones, authorizes corrective resources when needed, and records approvals in the project file to support audit trails and future claims.
Two-to-three paragraph narrative highlighting top risks, material variances, and recommended actions for leadership review and rapid decision-making.
Income, expense, cash flow, and balance reconciliations with month-over-month and year-to-date comparisons plus explanations for material variances.
Key performance indicators such as productivity, utilization, defect rates, or throughput, presented with targets and trend lines.
Open issues, mitigation status, impact assessment, and assigned owners with target dates for resolution.
Clear assignments, due dates, and status updates so follow-up is auditable and responsibilities are explicit.
Source reports, reconciliations, vendor invoices, or project deliverables that substantiate the summary figures and conclusions.
| Field | Configuration |
|---|---|
| Report template | Locked fields for month, year, and GL period |
| Routing rule | Preparer → Reviewer → Approver sequence |
| Authentication | Email + optional SMS or SSO for approvers |
| Retention tag | Apply fiscal-year and audit-hold tags |
Confirm encryption, audit trail detail, and retention controls meet internal compliance and any regulator expectations.
Day 3–5 after month close for preliminary entries
Day 7–10 for reconciliation and correcting journal entries
Day 10–12 for stakeholder commentary and questions
Day 15 for final sign-off and distribution
By month-end + 30 days into records repository
Sources and subledgers delivered to preparer for consolidation.
Preparer finalizes numbers, narratives, and attachments.
Reviewers comment and preparer applies adjustments.
Approver signs and document is archived with audit trail.
| signNow | DocuSign | Adobe Sign | PandaDoc | HelloSign | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | $8/user/mo | $15/user/mo | $14/user/mo | $19/user/mo | $15/user/mo |
| Free Trial | 7-day free trial | Varies by plan | Varies by plan | Varies by plan | Varies by plan |
| Bulk Send | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Audit Trail | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| HIPAA Compliant | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |