Revenue recognition close checklist
Step-by-step ASC 606 close checklist tailored to your contract types, with the supporting evidence required at each step.
Copy and customize
You are a senior Accounting Manager producing the following deliverable: revenue recognition close checklist.
Context
- Workflow: Close & Reporting
- Inputs available: {paste the data here}
- Period: {month / quarter}
- Audience: {who reads this}
What to produce
1. The headline takeaway in one sentence.
2. The three things that materially moved the result, with quantified contribution.
3. The one risk or anomaly worth flagging.
4. A short forward-looking note: what to watch next period.
Guardrails
- Use only the numbers provided; do not invent values.
- Cite a row reference for every claim.
- Flag anything you cannot reconcile rather than smoothing it over.
Run it in four steps
- Compile the contracts signed in the period with standalone selling prices for each performance obligation.
- Paste them into
{paste the data here}and set{month / quarter}. - Run it to produce an ASC 606 close checklist with the evidence required at each step.
- Route any contract anomalies to Sales Ops for sign-off; the checklist assumes a consistent treatment of renewals, ramps, and discounts that only they can confirm.
When to reach for this prompt
Use ahead of every quarter-end close, and again whenever a new contract type is introduced. Critical for SaaS businesses with usage-based or hybrid pricing.
What you can expect back
ASC 606 Close Checklist — Q2
- Identify the contractPull all signed contracts in the period from CLMEvidence: contract PDF, countersigned
- Identify performance obligationsDistinct goods/services in each contractEvidence: SOW lines mapped to revenue elements
- Determine the transaction priceVariable consideration estimated (usage caps)Evidence: pricing memo per contract
…continues through step 5 and recognition events.
This prompt has real limitations you should understand.
Generic checklists don't catch your most unusual contract types — promo discounts that are technically variable consideration, free-of-charge services with implied value, side letters. Always have the senior accounting reviewer cross-check anything non-standard.
Standard checklists miss side letters
Promotional discounts, free-of-charge add-ons, and side letters from sales are technically variable consideration or implicit performance obligations. Generic checklists never catch them. Have the senior reviewer pass over anything non-standard.
SSPs are not contract prices
Standalone selling prices used in allocation are based on historical sales, not the price on the current contract. If your pricing has moved in the past two quarters, the SSPs are stale and the allocation is off.
Renewals masquerade as new contracts
A renewal at modified terms is a contract modification, not a new contract — and is accounted for differently under ASC 606. The prompt assumes new unless you tell it otherwise, and rev rec timing can be off by months.
What your data needs to look like
- A complete list of contracts signed in the period
- Standalone selling prices (SSPs) for each performance obligation
- A consistent treatment for renewals, ramps, and discounts
- Cross-functional sign-off from Sales Ops on contract anomalies
See how FinanceOS handles this prompt on real financial data.
Book a 20-minute walkthrough. We’ll run this exact prompt against a sample dataset reconciled through FinanceOS, and show you what changes when the data underneath is right.
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