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How Core Close works.

Core Close pulls your trial balances and transactions from Xero, maps every entity onto one standard chart, and gives you a set of close tools that feed one consolidated set of reports. Here is each part, module by module.

Getting started

Set it up once, in this order:

  1. Create your company (name and short code) and pick its reporting currency (the currency the group consolidates and reports in; defaults to AUD). Its financial year is picked up from Xero when you connect an entity, and can be changed in Settings. In Settings, also set the first period to track, the month your GL history starts from.
  2. Add your entities and connect Xero (or add an entity that is not in Xero).
  3. Fetch trial balances for the period you are closing (or upload one for a non-Xero entity).
  4. Map your chart of accounts: give every entity's Xero accounts a common standard code.
  5. Enter FX rates if you have foreign-currency entities.

Once that is in place you can work the close modules (Intercompany, Prepayments, Journals, Balance Sheet Reconciliation), sign each off in Period Close, and download the consolidated Workbook. You do not have to use every module. Start with the ones you need.

Jump to a module

Companies & Orgs Trial Balances Chart of Accounts FX Rates Intercompany Prepayments Journals Balance Sheet Reconciliation Consolidation Period Close Workbook Users & access Billing

Companies & Orgs

What it's for: Set up the group you are closing: the company itself, each legal entity (org), and its Xero connection.

How to use it

  1. Create the company first with its name, short code and reporting currency (the currency the group consolidates and reports in, defaults to AUD). Its financial year is picked up from Xero when you connect an entity; you can change it in Settings.
  2. Reporting currency can also be changed in Settings, but only until you enter FX rates. Once any FX rate exists it locks, because the stored rates are held against it. To change it later, delete the company's FX rates first.
  3. Set the first period to track (in Settings). This is the earliest month Core Close pulls GL transactions and trial balances from, and the earliest period you can select.
  4. Connect a Xero organisation: click Connect Xero, authorise Core Close in Xero, and pick the organisation. Repeat for each entity.
  5. Add a non-Xero entity with Add manual entity (give it a name and base currency). You then load its figures by uploading a trial balance.

Tips

  • One Xero authorisation can cover several organisations, so connect them all from the one grant.
  • Disconnecting an entity removes only that entity's Xero link, not the others sharing the connection.
  • Your active entity count drives your subscription (the first 5 are included, each extra entity is a small add-on). You are warned before an entity that tips you over.

Trial Balances

What it's for: Get each entity's trial balance for a period, the figures everything else reconciles to. Xero entities pull automatically; non-Xero entities are uploaded.

Before you start: the entity must exist (connected to Xero, or added as a non-Xero entity).

How to use it

  1. Pick the period (month).
  2. For Xero entities, click Fetch to pull the latest trial balance from Xero.
  3. For a non-Xero entity, upload its trial balance as a CSV for the period (columns: Account code, Debit, Credit). Re-upload to replace it if the figures change.
  4. Re-fetch Xero entities any time to pick up changes made in Xero.

Tips

  • Xero's trial balance only includes transactions dated on or before today, so a future-dated journal will not appear until its date arrives.
  • Re-fetching (or re-uploading) replaces the stored trial balance for that period with the latest numbers.
  • Most other modules need the trial balance for the period before they show meaningful figures.

Chart of Accounts (COA mapping)

What it's for: Put every entity onto one standard chart so figures group and consolidate consistently. Two parts: the standard chart (your master list of accounts) and the mappings (each entity's Xero account to a standard code).

How to use it

  1. Accounts tab: define or import your standard chart. You can build it in the app or import a CSV (see the column guide below).
  2. Mappings tab: for each entity, map its Xero account codes to the matching standard code. Auto-map suggests matches you can accept or change.
  3. Clear any unmapped accounts. Anything left unmapped is excluded from consolidation and the close modules.

Standard chart CSV: what goes in each column

ColumnWhat it holdsExample
std_codeyour master account code1000
std_nameaccount nameCash at bank
sectiongrouping bucket. Balance sheet: CA (current assets), NCA (non-current assets), CL (current liabilities), NCL (non-current liabilities), EQ (equity). P&L: e.g. REVENUE, EXPENSECA
categorythe subtotal label shown in the reportsCash and cash equivalents
statement_typeBS or PLBS
account_typeASSET, LIABILITY, EQUITY, REVENUE, EXPENSEASSET
section_sortoptional number to order the sections (0 if unused)10
line_sortoptional number to order accounts within a category10
is_intercompany1 to flag an intercompany account, else 00
is_prepayment1 to flag a prepayment account, else 00
is_general_journal1 to flag a general-journal account, else 00
is_ar_control1 to flag the Accounts Receivable control account, else 0. Adds a one-click Xero Aged Receivables link on that account in Balance Sheet Reconciliation0
is_ap_control1 to flag the Accounts Payable control account, else 0. Adds a one-click Xero Aged Payables link on that account in Balance Sheet Reconciliation0

Two example rows (header line first):

std_code,std_name,section,category,statement_type,account_type,section_sort,line_sort,is_intercompany,is_prepayment,is_general_journal,is_ar_control,is_ap_control
1000,Cash at bank,CA,Cash and cash equivalents,BS,ASSET,10,10,0,0,0,0,0
4000,Sales revenue,REVENUE,Revenue,PL,REVENUE,10,10,0,0,0,0,0

Tips

  • section and category drive how accounts group and subtotal in the reports.
  • Use the flag columns (or the in-app toggles) to mark prepayment, general-journal and intercompany accounts so they appear in those modules.
  • If an account is really P&L but is tagged Balance Sheet (or the reverse), fix its statement_type so it lands in the right place.

FX Rates

What it's for: Translate entities into your reporting currency (the currency the group consolidates and reports in, set on the company).

Before you start: only needed if you have entities whose base currency is not your reporting currency.

How to use it

  1. Pick the period.
  2. Core Close auto-fills the rates from Frankfurter (European Central Bank reference rates). For a currency Frankfurter does not carry, or if you would rather not use it, upload your own rates as a CSV instead.
  3. Review and overwrite any rate before you use it. Balance-sheet accounts translate at the closing/spot rate; P&L accounts at the average rate.

Tips

  • The translation difference appears as FCTR (foreign currency translation reserve) in Consolidation.
  • If a month is still in progress the auto rate is interim; re-pull (or enter) the true month-end rate once the month is over.

Intercompany Reconciliation

What it's for: Match the two sides of intercompany balances across entities, and post the corrections so they eliminate cleanly on consolidation.

Before you start: trial balances fetched, intercompany accounts mapped, and IC pairs configured.

How to use it

  1. Pick the period. Each pair (lending entity to borrowing entity) shows matched, variance and unmatched amounts.
  2. Expand a pair to match the lines on each side.
  3. Where the two sides differ, post a correction journal, and post unmatched lines as needed. Core Close posts one multi-line journal per entity to keep Xero tidy.
  4. Void a posting if you need to reverse it. Voided postings are kept for audit, never deleted.

Tips

  • Use Fetch from Xero to pull the latest transactions before matching.
  • Match status is recomputed live from the current transactions. A group nets to Matched when within 0.1%, Acceptable when within your FX tolerance, and Variance above that.
  • Foreign-currency pairs translate using each line's FX date, so check the journal/FX date on each line.

Prepayments

What it's for: Track prepaid balances and reconcile them to the GL. Two types: straight-line (Core Close posts the monthly amortisation) and drawdown (open-ended, drawn down by real Xero credits).

Before you start: the prepayment account mapped and flagged as a prepayment account.

How to use it

  1. Pick the period and open the account.
  2. Add an item. For a straight-line prepayment, set the opening amount, term and expense account; Core Close schedules the monthly amortisation and you Post it each month. For a drawdown prepayment, set just the opening amount (there is no posting).
  3. Drawdown items: the Drawdowns section lists the real Xero credits in the account for the month. Allocate each to a prepayment (split one credit across several by entering part amounts). The balance draws down as you go.
  4. The card shows GL vs expected so you can watch the account reconcile.

Tips

  • Core Close can auto-detect new prepayments from your journal lines, ready for you to review and accept.
  • A drawdown drawn below zero shows an over-drawn warning (it does not block you).
  • Put an item on hold to keep it in the schedule but skip its posting.

Journals

What it's for: Build journals once and post them to Xero for the period, with the supporting evidence attached.

How to use it

  1. Pick the period and open the account.
  2. Add a journal with its DR/CR lines, and optionally attach a supporting file.
  3. Post it to Xero for the period. A journal that repeats can be posted again each month; reverse one to back it out.
  4. Mark a journal complete when it is done.

Tips

  • An opening journal represents a balance already in the GL at adoption. It is not posted; it just records what is there.
  • The account card shows expected vs GL so you can watch it reconcile.
  • Journals (and their attachments) flow through to the Balance Sheet Reconciliation as supporting items.

Balance Sheet Reconciliation

What it's for: Substantiate every balance-sheet account, show what makes up the balance and that it agrees to the GL, and produce a reconciliation workpaper.

Before you start: trial balances fetched and accounts mapped for the period.

How to use it

  1. Pick the period. Each account shows its GL balance, reconciling total and discrepancy, grouped by category.
  2. Open an account. Reconciling accounts auto-populate supporting items from Prepayments, Journals and Intercompany; add manual items (with evidence and notes) for anything else. Transaction accounts show the period's movement as a transactions list instead.
  3. Copy forward last period's manual items to save re-keying.
  4. Download the workbook for the whole period.

Tips

  • Set an account to not require reconciliation to take it out of scope.
  • A true zero-balance account auto-reconciles.
  • The Data Quality panel flags accounts missing a category or section, or sitting in the wrong statement type. Fix those for clean reports.

Consolidation

What it's for: Combine every entity into one consolidated trial balance, with eliminations, adjustments and FX translation, and check it balances.

Before you start: trial balances fetched, accounts mapped, FX rates entered, and intercompany reconciled.

How to use it

  1. Pick the period to see the consolidated trial balance.
  2. Add eliminations (for example intercompany) and adjustments.
  3. Copy from prior period to bring last month's eliminations and adjustments forward in one click.
  4. Check the consolidated balance nets to zero, and review the FCTR panel for the FX translation difference.

Tips

  • This is downstream of everything else, so close the other modules first so the numbers feeding in are final.
  • Eliminations and adjustments are per period; copy-forward then tweak.

Period Close

What it's for: A single, controlled way to lock a period once you are done, replacing per-module locks with one central close.

How to use it

  1. As you finish each module for the period, Mark completed to sign it off. This is a soft sign-off: it warns, it does not block.
  2. When everything is done, Close the period. A closed period is the single hard freeze: no further posting, matching or edits in that period.
  3. If something genuinely changes after closing, the period reopens automatically and you see a banner. Re-close it once you have dealt with the change.
  4. You can reopen a closed period manually at any time.

Tips

  • A plain re-fetch with no real change will not reopen a closed period.
  • Either a writer or an admin can complete, close and reopen.
  • Editing a long-running item (a prepayment or journal) that posted into a closed period warns you, since it affects that period's reconciliation.

Workbook (reports)

What it's for: Download the consolidated reporting pack as Excel.

Before you start: close the modules for the period first so the figures are final.

How to use it

  1. Pick the period.
  2. Download the workbook, a multi-tab Excel pack (P&L, Balance Sheet, consolidated trial balance, per-entity tabs, FX, COA map and more).

Tips

  • The Prepayments and Balance Sheet Reconciliation modules also have their own standalone workbooks.

Users & access

What it's for: Invite colleagues to a company and control what they can do.

How to use it

  1. Invite someone by email; they get a link to join.
  2. Set their role: admin (full control including users and billing), writer (can do the close work), or viewer (read-only).
  3. Transfer ownership of a company to another admin if needed.

Tips

  • Roles are per company, so someone can be an admin on one and a viewer on another.

Billing

What it's for: Manage your subscription for each company.

How to use it

  1. Each company is one subscription: a base plan (includes 5 entities) plus a small add-on per extra entity. Billed monthly, GST added for AU customers.
  2. New companies start on a 14-day free trial, no card needed to start.
  3. Add a card via checkout to go live; use Manage billing to update your card, see invoices, or cancel (Stripe-hosted).

Tips

  • Archiving a company cancels its subscription but keeps the data; restart any time.
  • A lapsed trial or failed payment makes a company read-only until you add or fix a card. Your data is never deleted.

Ready to close the books?

Start your 14-day free trial. No credit card required. Questions? support@coreclose.com.au

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