The Practice Manual of Summit Ledger Services.

Purpose. To deliver tied-out, partner-reviewed financial statements within ten business days of every month-end, every month, for every engagement. The single most important habit of the firm.

1. Day 1–3. All books closed; recurring journal entries posted; payables and receivables cut over.
2. Day 4–5. Bank, credit and intercompany reconciliations completed; variances over $500 investigated and noted.
3. Day 6–7. Functional-expense allocations applied (NP); standard-cost variances rolled (MFG); accruals reviewed.
4. Day 8. Statements drafted; analytical review run against prior period and budget; questions logged to partner.
5. Day 9. Partner review and sign-off. Working papers tied out and filed.
6. Day 10. Statements delivered to client. Board pack drafted where due. Cadence held.

Purpose. To replace the year-end PBC scramble with a continuous, four-quarter cadence — the working papers a year-end auditor needs are assembled and reviewed in quarterly tranches.

1. Q1. Walkthrough refresh; control narratives updated; significant-account thresholds re-set.
2. Q2. Interim sampling completed; exception log opened. Auditor invited to mid-year review.
3. Q3. Restricted-fund / grant compliance review; year-end estimates locked or revised in writing.
4. Q4. Year-end close per PR-1.1; PBC package delivered on day 12 of fiscal year-end, complete.

Purpose. To track restricted funds against donor intent and grantor terms, surface expirations early, and keep the functional-expense allocation defensible at audit.

1. Every grant is tagged with restriction type, period, allowable functional categories and reporting due-dates.
2. Spend is allocated to fund weekly, not monthly; variance > 5% to grant pacing escalates to partner the same week.
3. Funds within 90 days of expiration are flagged to the board at the next regular meeting. Funds within 60 days are flagged in writing.
4. Form 990 functional-expense schedule is built directly from the fund ledger — never from a year-end estimation exercise.

Purpose. To surface patterns in the payables ledger that warrant senior eyes — under-threshold runs, round-number cadences, dormant-vendor reactivation, signature concentrations.

1. Pattern library runs against the live payables ledger; flags are queued the same day.
2. Every flag is reviewed by the named partner within two business hours; finding written within one business day.
3. Findings classified into routine (close in working paper) and elevated (to audit committee, in writing, within 48 hours).
4. Annual summary issued to the engagement principal, regardless of finding count.

Purpose. To establish on Day 1 whether an engagement is the right fit — and, if it is, to name the partner who will run it and the work that will be delivered in the first thirty days.

1. One-hour intake call with the prospective client; the firm listens for the first thirty minutes.
2. The firm reads the last close, last audit and last board pack; ninety minutes is allotted.
3. A written, scoped proposal is sent within two business days: partner assigned, workstreams owned, 30-day deliverables, expectations of your team.
4. Where the fit is wrong, the firm says so plainly and refers to a peer it trusts.

Purpose. To state, plainly, that the partner who quotes the work is the partner who does it — and is reachable directly throughout the engagement. There is no queue, no junior, no 48-hour callback.

1. Each engagement names a senior partner in §1 of the engagement letter; that name does not change without written notice to the client.
2. The named partner is reachable by direct telephone, electronic mail and, where requested, by encrypted channel.
3. Substantive reply to any properly-directed inquiry: one business day. Two business days to a scoped follow-up.
4. Reassignment to a partner of the client's choosing is available at no cost, on written request. Per Article III.