It starts the day the quarter ends
A quarterly schedule creates the checklist on the first working day after each quarter-end, with the controller, tax lead and CFO assigned and every due date counted from the start.
Quarter-End Close Checklist Template
Three month-end closes don’t add up to a quarter-end. The quarter brings its own deadlines: an estimated tax payment, a covenant certificate, a board meeting and, for public companies, a 10-Q with an auditor’s review behind it.
Most finance teams close the month on a routine. The quarter is where the routine runs out. Accrual estimates need a proper true-up, the tax provision has to be re-estimated for the year, the lender wants a compliance certificate and the board expects a quarterly pack, each with a deadline set outside finance. This free quarter-end close checklist gives controllers, finance managers and CFOs the quarterly layer on top of the month-end close. It covers scoping and timetable, quarterly true-ups and estimates, the interim tax provision and estimated tax payments, covenant testing, quarterly reporting with CFO approval, and the lock and roll-forward, with covenant and Form 10-Q phases that appear only when they apply.
What the Quarter Adds to a Normal Month-End
A quarter-end close is the month-end close for the third month of the quarter, plus the work that only comes round every three months. This template assumes the monthly close runs through the Month-End Close Checklist and adds only what the quarter needs.
The quarterly items fall into three groups. Estimates made roughly each month get a documented true-up. Tax moves from a monthly accrual to a year-to-date provision based on the expected annual rate, and cash leaves the business for estimated tax or instalment payments. And people outside finance receive something: the board, investors, lenders and, for public companies, the SEC. In the fourth quarter, the Year-End Close Checklist adds the annual layer on top of this one.
Every month-end
Handled by the month-end close
- Cut-off and posting of the month’s transactions
- Bank, subledger and balance sheet reconciliations
- Routine accruals, prepayments and depreciation
- Monthly management accounts
Quarter-end only
Added by this checklist
- True-ups of estimates, reserves and equity roll-forwards
- Interim tax provision and estimated or instalment tax payments
- Covenant tests and lender compliance certificates
- Quarterly board reporting and, for SEC filers, the 10-Q
What the Quarter-End Close Checklist Covers
Seven phases run from scoping the quarter to locking it. Phase 4 appears only when a covenant test is due, and Phase 6 only when the company files a Form 10-Q for the quarter.
Scope
Phase 1: Scope the Quarter & Set the Timetable
Answer the two scope questions first. They decide which of the later phases this quarter’s checklist shows.
- Name the controller, tax lead and CFO for this quarter — every later task is assigned from these three fields
- Answer the scope questions — is a covenant test or compliance certificate due this quarter, and is the company filing a Form 10-Q for it
- Set the quarter-end timetable — close, review, board meeting, lender and filing dates, counted back from the earliest external deadline
- List what changed this quarter — acquisitions, new financing, restructurings, large contracts and any accounting standard that takes effect
- Clear open items from months one and two — unreconciled differences and unposted adjustments that would otherwise surface in the quarter
True-Ups
Phase 2: Close Month Three & True Up Estimates
- Complete the month-end close for the quarter’s final month — using your month-end close checklist
- True up accruals estimated during the quarter — bonuses, commissions, rebates and professional fees, against invoices or a fresh calculation
- Review reserves and allowances — expected credit losses, inventory obsolescence, warranties and returns, as your framework requires
- Update contract balances and deferred revenue — for milestones, renewals, modifications and variable consideration
- Check for impairment triggers — events that require an interim test of goodwill or long-lived assets before the annual one
- Roll forward equity and share-based compensation — issuances, grants, vesting, forfeitures and dividends
Tax
Phase 3: Interim Tax Provision & Payments
- Re-estimate the annual effective tax rate — from the updated full-year forecast, by jurisdiction where practicable
- Record the year-to-date tax provision and discrete items — apply the estimated rate to year-to-date profit and book one-off items in the quarter they occur
- Recalculate the next estimated or instalment tax payment — US corporate estimated tax or UK quarterly instalments, from the latest taxable profit forecast
- Schedule the payment and attach the calculation — so the payment date is on the cash forecast and the workings are kept
- Confirm the quarterly tax returns are filed — VAT or sales tax and, in the US, Form 941 for payroll taxes
- Reconcile current and deferred tax balances — to the provision workings and to amounts paid
If Tested
Phase 4: Covenant Tests & Lender Reporting
Shown only when a covenant test or compliance certificate is due this quarter.
- Calculate each financial covenant using the facility agreement’s definitions — leverage, interest cover or minimum liquidity, not your management KPI versions
- Record headroom against every threshold — and project it for the next two test dates from the cash forecast
- Prepare the compliance certificate and supporting schedules — with every figure traced to the quarter’s ledger
- Escalate any actual or projected breach to the CFO — waivers and amendments take weeks to negotiate
- Deliver the certificate to the lender by the contractual deadline — and attach the delivery confirmation
Reporting
Phase 5: Quarterly Reporting & Review
- Prepare the quarterly financial statements — condensed interim statements if you publish them, otherwise quarterly and year-to-date management accounts
- Run an analytical review of the quarter — against the prior quarter and the same quarter last year, explaining every significant movement
- Prepare the quarterly board and investor reporting — results, outlook, covenant headroom and the decisions the board is asked to take
- Complete any interim review your auditors perform — where lenders, investors or regulation require one
- CFO approval of the quarterly reporting — required before anything leaves finance
SEC Filers
Phase 6: Form 10-Q
Shown only for SEC registrants filing a 10-Q for this quarter. There is no 10-Q for the fourth quarter, when the 10-K covers it.
- Draft the 10-Q — condensed financial statements, MD&A, market risk, controls and procedures, legal proceedings and risk factor updates
- Complete the auditor’s interim review before filing — under PCAOB AS 4105, and clear every review comment
- Collect sub-certifications and hold the disclosure committee meeting — from the people who own each disclosure
- Prepare the CEO and CFO certifications — under Sections 302 and 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act
- Take the 10-Q and any earnings release to the audit committee — record the review date and any changes it asks for
- CFO approval to file the 10-Q — after the audit committee review and the auditor’s sign-off
- File on EDGAR within the deadline for your filer status — 40 days for large accelerated and accelerated filers, 45 days for all others
Lock
Phase 7: Lock, Archive & Roll Forward
- Lock the quarter in the ledger — so reopening needs a documented approval
- Archive the quarter-end file — true-up workings, the tax provision, covenant schedules, approvals and the board pack
- Update the tax, covenant and filing calendar for next quarter — payment dates, test dates and filing deadlines
- Hold a short quarter-end debrief — and change this checklist while the problems are fresh
Quarterly Deadlines in the US and UK
The quarterly deadlines that matter most are set by securities regulation, tax law and your loan agreements, and they are counted from your own quarter-end. The table shows the main US and UK examples for a company with a 31 December year end. Lender deadlines are whatever your facility agreement says, so add them to the template as due dates.
| Obligation | United States | United Kingdom |
|---|---|---|
| Interim financial report | SEC registrants file Form 10-Q within 40 days of each of the first three quarters (large accelerated and accelerated filers) or 45 days (all others); no 10-Q for the fourth quarter | Issuers under the FCA’s Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules publish a half-yearly report within three months of the half-year end; no quarterly report is required |
| Auditor involvement | 10-Q financial statements must be reviewed by an independent accountant before filing (Regulation S-X Rule 10-01(d)), under PCAOB AS 4105; private companies use AU-C 930 when they engage one | Half-yearly reviews are voluntary for most issuers and follow ISRE (UK) 2410 when performed |
| Corporate income tax during the year | Estimated tax is required if the corporation expects to owe $500 or more; instalments are due on the 15th day of the 4th, 6th, 9th and 12th months (15 April, 15 June, 15 September and 15 December), or the next business day | Large companies (profits above £1.5 million) pay quarterly instalments on the 14th day of months 7, 10, 13 and 16 of the accounting period; very large companies (above £20 million) in months 3, 6, 9 and 12 |
| Quarterly tax returns | Form 941 by the last day of the month after the quarter (30 April, 31 July, 31 October, 31 January); sales tax on each state’s own calendar | VAT returns, usually quarterly, filed and paid one calendar month and 7 days after the period ends |
Interim tax is a year-to-date estimate. Under both IAS 34 and US GAAP (ASC 740-270), the tax charge for an interim period is based on the rate you expect for the full year, applied to year-to-date profit, with one-off items recorded in the quarter they occur. UK entities reporting under FRS 102 apply FRS 104, which is based on IAS 34. The payment is a separate calculation. In the US, each instalment is generally 25% of this year’s or last year’s tax, and a corporation with taxable income of $1 million or more in any of the three previous years can use last year’s tax only for the first instalment. Form 1120-W is now historical (its 2022 revision was the last), so use the worksheet in IRS Publication 542 and Form 2220 for any underpayment penalty. In the UK, the £1.5 million and £20 million thresholds are divided between associated companies, which brings more groups into instalments than expected.
Several of these may change. On 5 May 2026 the SEC proposed letting companies choose a semiannual report on a new Form 10-S instead of quarterly 10-Qs, due within the same 40 or 45 days. On 19 May 2026 it proposed replacing five filer statuses with two. Large accelerated filer status would need a public float of $2 billion or more and 60 months of reporting, and non-accelerated filers with total assets of $35 million or less would get 50 days for a 10-Q. Neither proposal had been adopted by the end of September 2026. The IAASB published a proposed revision of ISRE 2410 in May 2026, and FASB’s ASU 2025-11 changes interim reporting under ASC 270 for public business entities from interim periods in annual periods beginning after 15 December 2027.
Why Run the Quarter-End Close in CheckFlow?
Phases that appear only when they apply
Two questions in Phase 1 decide the rest. A quarter with no covenant test hides the lender phase. A private company, or a public company in its fourth quarter, never sees the 10-Q tasks.
Evidence your reviewers can follow
Tax workings, covenant schedules, certificates and the approved board pack are attached to the tasks that produced them, and every task records who completed it and when. When the auditors or the lender ask, the file is already assembled.
The quarter-end depends on a clean third-month close. Our month-end close guide covers the reconciliations and journals that come first, and the Month-End Close Checklist runs them every month.
The quarterly board pack starts life as a monthly one. The Monthly Management Reporting Pack Checklist produces the KPIs and commentary, the Weekly Cash Flow Forecast Checklist gives you covenant headroom, and the Tax Preparation Checklist covers the annual return behind the estimated payments.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a quarter-end close checklist?
It is the list of tasks a finance team completes at the end of each quarter on top of the normal month-end close: true-ups of estimates and reserves, the interim tax provision and estimated tax payments, covenant tests, quarterly reporting to the board and investors and, for public companies, the quarterly filing.
How is the quarter-end close different from the month-end close?
The month-end close produces reconciled management accounts every month. The quarter-end adds work with external deadlines and a higher bar for accuracy: estimates are trued up rather than rolled forward, tax is re-estimated for the full year, lenders and boards receive reporting, and SEC registrants file a 10-Q reviewed by their auditors.
When is Form 10-Q due?
Within 40 days of the quarter-end for large accelerated and accelerated filers, and 45 days for all other registrants. A 10-Q is filed for the first three fiscal quarters only; the annual report on Form 10-K covers the fourth. The SEC proposed in May 2026 to allow a semiannual report instead and to simplify filer categories, but neither proposal had been adopted by the end of September 2026.
Do private companies need a quarterly review by their auditors?
Not by law in most cases. The interim review requirement in Regulation S-X applies to financial statements in a 10-Q. Private companies often agree to one in a loan agreement or with investors, and in the US the auditor then follows AU-C 930.
How are quarterly corporate tax payments calculated?
In the US, a corporation that expects to owe $500 or more pays four instalments, generally each 25% of this year’s expected tax or of last year’s tax, due on the 15th day of the 4th, 6th, 9th and 12th months of its tax year. In the UK, large companies pay quarterly instalments based on their expected liability for the current period, starting in month 7, and very large companies start in month 3. Re-estimate every quarter: an early underpayment can be penalised even if later payments catch up.
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