Before finalising your monthly management accounts in Navigator, it is important to complete a series of checks to ensure your financial information is accurate and that outstanding transactions have been investigated.
These checks help identify vehicle deals that have not been closed, preparation costs that have not been allocated, outstanding accounting balances and older workshop jobs affecting Work in Progress (WIP).
This guide provides a practical checklist to follow each month before reviewing and finalising your management accounts.
1. Check for invoiced vehicle deals that have not been closed
Report: Pipeline Profit Report
Run the Pipeline Profit Report to identify vehicles that have been invoiced but remain open.
When a vehicle is invoiced but not yet closed, the sale is held in Sales Suspense and the vehicle purchase value remains in Vehicle Stock on the Balance Sheet.
The sale and its associated costs are normally transferred to the Profit and Loss when the deal is closed.
Check:
Identify invoiced vehicles that remain open.
Confirm whether the deals are ready to be closed.
Ensure all relevant costs have been recorded.
Close completed deals through the normal vehicle administration process.
Do not close deals prematurely simply to recognise the profit in the current period.
Sign-off: Vehicle Administration
2. Compare vehicle profits with your management accounts
Report: Closed Profit Report
Run the Closed Profit Report for the relevant accounting period and compare the results against your management accounts.
This helps confirm that completed vehicle sales and their associated costs have been recognised correctly.
Check:
Review the profit recorded against closed vehicle deals.
Compare the figures with the relevant management accounts.
Investigate unexpected differences.
Confirm you are reporting against the correct company and accounting period.
Remember that management account figures may also include other accounting transactions and adjustments.
Sign-off: Vehicle Administration / Finance
3. Review outstanding vehicle preparation costs
Report: Action Report
Run the Action Report to identify vehicles that may have outstanding preparation work or costs requiring attention.
Preparation and other vehicle-related costs should be correctly allocated before the associated deal is closed.
Check:
Review vehicles with outstanding preparation items.
Identify preparation costs that have not yet been allocated.
Confirm that completed work has been recorded against the correct vehicle.
Ensure relevant costs are included before closing the deal.
This helps prevent vehicle profit being overstated because costs have not been recorded.
Sign-off: Vehicle Administration / Service Management
4. Reconcile Sales Suspense
Menu: Nominal Ledger > Reports > Schedule Nominal
Sales Suspense temporarily holds the value of invoiced vehicle sales while the associated deals remain open.
Once a deal has been closed and fully processed, its Sales Suspense balance should normally clear.
Check:
Run Schedule Nominal.
Enter the applicable Sales Suspense nominal code, such as
*.*.70.97.Set Schedule By to Stock Number.
Select the relevant reporting date.
Review the outstanding balances against each vehicle.
Investigate any balances relating to closed deals.
An outstanding balance against an open, invoiced deal may be expected.
Sign-off: Finance / Vehicle Administration
5. Run Nominal Reconcile
Report: Nominal Reconcile
Nominal Reconcile should be reviewed as part of your accounting checks to identify any outstanding reconciliation differences.
Check:
Run the Nominal Reconcile process or report.
Review any differences identified.
Investigate unexpected or non-zero values.
Ensure any required corrections address the original transactions.
Do not make unexplained balancing adjustments simply to clear differences.
Sign-off: Finance
6. Check Non-Zero Corrections
Report: Trial Balance
Nominal code: 0.0.70.98
Non-Zero Corrections is a temporary balancing account used when a transaction does not post equally to its intended nominal accounts.
A Trial Balance can therefore balance even when an underlying posting problem exists.
Check:
Run the Trial Balance for the relevant accounting period.
Filter the Long Code to
0.0.70.98.Check the Month balance.
Check the Year to Date balance.
Both balances should normally be zero at period end.
If either figure contains an unexplained amount, investigate the originating transaction or contact the Navigator Helpdesk.
Do not post an arbitrary journal to clear the balance.
Sign-off: Finance
7. Review outstanding Workshop WIP
Report: Work in Progress (WIP)
Run the Workshop WIP report to identify older or incomplete workshop jobs that still contain outstanding costs.
Parts booked out to workshop jobs may remain in WIP until the appropriate job or stock transactions have been completed.
Check:
Review older workshop jobs with outstanding WIP balances.
Identify jobs that have been completed but not invoiced or released.
Check whether parts booked to outstanding jobs were physically used.
Return unused parts to stock through the appropriate process.
Ensure completed work is processed correctly.
This helps prevent old or incomplete workshop jobs from leaving costs unnecessarily outstanding in WIP.
Sign-off: Service Management / Finance
8. Review VAT balances where applicable
Reports: Relevant VAT and Nominal Ledger reports
When preparing your VAT return, ensure that VAT input and output balances have been reviewed and reconciled.
Check:
Review the relevant VAT input and output nominal accounts.
Compare the balances with the VAT reporting information.
Investigate unexpected differences.
Confirm the correct reporting period has been selected.
Ensure outstanding discrepancies are resolved before submitting the VAT return.
This check should be completed in line with your company's VAT reporting frequency, which may be monthly, quarterly or another applicable period.
Sign-off: Finance
Month-End Checklist
Use the following checklist before finalising your monthly management accounts.
| Check | Complete |
|---|---|
| Pipeline Profit reviewed and open invoiced deals checked | ☐ |
| Closed Profit Report compared with management accounts | ☐ |
| Action Report reviewed and preparation costs allocated | ☐ |
| Sales Suspense reconciled by stock number | ☐ |
| Nominal Reconcile reviewed and differences investigated | ☐ |
| Non-Zero Corrections Month and YTD balances checked | ☐ |
| Outstanding Workshop WIP reviewed | ☐ |
| VAT balances reconciled, where applicable | ☐ |
Final Sign-Off
Once the relevant checks have been completed, the following departments should confirm that their outstanding items have been reviewed.
Vehicle Administration
Vehicle deals and profit reports reviewed.
Outstanding preparation costs checked.
Deals ready for closure have been processed.
Finance
Management accounts and nominal balances reviewed.
Sales Suspense and Non-Zero Corrections checked.
Reconciliation differences investigated.
VAT checks completed where applicable.
Service Management
Outstanding workshop WIP reviewed.
Old or incomplete jobs investigated.
Unused parts and outstanding job costs addressed.
Any unresolved discrepancies should be recorded and investigated before the accounts are finalised.
Summary
Completing these checks each month helps ensure that your management accounts accurately reflect your dealership's financial position.
Particular attention should be given to invoiced vehicle deals that remain open, outstanding preparation costs, Sales Suspense, Non-Zero Corrections and older workshop WIP balances.
A balanced Trial Balance alone does not confirm that every transaction has been posted correctly.
Reviewing these additional areas helps identify discrepancies early and supports a more reliable month-end accounts process.
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