A balanced trial balance is not proof that revenue and inventory belong in the same period. Cut-off errors often leave the ledger looking orderly while the warehouse paperwork tells another story.
Shipping documents versus invoice dates
We compare bill of lading dates, gate logs, and invoice registers for days around year-end. When invoices run ahead of shipment, revenue may be early. When goods leave before the invoice is raised, inventory may still sit on the balance sheet after it should have moved.
Goods in transit between group companies
Intercompany shipments create two books and one set of trucks. If both entities keep inventory, or neither does, the consolidation pack suffers. Flag in-transit SKUs before auditors ask — it shortens fieldwork and reduces last-minute journal noise.
Returns after the count
Customer returns that arrive in the first week of the new year sometimes relate to pre-year-end sales. Controllers who track those returns separately give auditors a clean subsequent-events story instead of a week of email archaeology.
Clean cut-off is less about new software and more about naming the documents that prove when title passed. Keep those documents where the count team can find them.