The close should not depend on who is out this week.
Your runbook describes the process. Your team runs the exceptions.
Read the film transcript
Narration from this original film. Soft instrumental music plays underneath.
Month-end close depends on steps that live in one controller’s head. Nobody else can run it.
You’re the one reconstructing why an entry was made that way, usually the night before it’s due.
Kept is a voice interview. June calls, asks about your work, and keeps what you say, in your words, in a jar that’s yours.
At the next close, a new analyst asks why the rebate sits in the prior period. Kept answers and cites the words from your call.
The why behind every entry is there before anyone asks. Kept. Keep the knowledge behind the work.
The documented close and the actual close diverged years ago. The real one lives in the heads of whoever has done it longest: which entries always need a second look, which subsidiary reports late, what to do when the numbers almost tie. Vacation coverage means praying nothing unusual happens.
Kept interviews your team about how the work actually goes and keeps the answers cited and current. When someone is out, the person covering asks and gets the real answer, with a name and a date on it. You see what is covered. Nobody gets measured, because that is not what Kept makes.
Keeping a knowledge item does not promise permanent access to its original transcript. Sources can become unavailable after retention or removal. Check what evidence is available before relying on an answer.
Read personal and workspace controls. The overview above is available as text; explore the guided text walkthrough for a step-by-step example.