Calendar and checklist
Everyone knows what is due and what is blocking.
- Steps with owners, due days and dependencies
- A gate for each step to pass
- Configurable per company
- The blocking step and its owner on the dashboard
CONTROL
Month-end close and controls
A hard close you can prove. Reconcile, approve and lock the month; the lock is recorded with a hash of the data it covers, and a correction to a closed month posts forward instead of rewriting it.
- Day the period locks in the default close calendar; configurable per company
- M+6
- Standard reconciliations, from meter to allocation through to the regulator’s figures
- 5
- Hash recorded with every period lock
- SHA-256
- Default record retention, longer where a regulator requires it
- 7 years
First-release scope. This page describes what the first release of Converge HCA covers. Book a demo to see what is ready today.
WHAT IT DOES
Reconcile, approve, lock, and keep the history
The close follows a calendar. Each step has an owner, a due day and a gate it must pass: closing readings for every measurement point, meter-factor deviations resolved, allocation factors inside the band or explained, differences under materiality. The dashboard shows which step is blocking and who owns it.
Reconciliations compare figures that should agree: meter to allocation, field to terminal, terminal to liftings, partner statements to allocation, and the regulator’s figures to the partners’. Materiality thresholds, absolute and relative, send a breach to review, and every item carries its comment, attachments and approver.
The approver cannot be the preparer, and the server enforces it. Locking a period records a SHA-256 hash of its posted records; a locked period is read-only at the API and protected by a database trigger. Reopening needs a second approver and a reason, and creates a new lock version. A prior-period adjustment keeps the original records, posts the difference to the open month and lists the partner statements and returns that need refiling.
In the first release
- Close calendar and checklist with owners
- Five standard reconciliations
- Materiality thresholds by reconciliation type
- Maker-checker approval
- Period lock with a SHA-256 stamp
- Reopening with a second approver and a reason
- Prior-period adjustments that supersede, never edit
- A list of reports to refile after an adjustment
- Audit pack for each period
- Immutable audit log
- Read-only auditor role
KEY CAPABILITIES
Checklist, reconciliations, approval and lock
Reconciliations
Five comparisons, each with evidence.
- Meter to allocation, field to terminal and terminal to liftings
- Partner statements to allocation, and regulator to partner figures
- Absolute and relative materiality thresholds, versioned
- Comment, attachments and approver on every item
Approval and lock
Segregation of duties, enforced by the server.
- Separate permissions to enter, approve, lock and reopen
- Approvers cannot approve their own entries
- No lock until the checklist is complete and every gap has an approved estimate
- Locked periods read-only at the API and in the database
Adjustments
Corrections that keep history intact.
- Original records never edited
- The difference posted to the open period
- Affected partner statements and returns listed
- Refile needed shown on the dashboard
Change control
Rules change forward, never backward.
- Allocation methods, rounding policies, contract rules and strapping tables are date-effective
- Rule changes need approval
- No change can be back-dated into a locked period
Audit pack
What a joint-venture auditor asks for on day one.
- One export per period: inputs, rule versions, runs with input hashes, approvals and the audit log
- A read-only auditor role
- Records kept at least seven years by default
WORKFLOW
The default close calendar
Every day
Field data entered and validated; provisional allocation run.
M+1 and M+2
Month-end gauges, last tickets and provings; gas analyses and meter-factor review.
M+3
Final allocation run, with factors inside the band or explained.
M+4
Reconciliations, with differences under materiality or explained with evidence.
M+5
Entitlements, lifting balances and fiscal quantities, agreed with terminal stock.
M+6
Maker-checker approval and period lock, with the lock hash recorded.
CONNECTED MODULES
Every module reports into the close
- Measurement and meteringClosing readings and meter-factor review.
- AllocationThe final run and its factor band.
- Inventory and terminalsField-to-terminal reconciliation.
- Liftings and nominationsTerminal-to-liftings reconciliation.
- Entitlement and overlift/underliftPartner balances agreed before the lock.
- Regulatory reportingReturns generated from the locked month.
FAQ
Month-end close and controls: common questions
What is a hard close?
A closed month that nobody can edit, only adjust forward. In Converge HCA the lock is enforced by the API and by the database itself, and the hash recorded at the lock shows the data has not changed since.
Can a locked month be reopened?
Yes, with a reason and a second approver. Reopening creates a new lock version, and the old lock hash stays in the audit pack.
What goes in the audit pack?
Everything behind the period’s figures: inputs, rule versions, allocation runs with their input hashes, approvals and the audit log, in one export.
Can we change the close calendar?
Yes. The default runs from daily validation to a lock on day M+6, and the steps, owners, due days and gates are configurable for each company.