Once a month, Astra produces a close memo — a structured observation about how your business changed over the prior month. This memo is for finance leaders (CFO, controller, segment finance leads) and...
Last updated Jul 22, 2026 · 3 min read
Astra's monthly review runs automatically on the first day of each month at 4 AM UTC. The review analyzes the prior month's closed data after period close.
The close memo is a single message with six numbered sections, in this order:
Executive summary
Three to five sentences: headline P&L number, EBITDA, cash, and anything from sections 5 or 6 that needs flagging.
P&L summary
A variance table (actual / budget / variance / prior month) followed by short driver paragraphs for any line that moved materially. If no budget is provided in Company Memory, the memo benchmarks against the prior month and the trailing-6-month average instead.
Material journal entries
A table of significant entries posted in the period (JE number, description, amount, rationale), including any prior-period error and its materiality assessment.
Balance sheet — key movements
Cash walk, AR aging and DSO, deferred revenue waterfall, accrued expenses composition, intercompany, working capital shifts.
Open reconciling items
Anything not tied out at close: what it is, the amount, the diagnostic, and the expected resolution date.
Controls & compliance
Confirmation that scheduled control checks ran across cash, AR, AP, payroll, intercompany, revenue recognition, and tax, with findings (or "no findings").
Prose is kept terse — roughly 500–800 words total, with tables on top of that — and every numerical claim includes the number, the comparison period, and where it came from. If a section has nothing material to report, Astra states "Nothing material this month" and moves on.
Astra delivers the close memo through your configured notification channel — the same channel used for other Astra findings. The channel is specified in Company Memory (the instructions you provide to Astra).
If you receive Astra notifications in Slack, the close memo arrives as a direct message from @Light. If you receive them in Microsoft Teams, it arrives from the Light bot.
The monthly close memo is the durable record of the period for the CFO, controller, and segment finance leads:
The memo never attributes work or remediation items to named individuals — Astra writes in its own voice about the checks and reconciliations it performed.
The monthly review draws on Astra's full view of your closed financials:
Astra compares the closed month against the budget provided in Company Memory. If no budget is provided, it benchmarks against the prior month and the trailing-6-month average instead — it never invents targets.
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