Finance Go-Live Readiness Kit

Could your finance team invoice, pay and report on day one?

Start with one operating milestone.

Use this kit with the people who own the work. It helps structure evidence, dependencies and decisions; it does not approve a transition or replace the responsible specialists.

Set the boundary. In the workbook’s working brief, name the project, operating milestone and scope. Start with one journey or business area rather than mapping everything at once.
Work through the modules. Record what is actually known, the evidence reference and the accountable owner. Leave an uncertainty visible rather than converting it into a green status.
Use the conditions register. Record what must hold, who accepts the evidence, and what remains unresolved. Mark completion only where the actual closure conditions are met.
Agree next actions. Add a closure outcome, owner and due date. Use the action log and decision brief to prepare the next discussion.
Save your work. Use the workbook’s completed-HTML download to keep an editable copy, plus a JSON backup if useful. Export the action log when sharing agreed actions. Browser storage is optional and belongs to that browser/device.

Keep project information under your control. The workbook runs locally with no submission to Leanpro. A downloaded file or exported log can contain your project data; store and share it using your own organisation’s arrangements. Check that your saved copy reopens before closing the original tab.

7 checks for your team discussion

Critical transactions

List the entities, normal transactions, exceptions and operating deadlines that matter. Separate the first payment run from the first month-end.

Data and reconciliation

Ask finance to define the reconciliation approach, tolerances, source references and disposition of exceptions.

Access and approvals

Test the real operator and deputy roles, including approval limits and the route for urgent exceptions.

Dependencies

Name both provider and receiver. Record what accepted completion looks like and what the input unblocks.

Business testing

Define the expected result before testing. Retain evidence through the ledger, reporting and correction journey.

People and procedures

Check that teams can execute the changed work. Training attendance alone is not evidence of operational readiness.

Cutover and support

Sequence activities and stop points. Name decision authority, contingency and support for the actual first operating cycles.

WORKED EXAMPLE / ENTIRELY FICTIONAL

From a reassuring status to a useful question.

Northstar Services — a fictional Monday go-live

Configuration is complete, but the first supplier payment run has no named business acceptance owner. An invoice can be posted, but its downstream reconciliation evidence has not been attached. Project support ends before the first payment cycle.

Condition	Evidence position	Next action / accountable role
Supplier-payment acceptance	Not established: approval owner is TBC.	Finance sponsor names the acceptance owner and confirms the required evidence before the readiness discussion.
Invoice reconciliation	Incomplete: a posted invoice is recorded, but no end-to-end reconciliation is attached.	Finance test lead records the expected result, runs the full journey and links the actual evidence for acceptance.
First payment-run support	Unconfirmed: no business contact, coverage or escalation route.	Operations lead agrees first-cycle cover and incident ownership with the relevant support teams.

Illustrative decision brief

Decision requested: agree how the open conditions will be resolved and when the authorised sponsor will review readiness. Position: configuration completion is not sufficient evidence to close these operating conditions. Remaining uncertainty: the checks above have not yet been performed. The example does not make a real go/no-go recommendation.

How to apply this: identify an equivalent condition in your project, name the person who can accept it, record the evidence available and agree the next action. Do not copy fictional assumptions into your plan as facts.

A useful decision summary

The milestone, scope and specific decision being requested.
Conditions supported by evidence, with an acceptance owner.
Open conditions, consequences and unresolved assumptions.
Next actions, owners, required dates and escalation.
Contingency, support and any residual work requiring a receiving owner.

Use the workbook’s decision brief to assemble this view. The number of complete rows is not a substitute for the significance of the remaining conditions.