Doorbook.
The monthly round

Closing the month

One action ends the billing month. It is the hinge the whole ledger turns on, and it is the only thing in Doorbook that rewrites every room at once.

5 min read Updated 2026-08-13
THE MONTHLY ROUND 1 Read the meters 2 Bills are worked out 3 Collect what is due 4 Close the month Four steps, twelve times a year, for as many rooms as you own.
Closing is what turns one month's work into the next month's starting point.

What closing actually does

  • Files the month into history — the whole property's figures, and each room's own record.
  • Turns this month's meter readings into next month's opening readings.
  • Carries anything still outstanding onto the next bill as a brought-forward line.
  • Clears each room's payment status and its one-off adjustment, ready for a fresh month.
  • Advances the billing month by one.

Before you close

  • Every room you intend to bill has both meters read.
  • Payments that have already arrived are marked, because what is unpaid at the moment of closing is what gets carried forward.
  • Any discount or surcharge for the month is applied — it is cleared by closing.

If you closed too early

Doorbook keeps an undo record of the state immediately before the last close, so a cycle closed by accident can be reversed and put back the way it was. It is a safety net for the mistake you notice straight away, not a general time machine — do not rely on it to unwind a month you have since worked in.

History and how much is kept

The most recent 24 months stay in the live book, per room and for the property as a whole. Older months are moved to an archive on the device rather than deleted, so the analytics and the Excel export can still reach them while the part that syncs between your devices stays small.

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