30-60-90 day plan for accounting managers

A 30-60-90 day plan for a new accounting manager should spend the first month learning the close and the team from inside one full close, take ownership of the close checklist, reconciliations and journal entry review in the second month, and by day 90 deliver a shorter or cleaner close, tighter accounts payable controls and a ready year-end calendar. For a manager starting in late 2026 that calendar includes the first January filing season under the new Form 1099-NEC threshold: $2,000 for payments made in 2026, up from $600, as of October 2026.

This plan is for the controller or CFO hiring an accounting manager to run a team of staff and senior accountants and AP and AR specialists. The controller's own plan, built around controls, policies and the audit relationship, is in the 30-60-90 day plan for controllers, and the individual contributor's ramp is in the 30-60-90 day plan for accountants.

What makes an accounting manager's first 90 days different?

An accounting manager gets three closes in 90 days, and the team will judge them on the first one. A manager who rewrites the close checklist in week two loses the people who built it; one who only watches for a month misses the chance to catch the reconciliation nobody has reviewed in a year. The plan sets a simple order: do the close with the team, then review it, then change it.

The second difference is review. Staff accountants are judged on their own accounts. The accounting manager is judged on what they let through: the entry they approved without support, the vendor bank change nobody called to confirm, the accrual that reversed twice. The plan therefore makes review standards and accounts payable controls explicit early.

Which dates and rules does a new accounting manager put on the calendar?

Federal items current as of October 2026; not tax or legal advice. State filings, payroll tax deposits (often owned by payroll), sales tax, lender reporting and audit deadlines come from the company's own obligations; list them from the source documents, not from memory.

The threshold change matters for the vendor master. A W-9 on file and correct 1099 flags for every vendor are cheaper to fix in November than in the last week of January.

What does the 30-60-90 day plan look like?

30-60-90 day plan — [Name], Accounting Manager, [company]
Reports to: [controller / CFO]   Start date: [date]
Team: [N] staff/senior accountants, [N] AP, [N] AR   ERP: [ ]
Close: business day [N]   Audit: [firm, year-end date, fieldwork dates]

DAYS 1-30 — Learn the close by doing it
Goals:
- Work the first close beside the team: prepare at least one
  reconciliation and one accrual yourself
- Read every balance sheet reconciliation and the close checklist;
  note who prepares and who reviews each item
- Walk AP end to end: vendor setup and changes, invoice approval,
  three-way match if used, payment runs, bank change verification
- Walk AR: invoicing, cash application, collections, credit memos
- One-to-one with each team member: workload, backlog, training
- Calendar of every deadline for the next two quarters
Deliverables by day 30:
- Close map: tasks, owners, reviewers, business day, systems
- Gap list: unreconciled or unreviewed accounts, aged items, control
  gaps in AP, with owners and dates
Check-in: day 30, with the controller

DAYS 31-60 — Own the review
Goals:
- Run the second close: daily stand-up, checklist sign-off
- Review every reconciliation and manual journal entry above the
  agreed threshold; write review notes the team can act on
- Fix the highest-risk AP gap (example: call-back to a known number
  before any vendor bank change)
- Vendor master clean-up for year-end: W-9s, 1099 flags
- Draft the audit request (PBC) list with owners and dates
Deliverables by day 60:
- Every balance sheet account reconciled and reviewed
- PBC list agreed with the controller and the auditors
Check-in: day 60

DAYS 61-90 — Improve the close; prepare year-end
Goals:
- Third close: one improvement measured (example: one business day
  shorter, or fewer post-close adjustments)
- Year-end plan: 1099 and W-2 dates, inventory counts, fixed asset
  roll-forward, cut-off testing, audit fieldwork logistics
- Development plan for each team member
Deliverables by day 90:
- Close improvement held for the third close
- Year-end calendar issued to the team
Check-in: day 90 — full review

Which numbers should a new accounting manager track?

The standards in the last column are examples only. Agree targets with the controller and measure the same way each month.

How should the controller use the plan in the final interview?

Give every finalist the same brief: team size, ERP, close day, audit timing and one known problem. Score their plan with the rubric in how to evaluate a 30-60-90 day plan in an interview. A strong plan does the first close with the team before changing it, names review standards, and puts year-end dates on the calendar early. Follow-up questions:

• "A vendor emails new bank details two days before a payment run. What does your process require?"
• "A senior accountant has reconciled the same account for three years and nobody has reviewed it. How do you handle it without insulting her?"
• "What would you change in our 1099 process for the January after you start?"
• "Your first close runs two days late. What do you tell the controller, and when?"

For the team the manager will hire into, the staff accountant phone screen questions cover reconciliations, close tasks and judgment.

What should each check-in cover?

A filled example

What does the controller owe the new accounting manager?

• The audit history: last year's adjustments, management letter comments and open findings.
• Review authority written down: thresholds for journal entry approval and who signs off reconciliations.
• Access to the ERP, bank portals (view), the reconciliation tool and the close checklist.
• Room to change the close after the first cycle, not before.

Common mistakes

• Redesigning the close before doing it. The checklist has reasons in it that are not written down.
• Doing the team's work instead of reviewing it. It hides the training gap and burns out the manager by the third close.
• Leaving AP controls to AP. Bank change verification and vendor setup are the manager's controls to check.
• Starting year-end in January. W-9 gaps and 1099 flags need fixing before the filing month.

How do you adapt the plan?

• Public company: add the SOX control owner list and the quarterly filing calendar; the controller plan covers the control environment.
• Small company with no controller: combine this plan with the controller plan and agree with the CFO which policy decisions wait until after day 90.
• Multi-entity or international: add intercompany reconciliation and the consolidation calendar to days 1-30.
• Credentials: the CPA is licensed by state boards; the CMA is offered by the Institute of Management Accountants.

The broader interview guide for finance roles covers the rest of the hiring loop.