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Month-End Close Checklist.

Closing the books means finishing a month completely — everything recorded, every account reconciled, reports reviewed — so the numbers stop moving and you can trust them. Work through the steps below in order; check items off as you go.

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Catch everything first

You can't close a month that isn't fully recorded.

Enter or import all transactions for the monthBank feeds accepted/matched, cash sales recorded, owner purchases on personal cards captured.

Record all bills received, even if unpaidA bill dated this month belongs in this month — that's what keeps your expenses honest.

Send any invoices for work completed this monthRevenue you earned but never invoiced is revenue your reports can't see.

Clear Undeposited FundsPayments sitting in Undeposited Funds that already hit the bank need to be recorded as deposits.

Reconcile every account

Reconciling proves your books match reality. Do it for each account, every month.

Reconcile every bank account to its statementDifference must read $0.00. If it won't, our free Bank Reconciliation Checklist has a troubleshooting section.

Reconcile every credit card accountSame drill as the bank — statement balance, statement date, tick off matching charges.

Verify loan balances against lender statementsSplit payments into principal (reduces the loan) and interest (an expense) — lumping them in one account is the classic error.

Count and reconcile petty cash, if you keep itSmall account, big signal — if petty cash doesn't balance, receipts aren't being captured.

Clean up the ledger

Now sweep for the stragglers that hide in every month.

Review uncategorized income and expensesAnything parked in Uncategorized or Ask My Accountant gets a real category before close.

Scan for duplicate transactionsCommon where a bank feed item was both manually entered and accepted. Sort by amount to spot pairs.

Separate personal spending from businessOwner's personal charges go to draws/distributions — not to business expense categories.

Check that transfers between accounts aren't double-countedA transfer should never appear as income in one account and an expense in the other.

Review AR & AP

Who owes you, and who do you owe? Month-end is when you look.

Run the AR aging report and chase what's overdueAnything past 60 days deserves a phone call. Our free AR Tracker buckets this automatically.

Apply any unapplied customer paymentsPayments not matched to invoices overstate both AR and income on some reports.

Review the AP aging reportKnow what's due in the next 30 days before it surprises your cash flow.

Read the reports

The whole point of the close: numbers you can actually use.

Run the P&L and compare it to last monthAny line that moved a lot — do you know why? If not, click into it until you do.

Scan the balance sheet for anything oddNegative balances, accounts that never change, or a balance you can't explain are all worth a look.

Note anything to ask your accountant or research laterWrite it down now — the context evaporates by tax season.

Lock it down

Make the month final so nothing drifts.

Set the closing date (with a password, ideally)In QuickBooks Online: gear icon → Account and settings → Advanced → Close the books.

Save or export the month's key reportsP&L, balance sheet, and reconciliation reports — a snapshot of what "final" looked like.

Put next month's close on the calendarThe businesses with clean books aren't smarter — they're just consistent. Same date every month.

Want the "why" behind every step?

Our practice-first course walks through closing the books with real exercises — not just videos. Module 1 is free forever, no card required.

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