Month-end close checklist for small businesses
Ten steps that turn a month of transactions into numbers you can trust.
Checklist
The 10-step close
- 1Record all transactionsMake sure every sale, bill, payroll run and transfer for the month is entered.
- 2Reconcile bank and credit cardsMatch each account to its statement and clear differences.
- 3Reconcile payment processorsSplit Stripe, Square or PayPal deposits into sales, fees and refunds.
- 4Review accounts receivableApply payments, follow up overdue invoices, check the aging report.
- 5Review accounts payableEnter all bills received, confirm nothing is paid twice.
- 6Record payrollPost payroll journals and confirm liabilities match tax payments.
- 7Post accruals and prepaidsRecord expenses incurred but not paid and spread prepaid costs.
- 8Review the balance sheetEvery balance should have support; investigate anything odd.
- 9Compare to budget and last monthExplain big variances in a sentence each.
- 10Lock the periodClose the month in your software so it cannot change by accident.
FAQ
For a small business with clean feeds, a few days to two weeks after month-end.
Yes — even a simple version catches errors while they are easy to fix.
Yes, at $15 per hour. See month-end close.
Get a free estimate — $15/hour
Jay replies within one business day with a written scope and an estimate of hours at $15 per hour. No obligation.
Next step
Want us to run the close?
We follow this checklist every month for clients at $15 per hour.