A Monthly Bookkeeping Checklist for Small Businesses

Every month

• Record all income and expenses and attach receipts or invoices.
• Reconcile each bank, card and wallet account against its statement.
• Review unpaid invoices and follow up on overdue ones.
• Review bills due and plan payments around your cash.
• Check categories for anything misfiled.
• Run a profit and loss report and compare it with last month.

Every quarter

• Review cash-flow trends and upcoming large expenses.
• Check payroll and any tax obligations that apply to you.
• Remove or write off stale balances after confirming them.

Every year

Close the year, archive documents, and give your accountant a clean set of records. The earlier your monthly routine is in place, the shorter this step becomes.

Make it easy

Photograph receipts as you get them, use bank feeds where your software supports them, and block the same slot in your calendar each month.