Short answer A reliable month-end close means reconciling every account, reviewing sales tax and payroll, and checking the statements against expectations, ideally within the first ten days of the month.
A consistent close turns bookkeeping into decisions. Use this checklist each month.
The checklist
- Import and categorize all bank, card and payment transactions.
- Reconcile every bank, credit card and payment-processor account to its statement.
- Review receivables and payables for anything unrecorded or overdue.
- Record accruals such as unpaid bills and revenue earned but not yet invoiced.
- Check GST/QST balances against your sales and purchases.
- Confirm payroll remittances and liabilities match payroll reports.
- Review the statements: profit and loss and balance sheet, compared with last month and your budget.
- Lock the period so figures do not change after review.
This is exactly the rhythm of our monthly bookkeeping service, typically completed around day 8.