Guide · Month-end close
Month-end close checklist for bookkeeping firms with many clients
Most month-end checklists are written for one company. A bookkeeping firm closes many clients at once, so the hard part isn't the steps, it's keeping every client moving without missing one. This guide gives you the checklist and a simple way to run it across your whole client list.
Before the month ends
Send each client's document request.
Give a fixed due date a few days after month-end.
Check every feed is connected.
Make sure each bank and card feed is working, so nothing is missing when you start.
Agree who does what.
Decide who closes each client and who reviews the work.
Set the close order.
Start with the clients whose reporting deadlines come first.
The checklist for each client
Confirm everything has arrived.
Statements for every account, receipts, loan and payroll paperwork, and answers to last month's questions.
Categorize and match transactions.
Work through every bank and card transaction and clear anything left uncategorized.
Reconcile every account.
Match each bank, card and loan account to its statement balance.
Review receivables and payables.
Look for old open items, duplicate bills and payments that were never applied.
Record recurring and adjusting entries.
Add depreciation, prepaid expenses and accruals where they apply.
Check payroll and sales tax.
Compare the liabilities with the filings and payments for the month.
Review the reports.
Compare the profit and loss and balance sheet with last month and the same month last year, and explain anything unusual.
Send the client's questions together.
Collect every question and send them in one message.
Lock the period.
Close the month in your software so it can't be changed by accident (see the steps below).
Send the report.
Share the monthly report and the status update.
Where to find the key steps in QuickBooks Online and Xero
Reconcile an account in QuickBooks Online
Go to All apps, then Accounting, then Reconcile. Choose the account, enter the ending balance and ending date from the statement, and select Start reconciling. Tick each transaction that matches the statement until the difference is zero, then select Finish now.
Lock the month in QuickBooks Online
Go to Settings, then Account and settings, then the Advanced tab. In the Accounting section, select Edit, turn on Close the books, enter the closing date, choose whether changes need a warning or a password, and select Save. Move the closing date forward each month.
Reconcile and close a period in Xero
First reconcile the bank statement lines in the account's Reconcile tab. Then, in the Accounting menu, select Bank accounts, choose the account and open the Reconcile period tab. Create the period, enter its dates and the statement's opening and closing balances, and select Close period once the balances match.
Set a lock date in Xero
In the Accounting menu, select Accounting settings, then Financial settings. Under Lock Dates, enter the date to lock transactions at and select Save. You need the administrator user role to set or change lock dates.
Running the close across your whole client list
One tracker for every client
Keep one list with a row for each client and a column for each step. Anyone can see at a glance which clients are waiting on documents, in progress, in review or done.
Statuses, not memory
Use a small set of statuses, such as waiting on client, in progress, in review and closed, and update them as you go. A client stuck in "waiting on client" for too long is the one to call.
A separate review step
Have a second person review each close, or at least the reconciliations and the unusual items. It catches mistakes before the client sees them.
Close the easy clients first
Clients with clean feeds and few transactions can close early in the month, which leaves time for the complex ones.
Common mistakes
Starting before documents are in.
Half-finished closes take longer than waiting a day.
Reconciling only the bank account.
Card, loan and clearing accounts drift too.
Asking questions one at a time.
Collect them and send one message per client.
Not locking the period.
A late edit to a closed month changes reports the client has already seen.
Questions
How long should a monthly close take?
It depends on the client's transaction volume and how quickly documents arrive. Track your own times by client type, then set due dates you can keep.
Should every client close on the same day?
No. Stagger closes by deadline and complexity so the team's workload stays even.
Do I need practice management software to run this?
Not to start. A shared spreadsheet with one row per client works for a small firm. Software helps once you have more clients and staff than one list can manage.
See how much of your close goes to chasing.
The free Snapshot takes about 3 minutes and shows where your firm's hours go.