Month-End Close Checklist

Match all deposits, transfers, and vendor payments. Ensure zero unprocessed transactions remain in the 'For Review' tab.

Verify beginning balance matches statement, enter ending date/balance, and confirm $0.00 difference.

Audit payment clearing account. Ensure every customer payment matches an actual bank deposit on statement.

Inspect accounts past 60/90 days. Resolve unapplied customer payments and verify against customer statements.

Confirm all vendor bills for the period are entered. Reconcile vendor statements and credit card clearing accounts.

Tie perpetual inventory ledger in QBO to physical count adjustments or POS sync (Shopify, Toast, Square).

Match payroll clearing account against Gusto, ADP, or Paychex payroll summary reports. Clear wage clearing to $0.

Verify collected sales tax matches state reporting liability. Ensure tax payments post against liability, not expense.

Split monthly debt service into principal reduction (liability) and interest expense according to amortization.

Check equity section. Reclassify any automated startup balance entries to Retained Earnings or Owner Capital.

Post recurring journal entries for prepaid insurance, software subscriptions, and fixed asset depreciation.

For multi-entity companies, confirm intercompany mirror accounts across entities eliminate cleanly to $0 discrepancy.

Compare current month revenue and expenses against prior month and budget. Investigate variances over 15%.

Export Balance Sheet, Profit & Loss (standard & YTD), and Statement of Cash Flows with management summary notes.

Navigate to Account and Settings -> Advanced -> Close the books. Set password to prevent backdated adjustments.