15+ Free Month-end Closing Checklist Templates

Here’s our month-end close checklist to help you organize your workflows. Small business owners have their plate full with daily business operations, so it’s normal to dread the month-end admin. Income, property, sales and payroll are all common and should be considered as regulations that require remittance to the proper authority. Here’s just an example of some closing tasks; yours should be customized to meet your needs.

• If you have received up-front retainers, likewise, you’ll need to record deferred revenue and reconcile any previously deferred amounts that you should now recognize.
• Automatically process and analyze critical information such as sales and payment performance data, customer payment trends, and DSO to better manage risk and develop strategies to improve operational performance.
• Looking at your numbers regularly helps you spot trends that look out of whack.
• Never underestimate the significance of monthly closing and the importance of a month-close checklist.

This process involves several steps your team will complete over several days. It provides compliance and financial accuracy while preserving your data’s integrity for analysis planning. Spending and trading activity are somewhat predictable, but each month can introduce new issues that you and your teams need to consider. Plus, accurate monthly reporting makes year-end closing much easier to understand. For example, you can use accounting software and scan your receipts in real-time to make your month-end a breeze.

Don’t Forget Your Month End Close Checklist Template

Tools like SaaSOptics automate revenue schedules through CRM integrations and sync invoices to your general ledger chart of accounts structure so you can handle revenue recognition with minimal manual input. These communications should include brief reminders as to exactly what needs to be done and a due date for completion. For example, it can be helpful to set parameters pertaining to employee reimbursements, wherein employees must submit expense reports by the last day of the month. You might stipulate that anything submitted without adequate documentation or sent in after the deadline may result in delayed reimbursement.

If you’re not recording your expenses in real-time, attempt to record them weekly. If you fall behind, catch up on your backlog ahead of the month end process. Sales made on credit and still unpaid will wait in accounts receivable (“AR”). There are a lot of elements to the sales process so naturally there will be a lot of closing procedures. And because sales is a HEAVILY SCRUTINIZED AREA BY AUDITORS, you’ll want to be sure that AR is in good shape.

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While it will take a bit of effort to get this month-end close process and checklist in place, it should be worth it. For starters, it will be easier as you go forward, and more importantly, by taking 20 best seasonal photographer jobs the blindfold off, you will be off to the small business races. Some businesses don’t have petty cash reserves, while others have separate petty cash budgets for different departments in the company.

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These errors may be legitimate or an attempt to cover up fraud or theft. A month-end checklist helps accountants remember what they might otherwise skip. The month end close process involves recording, reconciling, and reviewing all business transactions and finalizing the account data for the month.

Most organizations have a certain set of common tasks to be completed every month and frequency of other tasks may vary. But as you grow your business, automation can save you time and costly errors. That way, you can automate processes, such as bank reconciliations and financial statements, and avoid days of manual work. If you want to learn more about how Mosaic helps finance and accounting teams assume a more strategic role in the business, reach out for a personalized demo. Or, download this month-end close checklist template and put yourself on the path to a 5-day close.

Have a closing date

Prepare a bank reconciliation to reconcile your bank account with your financial records. Bank reconciliations will also help you understand your cash situation and not overdraw your account. If you have regular financial reporting obligations, either monthly or quarterly, this becomes a key area for you. If your financial reporting is less frequent then many of these tasks are likely to be performed on an annual or semi-annual basis. Obligations that are not appropriate for accounts payable are often included in accrued liabilities.