Monthly Bookkeeping Checklist
Updated
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Ninety minutes a month that makes year-end cheap
Quick answer: A free monthly checklist covering the bookkeeping tasks that are quick to do as you go and expensive to reconstruct later. It is built around a short monthly routine rather than an annual catch-up. No sign-up.
When the monthly list keeps slipping, the fix is usually the process rather than more discipline. Monthly bookkeeping, handled, or ask what to change.
What is in it
- Reconcile first — 4 items
- Then categorize — 4 items
- Then review — 4 items
- Then file and set aside — 3 items
One page, designed to be printed and worked with a pen. Brand header, our contact details and a version date on the page.
The difference between a business whose year-end takes two weeks and one whose year-end takes two days is almost never the accountant. It is whether twelve small monthly efforts happened, or whether one large annual reconstruction is required instead.
This one-page routine takes about ninety minutes a month for a business of ordinary complexity. It is deliberately short: a forty-item checklist does not get done, a fifteen-item one does, and fifteen is enough to keep the numbers trustworthy during the year, not just after it.
The order matters. Reconciling first means everything after it is being done against numbers that agree with the bank, rather than against a guess that will need redoing.
Keep it where you will see it — beside the desk, or inside the front of the month’s paperwork folder. The value is in the routine, and routines survive on visibility. Most owners find the page takes ninety minutes in month one and closer to forty by month three, because a reconciled account holds far fewer surprises.
Want the updated version each year?
Tax figures and filing dates move. Leave your email and we will send the refreshed copy when it changes. That is all we use it for. The download above works either way.
Common questions about monthly Bookkeeping Checklist
How long does this actually take?+
Does doing this monthly really change year-end?+
Does the order of the items matter?+
If I only ever do one item, which one?+
General information, not tax advice. This checklist is a general aid for Canadian business owners. It does not account for your circumstances and does not create a professional relationship. Speak to a CPA before acting — send an enquiry.
Talk to a CPA about this
One CPA, start to finish. Fixed fees in writing before work begins, and no obligation.
“…have been completing my bookkeeping, taxes and financials for the last 2 years and they have been amazing. Thank you!”