Bookkeeper Checklist
A Bookkeeper's Checklist
What tasks and when are performed by a bookkeeper ?
COMPREHENSIVE BOOKKEEPING CHECKLIST
A practical, recurring task checklist for small business owners, bookkeepers, and finance teams to keep financial records organized, accurate, and tax-ready.
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1. DAILY TASKS (Estimated Time: 10 - 20 minutes)
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Goal: Stay ahead of transaction volume and avoid daily backlogs.
- Check Cash Positions:
and credit accounts.
- Check for unexpected debits, low-balance warnings, or suspicious activity.
- Reconcile Daily Point-of-Sale (POS) / Sales Registers:
- Match daily merchant processor batch totals (Stripe, Square, POS) to
gross register receipts.
- Record daily cash, credit, and gift card sales in accounting software.
- Process Customer Receipts & Payments:
- Deposit physical checks and cash receipts into the bank.
- Record incoming ACH, wire, and credit payments against open customer invoices.
Capture & Store Supporting Documentation:
- Snap photos or upload receipts and bills into cloud storage or your
accounting system (e.g., QuickBooks Online, Xero, Dext).
- Note the business purpose on meal, travel, or entertainment receipts.
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2. WEEKLY TASKS (Estimated Time: 30 - 60 minutes)
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Goal: Manage working capital, vendor payments, and invoice collections.
- Feed & Categorize Bank Transactions:
- Review and categorize all imported bank and credit card feeds.
- Ensure correct chart-of-accounts mapping (avoid parking items in "Ask My
Accountant" or "Uncategorized Expense").
- Accounts Payable (AP) Review & Scheduling:
- Enter and match incoming vendor invoices to purchase orders or delivery slips.
- Review payment due dates, prioritize early-payment discounts, and flag bills
due in the coming 7-14 days.
- Schedule or issue payments (check, ACH, bill pay).
- Accounts Receivable (AR) & Invoicing:
- Create and send invoices for completed work, orders, or recurring retainers.
- Review the Accounts Receivable Aging report for past-due balances.
- Send polite payment reminders or follow-ups for invoices past due (e.g.,
7, 14, 30 days overdue).
- Review Short-Term Cash Flow:
- Compare expected collections against scheduled outgoing payments for the
next 2-4 weeks to avoid cash crunches.
Payroll Prep (if running on a weekly/bi-weekly cadence):
- Collect, verify, and approve employee hours/timesheets.
- Verify contractor invoices and hours before processing payment.
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3. MONTHLY TASKS (Estimated Time: 2 - 4 hours)
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Goal: Accurate closing of books, financial reporting, and compliance.
- Full Account Reconciliations (Critical):
- Reconcile checking, savings, money market, and merchant accounts against
official bank statements (ending balance must match).
- Reconcile all business credit cards.
- Reconcile loan balances and lines of credit against lender statements
(split principal vs. interest payments correctly).
- Review & Clean Sub-Ledgers:
- Review AR Aging report: Write off bad debts or escalate uncollectible accounts.
- Review AP Aging report: Investigate old, uncashed checks or outstanding credits.
- Adjust inventory balances to match physical counts or shrinkage estimates
(if applicable).
- Prepayments, Accruals & Fixed Assets:
- Record recurring journal entries (depreciation, amortization, prepaid insurance).
- Record fixed asset purchases (capital expenditures over the capitalization
threshold) and archive invoices.
- Sales Tax Filing & Remittance:
- Calculate state and local sales tax collected.
- File monthly sales tax returns and remit payments by state deadlines.
- Generate & Review Core Financial Statements:
- Profit & Loss Statement (P&L / Income Statement): Compare month-over-month
and actual vs. budget.
- Balance Sheet: Verify all assets, liabilities, and equity balances are logical.
- Cash Flow Statement: Analyze operating, investing, and financing cash flows.
- Archive & Lock the Period:
- Save monthly bank statements, credit card statements, and loan statements
to secure storage.
- Set closing date passwords in accounting software to prevent accidental
alterations to past data.
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4. QUARTERLY TASKS (Estimated Time: 3 - 6 hours)
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Goal: Tax estimates, payroll returns, quarterly reviews, and compliance.
- Quarterly Estimated Income Tax Payments:
- Review year-to-date net income with your CPA or tax advisor.
- Calculate and remit federal estimated tax payments (IRS Form 1040-ES / 1120-W)
due in April (Q1), June (Q2), September (Q3), and January (Q4).
- Remit corresponding state and local quarterly estimated income tax payments.
- Quarterly Payroll Tax Returns:
- Review and file Federal Form 941 (Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return).
- File state quarterly unemployment tax returns (SUTA) and state income
tax withholding returns.
- Cross-reference payroll summary reports against GL payroll tax liabilities.
- Quarterly Sales & Use Tax Filings:
- For jurisdictions on a quarterly filing cadence, prepare returns, reconcile
collected amounts to the sales tax liability account, and remit funds.
- W-9 & Vendor Audit:
- Review vendor payment reports to identify vendors nearing or exceeding the
$600 reporting threshold.
- Request missing Forms W-9 now rather than chasing them down at year-end.
- Financial Performance & KPI Review:
- Conduct a quarterly Budget vs. Actual variance review with department heads
or business partners.
- Analyze key operating metrics: gross margins, customer acquisition cost,
burn rate, working capital ratio, and runway.
- Review rolling 12-month cash forecast and adjust spending plans.
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5. YEARLY TASKS (Estimated Time: 1 - 2 days)
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Goal: Year-end close, tax preparation, and strategic planning.
- Vendor, Contractor, and Employee Compliance (Early January):
- Verify that all independent contractors have updated Forms W-9 on file.
- Prepare, file, and distribute Forms 1099-NEC and 1099-MISC by January 31st
to contractors and form W-2's for employees and the IRS/state.
- Year-End Inventory Count:
- Perform a comprehensive physical inventory count as of December 31st.
- Adjust ending inventory and Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) in the general ledger.
- Asset & Liability Clean-Up:
- Review fixed asset register: Dispose of retired, broken, or sold equipment.
- Reconcile year-end payroll reports (Forms 941 / 940 / W-2 / W-3) against
payroll expense and payroll liability accounts in the general ledger.
- Ensure retained earnings and owner draw/distribution accounts tie out cleanly.
- Tax Package Preparation for CPA / Tax Preparer:
- Export year-end Trial Balance, Balance Sheet, and P&L.
- Prepare schedules for vehicle mileage, home office expenses, and capital purchases.
- Provide copies of year-end loan statements, 1099 forms received, and new
lease/contract agreements.
- Budgeting & Next Year Setup:
- Finalize operating and capital expenditure budgets for the upcoming year.
- Enter new budget targets into your accounting software for variance reporting.
- Officially close the financial year in your accounting platform.
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6. ON DEMAND
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Computer Accounting & Bookkeeping
In the current age of modern accounting, reports such as ageing reports, cash forecasts, sales analysis, and financial statements can be run as needed.
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Tips for Consistency:
- Set recurring calendar alerts for daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly review blocks.
- Never co-mingle personal and business funds.
- Maintain digital backups of all receipts, filings, and invoices for at least 7 years.
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