Free Month-End Close Checklist Template

A step-by-step month-end close checklist for accounting and bookkeeping firms, so nothing gets missed and every client's books close the same way each month.

Copy the checklist below to standardise your month-end close, or run it as a repeatable workflow in Tidyflow so every client’s books close the same way each month.

A consistent month-end close is what separates a firm that scales from one that scrambles. When every client closes with the same steps, in the same order, with the same reviews, nothing slips and any team member can pick up the work.

The month-end close checklist

1. Cash & bank

Reconcile every bank account to the statement
Reconcile credit card and merchant accounts
Investigate and clear any unreconciled or stale transactions
Confirm outstanding deposits and uncleared checks

2. Accounts receivable

Reconcile the AR aging to the general ledger
Review overdue invoices and follow up on collections
Record any write-offs or adjustments

3. Accounts payable

Reconcile the AP aging to the general ledger
Confirm all vendor bills for the period are entered
Record accruals for expenses incurred but not yet billed

4. Payroll & liabilities

Post payroll for the period and reconcile to the payroll provider
Reconcile payroll tax and benefit liabilities
Record any accrued wages or PTO

5. General ledger & adjusting entries

Post depreciation and amortisation
Record prepaid expense and deferred revenue adjustments
Reconcile loans and record interest
Clear suspense and ask-my-accountant accounts

6. Balance sheet review

Reconcile every balance sheet account to supporting detail
Confirm intercompany and owner accounts are correct
Verify the balance sheet balances and ties to prior period

7. Review & reporting

Review the P&L for anomalies and unexpected variances
Compare actuals to budget or prior periods
Have a second person review the close (or the preparer’s checklist)
Produce and deliver the management reports
Note any items to raise with the client

How to use this checklist

Copy it into your firm’s process, or set it up once as a recurring job so it regenerates every month with each step pre-assigned. Pair it with client document requests so the information you need arrives before you start, not halfway through.

Run it as a repeatable workflow

In Tidyflow, this becomes a recurring job: each step is a subtask your team checks off, with due dates and assignments, and the documents you need from the client are collected through their portal with automatic reminders. You get a firm-wide view of exactly where every client’s close stands.

Frequently asked questions

A month-end close checklist is a standard, repeatable list of the steps needed to finalise a client's books for the month, reconciling accounts, posting adjusting entries, reviewing the numbers, and producing reports. Using the same checklist every month keeps the close consistent, accurate, and reviewable no matter who does it.

At minimum, reconcile cash and bank accounts, clear accounts receivable and payable, post payroll and accruals, reconcile the balance sheet, review the P&L for anomalies, and produce the management reports. The checklist below breaks each of these into concrete steps.

Standardise it and stop tracking it in your head or a spreadsheet. When the close runs as a repeatable workflow, each step is assigned with a due date, client document requests chase themselves, and you can see exactly where every client's close stands, so the whole team closes faster with fewer misses.