Month-end bookkeeping

What a Small Business Should Review at Month End

Month-end review does not need to be complicated to be useful. The goal is to confirm that the bookkeeping records are complete enough for reliable reporting and clear enough to explain what happened during the month.

Start with cash and outstanding activity

Confirm bank balances, review unmatched transactions, and look at open invoices and unpaid bills. These items affect both day-to-day operations and the accuracy of the financial statements.

Check categories before running reports

Expenses, deposits, and adjustments should be categorized consistently before the month is closed. Otherwise, the reports may be technically complete but still misleading.

Use the reports to ask better questions

After the review, compare profit, major expenses, receivables, and payables against expectations. Month-end bookkeeping should support analysis, not just produce a stack of numbers.

Related reading includes What a Profit and Loss Statement Tells You About the Business, How to Read a Balance Sheet Without Getting Lost, and How Vendor Spending Analysis Helps Control Costs.