Monthly Bookkeeping Checklist

A month end close is a fixed list of work, and this page puts the list on paper: eight write-in tasks with a done circle and a date each, then a second page with a reconciled box, quick totals and a carry-over box. Free, two pages, print tonight, no software needed.

How to use this page: print at 100% scale (site chrome drops out on paper). Page one is the checklist: work top to bottom, circle Done and write the date as each task finishes, and use the notes column when something needs explaining. Page two closes the file: fill in the reconciled box, copy the month's income, expense and net totals, then list what carries over. Print a fresh pair for each month.

Page one: the close checklist, 8 rows

Eight tasks close an ordinary small-business month, listed in the order the work happens: everything entered first, then the balances matched, then the totals written, then the invoices sorted and the paper filed. The order matters because each task reads the output of the one above it. You cannot match a statement against entries still sitting in a shoebox, and totals built on unmatched balances get built twice.

Matchbook Labs · free printable

Month end close checklist

Month:   Business:

TaskDoneDate doneNotes
Enter every transaction from the monthdone
Match the bank statement balancedone
Match the credit card balancedone
Total income for the monthdone
Total expenses by categorydone
Check every invoice status: draft, sent, paid, overduedone
Follow up on overdue invoicesdone
File receipts, statements and this checklistdone
notes column: what needs explaining, what was reconciled, what to look at again next month

Fits A4 and US Letter at 100%. Grayscale prints fine.

Page two: reconciled box, quick totals, carry-over

Page two is where the close lands. The reconciled box records the two matchings with the date they happened and the balance you matched to, so next month starts from a written number instead of a memory. The quick totals box holds the same three numbers the spreadsheet rolls up by itself, income, expense and net, copied by hand as a cross-check. The carry-over box catches whatever the month left open: an unpaid invoice, a receipt that never showed, a subscription to cancel.

Matchbook Labs · free printable

Close notes

Month:

Reconciled

Bank: matched on   ending balance

Card: matched on   ending balance

Quick totals (from the checklist)

LineTotal
Income
Expenses
Net

Carry-over to next month

Item:   where it stands:

Item:   where it stands:

Item:   where it stands:

Four opinions on closing the month

Opinions from building record-keeping pages like this one. Take or leave:

  1. Close on the same day every month. Pick one day and keep it. A close that happens on a schedule is half an hour of writing; a close that waits for a free afternoon can wait a long time.
  2. Match the balances before you total anything. A total written against an unmatched balance gets written again later. Match first, total second, and each number gets written once.
  3. Write the date you finished the task, not just the month. A checklist where every row shows the same date tells you nothing three months later. Real dates show which tasks run long and which take a minute.
  4. Keep overdue invoices on the list until they are paid. An invoice followed up from memory gets followed up once. An invoice sitting in row seven gets followed up every month until it clears.

What this page is

A record-keeping and organization page. It gives the end of a month a fixed, checkable shape so a small business owner can finish the month on paper. The tasks are generic bookkeeping steps. Nothing here is tax advice, nothing here is financial advice, and no number on these pages means anything beyond what you wrote in. Tax rules differ by country and situation; confirm anything tax-related with your accountant or your tax authority.

Get the Small Business Bookkeeping Spreadsheet - 4 sheets, Google Sheets + Excel →

The spreadsheet version of this checklist: transactions log, monthly cash flow summary, invoice tracker, tax-prep worksheet, plus 10-minute setup instructions. Formulas total the rows as you type. Instant download.