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9 Key Monthly Bookkeeping Checklist Items Free Template

accounting checklist

And download and print the list below; it’s a handy guide that will help keep your small business in sound financial shape. At the end of your fiscal year, you will look at this account again to determine what receivables you will need to send to collections or write off for a deduction. At the end of your fiscal year, you will be looking at this account again to determine what receivables you will need to send to collections or write off for a deduction. Streamline and standardize your month-end process with this dedicated workflow.

Reconcile Cash and Receipts

You’ll need to handle payroll withholdings and then report and deposit the payroll taxes, like Social Security, to the appropriate agencies on the required dates. A payroll service provider can do all this to save you time and ensure accuracy at a reasonable cost. Unless you have a very small volume of transactions, it’s better to organize separate files for assorted receipts weekly or as they come in. Most accounting software lets you scan paper receipts and avoid physical files altogether.

Before you sign your return, be sure to review it for accuracy based on your full-year financial reports. If the CRA audits your company and finds any underpayment of taxes, it will come to you, not your accountant, for any additional taxes, penalty, and interest. Just as you reconcile your personal checking account, you need to know that your cash business transaction entries are accurate and that you are working with the correct cash position. Reconciling your cash makes it easier to discover and correct any errors or omissions — either by you or by the bank — in time to correct them.

Should I lease or buy equipment for my business?

accounting checklist

Your clients may receive vendor invoices electronically or by mail, so be thorough differences between debt consolidation and refinancing explained to prevent missing a payment deadline. Note that you may need to make quarterly estimated tax payments if you expect to owe $1,000 or more when filing your annual tax return. The CRA collects income taxes, so be sure to review your year-to-date P&L to see if you owe any estimated taxes for that quarter. If your taxable supplies reach more than $1.5 million you must switch to quarterly reporting, and if they exceed $6 million, you must switch to monthly reporting. So, put on your accounting cap and get ready to dive into the heaviest of heavy financial management.

This task gives you real-time visibility into how much money is coming in and going out of the business, especially when combined with your cash reconciliation data. Doing this daily lets you spot any possible issues early and resolve them promptly. This material has been prepared for informational purposes only, and is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for, tax, legal or accounting advice. You should consult your own tax, legal and accounting advisors before engaging in any transaction.

Compute estimated income tax and make payments

Employees may be entitled to it if they worked more than 40 hours, but it can result in a surprise cost for employers. This task also allows you to monitor labor costs so your clients know whether they’re within budget or need to tweak their scheduling. Follow us online and stay up to date with new feature releases, company updates, and more. Keep up to date with all the new features, updates and bug fixes that are made to the Crunched application from week to week. We provide third-party links as a convenience and for informational purposes only. Intuit does not endorse or approve these products and services, or the opinions of these corporations or organizations or individuals.

  1. Plus, familiarise yourself with the Making Tax Digital (MTD) government initiative to streamline the tax process.
  2. If you do not write down unsellable inventory, you are overstating your inventory balance and paying additional taxes that you don’t owe.
  3. That’s because you need to file quarterly payroll reports with the IRS and the state where the client operates.
  4. This process ensures the impact of such a transaction reflects on financial statements, such as the balance sheet, cash flow statement, and income statement.
  5. Carefully categorize business expenses and liabilities at the end of every month and record all sources of income, including past due invoices.

You’ll want to gather and record all your transactions, usually weekly, but you can do this daily or bi-weekly, depending on your volume. This includes recording revenue such gross income definition as product sales and expenses like purchasing supplies. Over 300 accounting and bookkeeping workflow templates, ready for you to download or add to your Karbon account. An accounting practice management tool with an email integration and client management features will help streamline this communication and reduce the client chase. You can automate your workflows and your client communication, plus easily collaborate with colleagues in a unified location.

Make business phone plans sure to keep an eye on the payment terms that each of your customers requested. Set a specific time aside to enter these invoices into your accounting software so they are easily accessible when it comes time to pay them. By having all of your bills entered into your accounting software on a regular basis you’ll have a clear snapshot of you financial position week to week. Before you cut any checks or plan to outlay cash for new or longer-term expenses, check your cash balance.

When work is piling up, it can be tempting to put off these day-to-day projects. However, these daily accounting tasks keep you organized, ensure your reporting remains accurate, and make audits much easier. Crunched accounting software can automate the financial management process, and make it easy to manage your books all year long. Check out the below infographic for the step-by-step process, and download the list to print and keep on your desk for easy reference. This can be as simple as a statement showing your current cash position, expected upcoming cash receipts, and expected cash payments for this period.

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