Free Month-End Close Checklist for Accounting Firms
This month-end close checklist runs from cut-off through reconciliations, accruals, review and the client report pack, with a target business day for each step. It is built for firms closing many clients at once rather than a single company.
This month-end close checklist runs from cut-off through reconciliations, accruals, review and the client report pack, with a target business day for each step. It is built for firms closing many clients at once rather than a single company.
Last updated: September 2026
What is included in this template?
- A day-by-day close calendar keyed to business days
- Reconciliation steps for bank, credit card, payroll and balance sheet accounts
- Accruals, prepayments and recurring journals
- A reviewer checklist with sign-off
- The client reporting pack and delivery step
- A close quality log for recurring issues
When should you use it?
- Every month, for every recurring bookkeeping or CAS client.
- When close dates keep slipping and nobody can say which step is late.
- When onboarding a new bookkeeper, as the training document.
Section-by-section explanation
What each part is for, and the mistakes that show up most often when it is written badly.
Cut-off discipline
The close starts with the client, not the ledger. If source documents arrive on business day 8, no internal improvement will produce a business day 10 close.
Reconcile before review
Reviewers should not be finding unreconciled accounts. Make reconciliation an exit criterion for the preparation stage.
Standing journals
Depreciation, prepayments, accruals and loan splits repeat every month. Keep them as a fixed list so they are posted, not remembered.
Review with a checklist
A named reviewer with a written list produces a consistent close. A reviewer with judgment alone produces a different close every month.
Quality log
Note what went wrong each month. Three months of the same note is a client conversation or a process change, not bad luck.
The full template
The complete text is below so you can read it before downloading. Replace everything in square brackets with your own details.
MONTH-END CLOSE CHECKLIST Client: [CLIENT NAME] Period: [MONTH YEAR] Preparer: [NAME] Reviewer: [NAME] Target close: business day [NUMBER] BUSINESS DAY 1-2 — CUT-OFF AND COLLECTION [ ] Automated document request sent to client [ ] Bank statements received: [LIST ACCOUNTS] [ ] Credit card statements received: [LIST ACCOUNTS] [ ] Payroll reports received for the period [ ] Sales and merchant reports received [ ] Loan and lease statements received [ ] Client queries from last month confirmed as resolved [ ] Missing items chased; escalation date set BUSINESS DAY 3-5 — TRANSACTION PROCESSING [ ] All bank feed transactions coded [ ] All credit card transactions coded [ ] Uncategorized and suspense accounts cleared to zero [ ] Accounts payable entered and aged [ ] Accounts receivable entered and aged [ ] Intercompany transactions matched, where applicable [ ] Owner draws and contributions coded correctly BUSINESS DAY 5-7 — RECONCILIATIONS [ ] Bank accounts reconciled: [LIST] [ ] Credit card accounts reconciled: [LIST] [ ] Merchant and payment processor accounts reconciled [ ] Payroll liabilities agreed to payroll reports [ ] Sales tax liability agreed to filings [ ] Loan balances agreed to lender statements [ ] Fixed asset register agreed to the ledger [ ] Inventory agreed to count or system report, where applicable BUSINESS DAY 6-8 — ADJUSTMENTS [ ] Depreciation and amortization posted [ ] Prepaid expenses amortized [ ] Accrued expenses posted [ ] Deferred revenue adjusted [ ] Loan payments split between principal and interest [ ] Recurring standing journals posted: [LIST] [ ] Prior-period corrections documented BUSINESS DAY 8-9 — REVIEW [ ] Balance sheet reviewed account by account, with support for every balance [ ] Income statement compared to prior month and prior year; variances over [PERCENTAGE]% explained [ ] Gross margin reviewed for plausibility [ ] Negative balances and unusual accounts investigated [ ] Cash reconciles to the bank without unexplained items [ ] Open queries documented for the client [ ] Reviewer sign-off: ______________ Date: ________ BUSINESS DAY 9-10 — REPORTING AND DELIVERY [ ] Financial statement package prepared: balance sheet, income statement, [OTHER] [ ] Comparatives and KPIs included [ ] Commentary written on material movements [ ] Package delivered to client via the portal [ ] Review meeting scheduled, where in scope [ ] Next period's request list scheduled CLOSE QUALITY LOG Days late (if any): ______ Cause: ______________________ Client-side delays: __________________________________ Recurring issues to address: _________________________ Action for next month: _______________________________ (Three months of the same entry means a process change or a client conversation.)
Download the editable copy
Enter your work email and the plain-text file downloads straight away. Have your own counsel review any engagement or disengagement letter before you send it to a client.
How Remindoo automates this
A template is a document. The reason firms still miss the thing the document describes is that nobody owns the follow-up. This is where software helps.
- Create the close as a recurring job per client, so every period generates the same checklist with the same owners.
- Send the cut-off document request automatically on business day 1 with a reminder cadence.
- Track close status across all clients in one view instead of a shared spreadsheet.
- Record days-late per client so pricing conversations rest on a pattern rather than a recent bad month.
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Frequently asked questions
What should a month-end close checklist include?
Cut-off and document collection, transaction processing, reconciliations for bank, card, payroll and balance sheet accounts, standing journals and accruals, a reviewer checklist with sign-off, and the client reporting pack with delivery.
How many business days should a close take?
Set a target, publish it, and measure against it. The right number depends on client complexity and when source documents arrive. What matters most is that the target exists and that late closes are logged with a cause.
Why do month-end closes slip?
Usually client-side: statements and payroll data arrive late. That is why the checklist begins at cut-off and why the request on business day 1 should be automatic rather than dependent on someone remembering.
Should the same person prepare and review the close?
Ideally no. A second pair of eyes catches coding drift and balance sheet items that stop being supported. Where the team is too small, review a rotating sample of clients in depth rather than reviewing nothing.
Stop maintaining templates by hand
Remindoo turns documents like this into recurring work with owners, internal due dates and automatic client follow-up. Per client, unlimited users.