Bookkeeping checklist: daily, weekly, monthly and yearly tasks

Bookkeeping is easier to keep up than to catch up. The trick is to give each job a rhythm and to tie it to the paper that proves it, so nothing waits for a quiet week that never comes.

The table below sorts the work by cadence. The third column is the part most task lists skip: who has the record. When the answer is the client, the request belongs on your calendar, not in your head.

Daily work is small but steady. Record what came in, attach proof to what went out, and leave nothing in a pile. IRS Publication 583 lists the papers that prove gross receipts, such as cash register tapes, bank deposit slips, receipt books and invoices (IRS Publication 583, Starting a Business and Keeping Records).

For purchases and costs, the same publication names canceled checks, account statements, credit card sales slips and invoices as support (IRS Publication 583, Starting a Business and Keeping Records). So a card charge without a receipt is a gap, even when the bank feed shows the amount.

Once a week, clear the uncategorized queue. An uncategorized transaction is a line the software could not code on its own, such as a transfer, a cash withdrawal or a new payee. Batch your questions into one weekly message instead of a drip of single emails.

• Code every bank and card line from the past week; park unknowns in one list for the client.
• Enter vendor bills as they arrive, with the due date, so cash planning stays honest.
• Send this week’s customer invoices and follow up on anything past its terms.
• Look at the cash balance against payroll and bills due in the next two weeks.

The monthly block is where the books get proven. IRS Publication 583 tells a business to make sure the bank statement, the checkbook and the books agree when the statement arrives (IRS Publication 583, Starting a Business and Keeping Records). A bookkeeper applies that to every account with an outside statement: checking, savings, cards and loans.

Ask for the statements on the first business day of the month. If you want the full sequence of the close itself, follow the month-end close checklist, which breaks the reconciliation and review into steps.

This is also the moment to collect a Form W-9 from any new vendor paid for services. Form W-9 is the form a payee uses to give its correct taxpayer identification number to the business that must file an information return about it (IRS, About Form W-9). Collecting it in the month of the first payment is far easier than in January.

1. Request bank, card and loan statements for the month from the client.
2. Reconcile each account to its statement and save the report.
3. Review receivables and payables agings for stale or duplicate items.
4. Post accruals and prepaid amortization if the client reports on the accrual basis.
5. Produce the profit and loss and balance sheet, then send the open questions.

Each quarter, confirm that payroll returns went out. Form 941 is due by the last day of the month after the quarter ends: April 30, July 31, October 31 and January 31 (IRS Publication 15 (Circular E), Employer’s Tax Guide). If a provider files it, ask for the filed copy and keep it in the client folder.

Quarterly is also when owners forget estimated tax payments and state sales tax returns. A short reminder from you, with the figures from the books, is often the most useful thing you send all quarter.

Once a year, close the books and hand the CPA a clean package. A year-end package is the set of reports, reconciliations, fixed asset additions and contractor totals the tax preparer needs to file the business return. The year-end close checklist lists what goes in it.

Good bookkeeping is also good filing. The IRS says to keep records for 3 years in most cases (IRS, How long should I keep records?). Employment tax records stay for at least 4 years after the tax is due or paid, whichever is later (IRS, How long should I keep records?).

Some cases run longer. Keep records for 7 years if a return claims a loss from worthless securities or a bad debt deduction (IRS, How long should I keep records?). Records tied to property stay until the period of limitations ends for the year you sell or dispose of it (IRS, How long should I keep records?).

Client files hold bank account numbers and Social Security numbers, so treat storage as a security task too. The guide to IRS Publication 4557 covers how tax and accounting practices are expected to protect that data.

An outside bookkeeper depends on the client for most of the source paper. Write the hand-offs down once, agree on the dates, and send the same request each period. Clients follow a routine far better than a series of reminders.

A standing request is a document request that repeats on a fixed date, such as statements every month or payroll registers every pay date. It turns the client’s part of the checklist into a habit rather than a favor.

• Every month: bank, credit card and loan statements, plus receipts not yet uploaded.
• Every pay date: the payroll register from the provider.
• When it happens: new loan papers, leases, equipment invoices and Form W-9 for new vendors.
• Every quarter: copies of filed payroll and sales tax returns.
• Every year: year-end statements, the lender’s interest statement for each loan and any notices from tax agencies.

• IRS Publication 583, Starting a Business and Keeping Records: Names the supporting documents for gross receipts and expenses, and says to make sure the bank statement, checkbook and books agree.
• IRS, How long should I keep records?: Keep records 3 years in most cases, 7 years for worthless securities or bad debt claims, employment tax records at least 4 years, property records until the limitations period ends.
• IRS Publication 15 (Circular E), Employer’s Tax Guide: Form 941 is due by the last day of the month after the quarter: April 30, July 31, October 31 and January 31.
• IRS, About Form W-9: Form W-9 is used to give a correct taxpayer identification number to the person who must file an information return.