Month-end close in QuickBooks Online: steps, reports and the closing date
By Arthur Teboul, DokuTrak · Published
In brief
A QuickBooks month end close means reconciling every bank and card account against the client’s statements, clearing holding accounts, posting adjusting entries, reviewing the reports, then setting the closing date in Account and settings. QuickBooks Online locks with a single closing date, which you move forward after each month.
The checklist: QuickBooks Online month-end close checklist
One copy per client per month. Each line names the QuickBooks screen or report and, where it needs one, the client document it is checked against.
- PDFPrint it or tick it off on screen.Free, no email
- WordEdit it and send it under your name.Free, with your email
- Excel trackerOne row per item, with a status column.Free, with your email
Ask the client for these first
- Bank statements for every account in the fileFull month, PDF from the bank. Needed for the Reconcile screen.
- Credit card statements for every card in the fileStatement closing date and balance go into Reconcile.
- Loan and line of credit statementsPrincipal balance to compare with the Balance Sheet.
- Receipts for uncategorized card chargesSend the client the list from the review queue.
- Vendor bills received but not enteredEntered before the payables aging is checked.
Banking and reconciliation
- Clear the bank transactions review queue for every accountCategorize or match each line through the last day of the month.
- Reconcile each bank accountAll apps > Accounting > Reconcile (older layouts: Settings gear > Reconcile); ending date and balance from the statement; difference zero.
- Reconcile each credit card accountUse the card statement closing date, not the payment date.
- Compare each loan balance with the lender statementJournal entry for any interest or principal difference.
- Clear the deposit queue and undeposited fundsEach payment should match a bank deposit.
Receivables, payables, payroll and adjustments
- Run the receivables aging summary and tie it to the Balance SheetList invoices past ninety days for the client.
- Run the payables aging summary and tie it to the Balance SheetReports > Standard reports.
- Post payroll journals if payroll runs outside QuickBooksFrom the provider’s payroll register, one entry per pay date.
- Post accruals as reversing journal entriesExpenses incurred but not yet billed.
- Post prepaid amortization and depreciationRecurring transactions for fixed monthly amounts.
- Compare the sales tax liability with the return for the period
Review and close
- Empty uncategorized income, uncategorized expense and Ask My Accountant
- Run Profit and Loss by month and a Balance Sheet comparisonQuestion swings with the client.
- Move the closing date to the last day of the monthSettings > Account and settings > Advanced > Accounting > Close the books.
- Choose warning plus password if the client edits the file
- File the reconciliation reports with the client statementsReconcile > History by account. One folder per client per month.
- Check that no earlier reconciled month changedOpening balance on the Reconcile screen equals last month’s statement ending balance.
- QuickBooks Desktop only: run the Closing Date Exception ReportReports > Accountant & Taxes, at the start of the next close.
The report and the client document behind each step
QuickBooks shows you what is in the books. It cannot show what is missing, so each step pairs a QuickBooks screen or report with an outside document from the client.
| Step | Where in QuickBooks | Checked against |
|---|---|---|
| Bank reconciliation | Reconcile screen, then the saved reconciliation report | The client’s bank statement for the month |
| Credit card reconciliation | Reconcile screen for the card account | The card issuer’s statement |
| Loan balances | Balance Sheet report, loan account line | The lender’s statement |
| Deposits | Undeposited funds account and the deposit queue | Processor payout reports and bank deposits |
| Receivables | Accounts receivable aging summary | Customer invoices and remittances |
| Payables | Accounts payable aging summary | Vendor bills and vendor statements |
Reconcile bank and card accounts from the statement
Before reconciling, open the bank transactions screen and clear the review queue for each connected account. Every downloaded line should be categorized or matched through the last day of the month.
The statement ending balance is the figure printed on the bank’s statement for the last day of the period, and it is the number you type into the Reconcile screen. It must come from the client’s statement, not from the feed, because the reconciliation exists to test the feed.
Intuit’s current steps open the screen from All apps, then Accounting, then Reconcile, and older layouts still reach it through the Settings gear (QuickBooks Online Help, Reconcile an account in QuickBooks Online). When you finish, QuickBooks saves a reconciliation report, listed under History by account on the Reconcile page (QuickBooks Online Help, Reconcile an account in QuickBooks Online).
The IRS lists account statements, invoices and canceled checks among the documents that support business expenses (IRS Publication 583, Starting a Business and Keeping Records). Save the reconciliation report next to the statement it was built from.
- Open Reconcile (All apps > Accounting > Reconcile; in older layouts, Settings gear > Reconcile) and pick the account.
- Enter the statement ending date and ending balance from the client’s statement.
- Tick the cleared items until the difference is zero.
- Save and keep the reconciliation report with the statement.
- Repeat for each card account, using the card statement’s closing date and balance.
Clear the holding accounts
Intuit’s year-end guide tells you to clear outstanding deposits from the deposit queue and check undeposited funds for leftover payments, and notes that undeposited funds count in income (QuickBooks Online Help, Year-end guide for QuickBooks Online). Do that check every month, not only in December, so an old payment never sits there unnoticed.
Then look at any uncategorized income or uncategorized expense balance, and at catch-all accounts such as Ask My Accountant. Each should be empty before you close. The lines left there are usually the questions to send the client, such as a transfer with no memo or a card charge with no receipt.
Post the adjusting entries
Adjusting entries go in through a journal entry. Use a reversing entry for accruals so the estimate drops out when the real bill arrives, and a recurring transaction for fixed monthly amounts such as depreciation or a prepaid insurance charge.
If payroll runs outside QuickBooks Payroll, post one journal per pay date from the provider’s payroll register. Then compare the payroll liability accounts with the provider’s tax liability report. The entries themselves are listed in month-end accruals.
For reports, the year-end guide points to Reports, then Standard reports, for the payables aging summary or detail (QuickBooks Online Help, Year-end guide for QuickBooks Online). Run the receivables aging from the same list and compare each total with the matching balance sheet line.
Set and move the closing date
A closing date is the date on or before which QuickBooks stops ordinary edits. To set it, open Settings, choose Account and settings, go to Advanced, edit the Accounting section and turn on Close the books (QuickBooks Online Help, Close your books in QuickBooks Online).
You choose between allowing changes after a warning, or after a warning and a password (QuickBooks Online Help, Close your books in QuickBooks Online). The password option is the safer pick when the client also works in the file.
Once it is set, transactions before the closing date cannot be edited without going through that warning (QuickBooks Online Help, Close your books in QuickBooks Online). QuickBooks Online has one closing date for the whole file, not a lock per month, so each month you move it forward to the last day of the month you just closed.
What is different in QuickBooks Desktop
Desktop also uses a closing date and password. On top of that, the Closing Date Exception Report is a list of changes made after the closing date to transactions dated on or before it (QuickBooks Desktop Help, Close your books in QuickBooks Desktop).
Intuit says to run it from Reports, then Accountant & Taxes (QuickBooks Desktop Help, Close your books in QuickBooks Desktop). Run it at the start of each close to catch edits to the month you already locked.
Questions people ask
Can QuickBooks Online close a single month?
Not as a separate lock. QuickBooks Online has one closing date for the company file, so you close a month by moving that date to its last day once the month is reconciled and reviewed.
Which QuickBooks reports should I run at month-end?
Run the reconciliation report for each bank and card account, the receivables and payables aging summaries, the Balance Sheet and the Profit and Loss by month. Compare each aging total with the balance sheet line it belongs to.
What happens to transactions dated before the closing date?
They cannot be changed without passing the warning, or the warning and password, that you chose when you set the closing date (QuickBooks Online Help, Close your books in QuickBooks Online).
Is there a QuickBooks month-end close checklist PDF?
Yes. The checklist on this page downloads as PDF, Word or Excel, with the QuickBooks screen and the client document for each step.
Sources
- QuickBooks Online Help, Close your books in QuickBooks Online: Close the books from Account and settings, Advanced, Accounting; choose a warning or a warning and password; transactions before the closing date cannot be edited.
- QuickBooks Online Help, Reconcile an account in QuickBooks Online: Go to All apps, then Accounting, then Reconcile; enter the ending balance and date from the statement; after finishing, the reconciliation report is under History by account.
- QuickBooks Online Help, Year-end guide for QuickBooks Online: Clear deposits from the deposit queue, check undeposited funds, and run the payables aging summary from Reports, Standard reports.
- QuickBooks Desktop Help, Close your books in QuickBooks Desktop: The Closing Date Exception Report, under Reports, Accountant & Taxes, lists changes made after the closing date to transactions dated on or before it.
- IRS Publication 583, Starting a Business and Keeping Records: Documents that support business expenses include canceled checks, account statements, credit card slips and invoices.
About the author
Arthur Teboul (Founder, DokuTrak) is building DokuTrak after watching professionals lose hours chasing clients for documents over email. Arthur Teboul.
Editorial standards
How this page was made (methodology): it is built from the primary sources listed under Sources, and every rule and figure on it links to the source it comes from. Last updated October 25, 2026. Spotted an error or a rule that changed? Contact us.
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