# QuickBooks Online year-end close checklist

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By [Arthur Teboul](/authors/arthur-teboul), Founder, DokuTrak. Published 2026-10-28, updated 2026-10-28.

> **In brief:** A QuickBooks year end checklist lists what to finish in QuickBooks Online before you close the old year, such as December reconciliations and payroll and 1099 totals. The last steps are the tax preparer’s entries and a closing date protected by a password.

## The checklist: QuickBooks Online year-end checklist

Send the first group to the client in December. Work the rest in QuickBooks in order, and set the closing date only after the last group is done.

### Documents to collect first

- [ ] December bank statements: Every account in the chart of accounts, PDF from the bank.
- [ ] December credit card statements: Every card connected or entered in QuickBooks.
- [ ] Year-end loan statements, and Form 1098 if the lender issues one: Interest paid and principal owed. Form 1098 goes only to individual and sole-proprietor borrowers.
- [ ] Signed W-9 for each 1099 vendor missing one: Check name and taxpayer ID against the vendor record.
- [ ] Purchase invoices for asset additions: Date placed in service and price.
- [ ] Annual payroll register from the provider: Only if payroll runs outside QuickBooks.

### Reconcile and review in QuickBooks

- [ ] Reconcile all bank and card accounts through December
- [ ] Tie every Balance Sheet account to a document or schedule
- [ ] Review the A/R Aging Summary and record agreed write-offs
- [ ] Review the A/P Aging Summary and clear stale bills
- [ ] Clear Undeposited Funds or Payments to deposit
- [ ] Post depreciation and asset additions or disposals: Journal entry from the asset register or the CPA schedule.
- [ ] Compare the year’s Profit and Loss with the prior year

### Payroll and 1099s

- [ ] Tie payroll expense and taxes to the annual register: And to the four quarterly Forms 941.
- [ ] Map expense accounts to 1099-NEC and 1099-MISC boxes
- [ ] Apply the 2026 thresholds: $2,000 nonemployee pay and most MISC boxes, $10 royalties, $600 attorney gross proceeds.
- [ ] Calendar the filing dates: W-2, W-3 and 1099-NEC: February 1, 2027. 1099-MISC: recipient copy February 1, 2027; IRS March 1, 2027 on paper, March 31, 2027 electronically.

### Close the year

- [ ] Send the CPA the trial balance and supporting reports
- [ ] Post the CPA’s adjusting entries dated on the last day of the year
- [ ] Turn on Close the books and set the closing date: Settings, Account and settings, Advanced, Accounting.
- [ ] Choose the password option
- [ ] Check opening retained earnings in the new year: It should have moved by last year’s net income.

Download: [PDF](https://dokutrak.com/downloads/pseo-v2/f5-checklists/year-end-close/quickbooks.pdf) · [Word](https://dokutrak.com/downloads/pseo-v2/f5-checklists/year-end-close/quickbooks.docx) · [Excel tracker](https://dokutrak.com/downloads/pseo-v2/f5-checklists/year-end-close/quickbooks.xlsx)

## Documents you need before you touch the closing date

QuickBooks can only be as right as the paper behind it. Before you close anything, collect the year-end documents each balance will be compared against.

The bank feed is not enough on its own. A feed can skip or double a transaction, while the December statement is the bank’s own figure for the last day of the year.

**A closing date** is the cut-off in QuickBooks: on or before it, the company file warns, or asks for a password, when someone tries to change a transaction. Set it last, after every document below has been compared.

| QuickBooks area | Document from the client | What you compare |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Bank and card registers | December bank and card statements | Statement ending balance against the reconciled balance |
| Loan liability accounts | Year-end lender statement, plus Form 1098 for an individual or sole-proprietor borrower ([IRS, Instructions for Form 1098](https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1098)) | Principal owed and interest paid for the year |
| Vendor list and 1099 settings | A signed Form W-9 per contractor | Legal name, tax classification and taxpayer ID |
| Fixed asset accounts | Purchase invoices and bills of sale | Date, price and description of each addition or disposal |
| Payroll expense and liabilities | Annual payroll register from the provider | Gross wages and taxes for the year |

## Reports to run in QuickBooks before you close

Run each report as of the last day of the year and keep a PDF of it with the year’s files. The reports are standard in QuickBooks Online, such as the Balance Sheet and the aging summaries, so the same set works for every client.

**The A/R Aging Summary** is the report that groups unpaid customer invoices by how long they have been open. Go through it with the client, and record a bad debt only for balances the client agrees are lost.

Check the clearing account for payments received but not yet deposited, often named Undeposited Funds or Payments to deposit. A balance left there at year end usually means a deposit was recorded twice, or a payment was never matched.

1. Reconcile every bank and card account through the last day of the year.
2. Run the Balance Sheet and tie each account to a statement or schedule.
3. Run the A/R Aging Summary and agree write-offs with the client.
4. Run the A/P Aging Summary and clear stale bills or credits.
5. Clear the undeposited payments account.
6. Run the Profit and Loss for the year next to the prior year and question the swings.

## Payroll totals and 1099 preparation

Run the payroll summary for the calendar year and set it beside the provider’s annual register. Gross wages and employer taxes should match, and the total of the four quarterly Forms 941 should match both.

Wage forms for 2026 are due to employees and the SSA by February 1, 2027 ([IRS, General Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3 (2026)](https://www.irs.gov/instructions/iw2w3)). If QuickBooks Payroll does not run the client’s payroll, those forms come from the outside provider, and QuickBooks only needs to agree with them.

For contractors, map the expense accounts to the right 1099 box and check that each vendor has a W-9 on file. For tax years beginning after 2025, the floor is $2,000 for nonemployee pay and for most Form 1099-MISC boxes ([IRS, Instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC](https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1099mec)). Royalties are reported at $10 or more, and gross proceeds paid to an attorney at $600 or more ([IRS, Instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC](https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1099mec)).

The [TIN checker](/tools/tin-checker) catches a malformed taxpayer ID before the form goes out.

## Set the closing date in QuickBooks Online

Close only after the tax preparer has posted their adjustments, dated on the last day of the year. Setting the date earlier means reopening it for every late entry.

Intuit’s help puts the setting under Settings, then Account and settings, then the Advanced tab, where you edit the Accounting section and turn on Close the books ([QuickBooks Online Help, Close your books](https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/close-books/close-books-quickbooks-online/L59LelyPM_US_en_US)). You then enter the closing date and pick a security level.

Pick the password option. With a warning only, anyone can click past the message and change the closed year, while the password option makes users enter a password first ([QuickBooks Online Help, Close your books](https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/close-books/close-books-quickbooks-online/L59LelyPM_US_en_US)).

Do not post a manual closing entry. Intuit says QuickBooks Online moves last year’s net income into the retained earnings account when the new fiscal year starts ([QuickBooks Online Help, Close your books](https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/close-books/close-books-quickbooks-online/L59LelyPM_US_en_US)).

## After the year is closed

**The retained earnings account** is where QuickBooks keeps the total of all past years’ income and expenses. On the first day of the new year, open the balance sheet and check that it moved by last year’s net income.

Keep the reconciliation reports, the year-end statements and the 1099 workpapers together. The IRS ties how long to keep them to the period of limitations, which is 3 years in most cases ([IRS Publication 583, Starting a Business and Keeping Records](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p583)).

If someone changes a transaction in the closed year later, compare the new trial balance with the one you sent the preparer. Any difference has to go back to the CPA before the return is filed.

## Questions people ask

### Does QuickBooks Online close the year by itself?

It rolls last year’s net income into retained earnings when the new fiscal year starts ([QuickBooks Online Help, Close your books](https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/close-books/close-books-quickbooks-online/L59LelyPM_US_en_US)). It does not stop edits to the old year: for that you turn on Close the books and set a closing date.

### Where is the closing date in QuickBooks Online?

In Settings, then Account and settings, then the Advanced tab: edit the Accounting section and turn on Close the books ([QuickBooks Online Help, Close your books](https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/close-books/close-books-quickbooks-online/L59LelyPM_US_en_US)). Enter the closing date and choose whether users see a warning or must enter a password.

### Should I set the closing date before the CPA finishes the return?

No. Wait until the preparer’s adjusting entries are posted, so you do not have to unlock the year for them. Until then, keep a copy of the trial balance you sent so you can spot later changes.

### Does this checklist work for QuickBooks Desktop?

The reconciliations, reports and documents are the same. The closing date is set in a different place in Desktop, so check Intuit’s help for the client’s version before you lock the year.

**Not advice.** This page is general information, not tax, legal or HR advice. Rules change: check the cited source and ask your own professional before you rely on it. Last reviewed October 25, 2026.

## Sources

- [IRS, Instructions for Form 1098](https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1098): A lender files Form 1098 for mortgage interest of $600 or more received from an individual, including a sole proprietor; no Form 1098 is filed for interest received from a corporation, partnership, trust or estate.
- [QuickBooks Online Help, Close your books](https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/close-books/close-books-quickbooks-online/L59LelyPM_US_en_US): Close the books is turned on under Settings, Account and settings, Advanced, Accounting; users get a warning or must enter a password; at the new fiscal year, net income moves to retained earnings.
- [IRS, Instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC](https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1099mec): For tax years beginning after 2025 the reporting floor is $2,000; Form 1099-NEC is due January 31, Form 1099-MISC goes to recipients by January 31 and to the IRS by February 28 on paper or March 31 electronically, and a weekend date moves to the next business day. Payments to corporations are generally not reported, except attorneys’ fees and medical payments.
- [IRS, General Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3 (2026)](https://www.irs.gov/instructions/iw2w3): 2026 Forms W-2 and W-3 are due to the SSA by February 1, 2027, on paper or electronically, and employees must get their W-2 by the same date.
- [IRS Publication 583, Starting a Business and Keeping Records](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p583): Asset records must show when and how each asset was acquired and its price, and the period of limitations sets how long records are kept: 3 years in most cases, 6 years when income is underreported by more than 25%.

## More on this topic

- [Year-end close checklist](/checklists/year-end-close)
- [Month-end close checklist](/checklists/month-end-close)
- [TIN checker](/tools/tin-checker)
- [How to collect W-9s from vendors](/blog/collect-w9-from-vendors)

## About the author

Arthur Teboul (Founder, DokuTrak) is building DokuTrak after watching professionals lose hours chasing clients for documents over email. [Arthur Teboul](/authors/arthur-teboul).

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](/contact).

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