#045 Effectively successfully close the month in QuickBooks Online ®

The end of the month sometimes seems to come too quickly. There is so much information to record and validate to ensure everything is in order for the end of the month. And so move forward. Did you achieve your sales goals? Have all the projects delivered been invoiced? Have you paid all your accounts?

And above all, is everything in order in your accounting system to close the month? This last aspect seems less tangible than the others. But maintaining your accounting is just as important for avoiding surprises as it is for planning for the future. So it’s a matter of doing this for your closing of the month.

Easy to implement checklist

Here is a brief checklist to help you complete this task as efficiently as possible.

1. Issue all invoices to customers for the month. At month end, make sure you select your desired payment terms and that invoices are dated correctly. This will help you detect overdue accounts that may need follow-ups. Use tools like Rotessa to automate the collection of customer accounts.
2. Enter all vendor invoices into QuickBooks . The default date for new entries is often the current date or the date of the last entry. Within your Quickbooks software, it is interesting to ensure that the date displayed on the invoice to be paid is indeed the date entered. This will help you avoid late payments and potential related interest charges.
3. Pay the appropriate accounts payable . This allows you to have a good relationship with your suppliers and sometimes, to benefit from discounts.
4. Perform accounts payable reconciliation . Accounts payable reconciliation is a good means of internal control. It allows you to reveal duplicate payments, merchandise received but not invoiced, credit note reporting, etc. Good reconciliation can therefore prevent loss of funds by resolving discrepancies quickly. Use payment tools such as Plooto, RBC Edge, etc. to make your payments. You can therefore automatically update your supplier accounts.
5. Reconcile your bank accounts . Go to the "Banking" section, and match the transactions that appear for each bank account (including debit, savings and credit card accounts). Take note of transactions that you are unable to categorize or match so you can seek help from your accountant.
6. Reconcile your inventory . Make sure the “Inventory Assets” accounts in QuickBooks reflect the value of physical inventory (on the floor), or the information contained in your inventory system is accurate. We recommend using cloud tools such as SOS Inventory or ER Plain to manage your inventory. This will make it easier for you to close the month.
7. Perform any other reconciliations. Certain asset and liability accounts can be tracked outside of the QuickBooks platform (e.g.: prepaid expenses, accrued expenses, deferred rent, etc.) and must be validated.
8. Produce your reports and financial statements. Go to the “Reports” section, and produce the desired reports, including income statement, balance sheet, cash flow statement. Verify that the figures shown appear correct and resolve any apparent discrepancies.
9. Close the month in QuickBooks ( Cogwheel, Accounts & Settings, Advanced Options, Accounting (first section), Close Books , that is, insert the date, your password and click Save). It is important to do this. This will ensure that no other transactions (eg invoices) can be accidentally entered into a previous closed period without a warning being displayed. It is also possible to select an option so that anyone trying to enter a transaction in a hard period must enter their password.
10. Distribute reports. Submit the various reports to the relevant people within the company. The necessary follow-ups must be carried out. For example, the report on the aging balances of accounts payable should be given to a person who will be responsible for reminding customers whose payment is late.

There you are, you have updated, reviewed and shared your accounting information to better close the month. You are now ready to move forward knowing that everything is in order behind you.

Questions? Contact a member of the 6DT team.