Bookkeeping Checklist

Everything a small-business bookkeeper does, from initial setup through the monthly reports every owner should review.

Why this matters

Clean bookkeeping is the foundation of every other financial decision, tax filing, borrowing, valuation, pricing. Skipping steps here creates expensive problems downstream.

The five financial reports every owner should look at monthly: P&L, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow, AR Aging, and AP Aging. If you can't produce these on demand, your bookkeeping isn't caught up.

Owners who look at their financials monthly consistently make better decisions than those who don't. It's not the reports that produce the result, it's the habit of looking.

How to use it

For new businesses: work through the Setup section before recording any transactions.
For ongoing businesses: use the Daily/Weekly and Monthly sections as a recurring task list.
Review the five monthly reports the same day every month.
If any report can't be produced on demand, that's a signal your books aren't current.