Month-end

Closing a month#

Month-End

AccountsMonth-End

Month-End

Everything to finish before a month is complete and ready for your accountant.

September 2026

4 items left before September 2026 is complete.

Statements

Each card and bank account's statement covering September, reviewed. Reconciled when its lines take the opening balance to the closing one.

• Checking

  September 2026 Checking · Sep 1 – Sep 30

  ReconciledIn

• Business Card

  September 2026 Business Card · Sep 1 – Sep 30

  Waiting for review

Statements Waiting for Review

Imported but not yet reviewed, from any month. Nothing on them is in your books until you approve them.

September 2026 Business Card

Statement Lines to Explain

Lines on approved statements that aren't an expense, a transfer or anything else yet. Say what each one was on its statement.

Sep 18ZELLE FROM M OKAFOR$450.00 in

Money Received Not in an Account

Payments and deposits in the month with no account picked. Until you pick one they wait in Undeposited funds.

Sep 24INV-1041 · Larkspur Dental$1,875.00

Paid with No Account Recorded

Money out in the month with no account it came from. Pick the card or bank account so it matches your statements.

Everything paid in September has its account.

Subscription Charges Expected but Not Recorded

What your subscriptions should have charged this month with no charge recorded. They aren't in your reports until the charge is.

Nothing expected is missing.

Step 1 of 6PauseStart over

1. 1Month-End opens on the month just ended. The note at the top says how many items are left.
2. 2Statements: each card and bank account needs its statement for the month. Open one that's waiting for review.
3. 3Type the balances printed on the statement. Ties out means every line is here. Then approve it.
4. 4A line nobody has explained yet? Click it, and say what it was on its statement.
5. 5Money received with no account waits in Undeposited funds. On its invoice, pick the account it went into.
6. 6When every card has its check, the month is complete and ready for your accountant.

Month-End is a tab on Accounts. It opens on the month just ended, and lists everything left before that month's books are complete. Each card shows a check when it's done and a warning while it isn't; each item links to the place it's fixed.

1. Read the note at the top: how many items are left, or that the month is complete. A month still under way says it isn't over yet, and counts what needs attention so far.
2. Work down the cards. Click an item to go where it's fixed: a statement to review, a line to explain, an invoice or an expense missing its account.
3. Come back to Month-End. Each card ticks as its last item is done.

The arrows beside the month's name step to the month before or after, up to this month. Your business might call clients something else; the words can be changed in Terms and features, and the checklist works the same.

What each card checks#

• Statements: each card and bank account's statement covering the month, reviewed. An account shows In when it's covered, Waiting for review while its statement hasn't been approved, Covers through a date when the statements stop more than five days before the month ends, or Missing with Upload a statement. An account whose opening balance is dated after the month isn't asked for one.
• Statements Waiting for Review: statements brought in but not yet approved, from any month. Nothing on them is in your books until you approve them.
• Statement Lines to Explain: lines on approved statements that aren't an expense, a transfer between your accounts, something already recorded or personal, or a line the bank took back, and haven't been explained (as a client payment, say, other income, or money between you and the business). Click one to open it on its statement and say what it was.
• Money Received Not in an Account: client payments, retainer deposits, other income (interest, a sale without an invoice) and money you put in or lent, during the month, with no account picked. Other income opens on Income to pick one. Until you pick one they wait in Undeposited funds.
• Paid with No Account Recorded: expenses, owner draws or distributions, tax payments, equipment and money repaid to you, with no card or bank account they came from. Each is named for how your business files: a C corporation's tax payment reads Federal income tax or State income tax, anyone else's Owner's federal estimated tax or Owner's state estimated tax; owner money as on Owner. Expenses you paid personally and mileage aren't asked for one.
• Payroll, once you've set a pay schedule in Settings → Payroll: each pay date in the month, up to today, with no payroll recorded within three days of it, as No payroll recorded for Oct 15.
• Subscription Charges Expected but Not Recorded: what your subscriptions should have charged in the month, with no charge recorded. They aren't in your reports until the charge is.
• Filed Under Other: expenses with no category of their own. Worth a look, but they don't keep the month from being complete.

When your business is on accrual (see Cash or accrual), Month-End also lists Bills dated this month and Invoices sent this month. On accrual those are the month's costs and income, paid or not, so check them against the bills you received and the work you did: a bill not yet entered is a cost the month is missing.

Reconciling a statement#

Reconciliation is checking that your books and the bank agree: that the lines on a statement take its opening balance to its closing one, so nothing is missing or counted twice.

1. On the statement, enter the Opening balance and Closing balance it shows (on a card, the Previous balance and New balance). Last statement's closing balance is offered as the opening one, with Use it.
2. Ties out means the lines add up exactly. Off by an amount means a line may be missing or doubled: compare the statement with the list before approving.
3. Approve the statement.

An account is Reconciled for the month when its statements are approved and every one ties out. On Month-End, an approved statement shows Off by when it doesn't, or No balances to check against when its balances were never entered. See Reviewing and approving for the rest of the statement page.

When the month is complete#

When every card shows its check and the month has ended, the note says the month is complete: every statement is in and every line is accounted for. That's a good time to send it to your accountant.

Month-End only shows what's left. It doesn't lock the month or change anything in your books, so a month can still be corrected later, and the checklist will show anything that comes undone.

Why it matters#

• Your reports are only as complete as what's recorded. A statement not yet brought in can mean costs the reports don't know about; see Reports and taxes.
• Bank balances in the General Ledger include a payment only once it's in an account. Picking the account for each one makes your books match your statements.
• A month at a time is easier than a whole year of statements at tax time, while each one is still fresh.