Bookkeeping in Practice: monthly close and reconciliations

01

The monthly close checklist

In simple words

Before this course: Bookkeeping Basics for Small Business (course 2.13). You learned the accounting equation, a simple system and a one-hour monthly routine. Think of closing the month like cleaning your room before the next week starts: you do the same steps in the same order, so nothing is left under the bed.

Key facts

Before this course: Bookkeeping Basics for Small Business (course 2.13). This course assumes you already have a separate business account, a spreadsheet or software with categories, and know the accounting equation.
A monthly close means finishing all your bookkeeping for one month so the numbers for that month are final and can be trusted.
The order matters. A simple close has seven steps:

Collect: bank and card statements, receipts, invoices.
Enter and categorise every transaction.
Match each expense to a receipt and each sale to an invoice or deposit.
Reconcile each bank and card account.
Record what is owed to you and what you owe.
Record sales tax (GST/HST in Canada), if you are registered.
Prepare the P&L and cash summary, then lock the month.

Do the close within the first 5 to 10 days of the next month, while receipts are easy to find.
Lock the month. After you close it, do not change old rows. Record corrections in the current month with a note.

Step by step

Create a sheet called "Close checklist" with the seven steps above in order.
Add columns: Done (Y/N), Date done, Notes.
Put a repeating calendar event on day 5 of every month: "Close last month (90 minutes)."
When the day comes, gather statements and receipts first.
Work down the checklist in order. Tick each step only when finished.
When all seven are ticked, save a copy of the month's file and write "Locked" with the date.
Check: every step is ticked, and you can show someone the month's numbers in under a minute.

Watch on YouTube

Month-end bookkeeping checklist for QuickBooks Online (small business)My Cloud Bookkeeping · YouTube · youtube.com

Videos by other creators on YouTube, for reference. They are not made by or affiliated with The Future Market.

LESSON 01The monthly close checklist

LESSON 01 / ANIMATED LESSON / AI VOICE00:00 / 01:00

Voice

Read the video script

[Host] "A monthly close is the same short list, in the same order, every month."
[Text on screen: Collect. Enter. Match. Reconcile.] "Collect your papers, enter and categorise, match receipts, reconcile the bank."
[Text on screen: Owed. Tax. Reports. Lock.] "Then record what is owed, record tax, make your reports and lock the month."
[Host] "Do it in the first week of the next month, while everything is still fresh."

Try it now

Build the close checklist sheet and schedule your first close on day 5 of next month.

ClaudeStuck? Copy a ready-made prompt for Claude

Copy this, open Claude, paste it, and Claude will walk you through the lesson step by step.

For a grown-up: Claude is for adults (18+). Copy this, paste it into Claude, and use the answer to explain the lesson to your child.

I'm learning "Bookkeeping in Practice: monthly close and reconciliations" on The Future Market. Lesson 1: "The monthly close checklist".

What the lesson teaches:
- Before this course: Bookkeeping Basics for Small Business (course 2.13). This course assumes you already have a separate business account, a spreadsheet or software with categories, and know the accounting equation.
- A monthly close means finishing all your bookkeeping for one month so the numbers for that month are final and can be trusted.
- The order matters. A simple close has seven steps:
- Do the close within the first 5 to 10 days of the next month, while receipts are easy to find.
- Lock the month. After you close it, do not change old rows. Record corrections in the current month with a note.

The exercise I'm working on:
Build the close checklist sheet and schedule your first close on day 5 of next month. ---

I'm stuck. Please:
1. Explain the main idea in plain, simple words with one everyday example.
2. Walk me through the exercise one small step at a time. Ask me what I've done so far before giving the next step.
3. Don't just give me the final answer. Help me do it myself, and check my work when I share it.

I'm a parent helping my child (about 8 years old) with a lesson called "The monthly close checklist" from the course "Bookkeeping in Practice: monthly close and reconciliations".

Here's what the lesson says:
Before this course: Bookkeeping Basics for Small Business (course 2.13). You learned the accounting equation, a simple system and a one-hour monthly routine. Think of closing the month like cleaning your room before the next week starts: you do the same steps in the same order, so nothing is left under the bed.

The activity:
Build the close checklist sheet and schedule your first close on day 5 of next month. ---

Please explain this so an 8-year-old understands: short sentences, a fun everyday example, and no hard words.
Then give me 3 simple questions I can ask my child to check they understood, and a way to do the activity together, one tiny step at a time.

Open Claude

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