A 5-step, 30-minute routine at the end of every month that keeps your books current and your CPA happy.
Month-end checklist
This is a 30-minute job once a month. If it ever takes longer than that, the categorization upstream needs work.
The 5 steps
- Categorize uncategorized transactions. Open Transactions → filter for the last month → anything without an account assigned. Use the categorize-a-transaction decision flow. Most months: under 10 minutes.
- Reconcile your bank balance. Open Reconciliation → pick your bank account → enter the ending balance from your bank statement → mark off the cleared transactions. The unreconciled amount should be zero or a small timing difference (a check you wrote that hasn't cleared yet). Most months: under 10 minutes.
- Run the P&L for the month. Open Reports → Profit & Loss → date range = "Last Month." Eyeball Revenue and the big expense categories for surprises. If anything looks wrong, you probably have a miscategorized transaction. Under 5 minutes.
- Run the Balance Sheet. Open Reports → Balance Sheet → as of the last day of the month. Assets = Liabilities + Equity. If they don't balance, you have a data issue — see Yoke Ledger journal entries for the correction-entry mechanism. Under 5 minutes.
- Write one thing you'll do differently next month. Categorization mistake you keep making? Set up a posting rule. Big expense surprise? Add it to your budget. Under 2 minutes.
What "reconcile" means in plain English
Your bank's records and your books should agree on the cash balance at the end of every month. Reconciliation is the act of confirming they agree. When they don't:
- Bank says higher → you forgot to record an income.
- Bank says lower → you forgot to record an expense.
- Both have transactions the other doesn't → timing difference; they'll catch up next month.
If you can't reconcile to within a small timing difference, your books are wrong. Fix it now; it gets harder next month.
Why this matters
The discipline of running this checklist every month is what separates "I have a bookkeeper" from "I have books." Tax-time gets quiet when every month was already closed.