---
title: Month-end checklist
summary: A 5-step, 30-minute routine at the end of every month that keeps your books current and your CPA happy.
order: 4
---

# 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

1. **Categorize uncategorized transactions.** Open
   Transactions → filter for the last month → anything
   without an account assigned. Use the
   [categorize-a-transaction](/docs/accounting/for-business-owners/categorize-a-transaction)
   decision flow. **Most months: under 10 minutes.**
2. **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.**
3. **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.**
4. **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](/docs/yoke-ledger/journal-entries)
   for the correction-entry mechanism. **Under 5 minutes.**
5. **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.