Quick answer
A month-end close usually covers: finishing all entries for the period, reconciling bank and party ledgers, booking accruals and prepayments, posting depreciation, reconciling GST and TDS with the books, reviewing the trial balance for unusual balances, and producing a short MIS pack for management.
The checklist
| Step | What to do | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Cut-off | Confirm all sales, purchases and expenses of the month are entered | Avoids shifting costs between months |
| 2. Bank | Reconcile every bank account and clear stale items | Finds missing or duplicate entries |
| 3. Party ledgers | Reconcile major customers and vendors | Avoids disputes and ageing surprises |
| 4. Accruals and prepayments | Book expenses incurred but not billed, and spread prepaid items | Shows true profit for the month |
| 5. Depreciation | Post depreciation as per your policy | Keeps asset values and profit accurate |
| 6. GST and TDS | Reconcile returns and payments with the books | Prevents notices and credit loss |
| 7. Inventory | Check stock quantities and valuation | Stock errors distort profit |
| 8. Review | Scan the trial balance for odd balances or missing entries | Catches errors before management sees them |
| 9. MIS | Prepare a short report: sales, expenses, cash, receivables, payables | Owners need decisions, not data dumps |
Make it repeatable
- ✓Give each step an owner and a target date (for example, working day 3 or 5).
- ✓Keep the checklist in one shared file and tick it off every month.
- ✓Record issues found and fix the cause, so the same error does not return.
- ✓Review the checklist each quarter and add controls as the business grows.
Where training helps
Most close delays come from habits, not software. New staff do not know the order of steps or what a clean ledger looks like. Our capstone exercise has each trainee close a month for a sample company, so they learn the routine before touching live books.
Want your whole team to work this way?
We teach this hands-on, onsite at your office, and test every trainee. See New-hire accounting training: job-ready in weeks, not months.
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