Are last month's books finished? Ten questions

Tick each one that is true today

Each question is one step of closing a month. Answer for last month, and for the business as it is now, not as it was meant to be.

Every bank and card transaction from last month has a category. Each receipt is matched to the transaction it belongs to. Every bank account is reconciled to its statement for last month. Every credit card is reconciled to its statement as well. Every difference between the books and a statement has a written cause. Payroll is recorded from the provider's report, and its total matches what left the bank. Money owed to the business is listed, and you know which invoices are late. Bills the business owes are listed, each with its due date. Last month is closed, so nothing in it can change by accident. You can say what last month's profit was without going to look for it.

You answered yes to of 10.

What the count means

The count is how many of the ten steps are done. It is not a grade, and it does not compare you with anyone. A business with no staff can leave the payroll question unticked and lose nothing by it. A business that sells on account and has no list of who owes it money has found the one step that tells it most.

Read the unticked questions in order. The first four are the ones everything else stands on: a month with uncategorized lines or an unreconciled account cannot be closed, and a profit figure read from it is a guess. The last question is the point of the other nine. When the first nine are true, the answer to the tenth is a number you can give in a sentence.

Your answers stay in your browser

The count is worked out by this page, in the browser you are reading it in. Ticking a box sends nothing and saves nothing, and the count is gone when you close the page. There is no email field here, and the only link below is the same request for a call that every page of this site carries.

Where the steps come from

They are the steps of the monthly close we run for every client: categorize each week, match receipts, reconcile every account to the bank, explain every difference, record payroll from the provider's report, and close the month. The Monthly Money Snapshot is written from a closed month, which is why the tenth question comes last.

One next step

A fifteen-minute call about your month, at no cost. Ask for a call.