Collect the source records
Confirm that all bank, card and payment-provider statements are available for the period. Collect sales invoices, supplier bills, credit notes, receipts and supporting schedules. Review the period cut-off for invoices, refunds and merchant settlements.
Identify which transactions were imported automatically and which were entered manually to avoid duplicated entries. Save queries for missing documents in a tracked list rather than guessing their treatment.
Reconcile cash and payment accounts
Match each bank and card account to its closing statement. Consider outstanding deposits, transfers between accounts, bank charges and transactions recorded on different dates. Payment processors may require separate reconciliation of gross sales, fees, refunds and net payouts.
Explain differences instead of forcing a balancing entry. Large or old unreconciled items should be escalated to a reviewer and carried on an open-items schedule until resolved.
Review customers and suppliers
Compare outstanding customer invoices with receipts and credit notes. Review supplier statements and unpaid bills for duplicates or missing invoices. Investigate negative balances and unusual aged balances.
For cash-heavy or ecommerce operations, reconcile sales-platform reports to accounting entries as appropriate. Keep the underlying source available for later review.
Inspect ledger exceptions
Review suspense, clearing and uncategorised accounts, unusual postings, unexpected balances and duplicate-looking expenses. Confirm owner drawings, loans and related-party transactions are identified for the accountant rather than automatically treated as ordinary expenses.
Where inventory, payroll, accruals, depreciation or tax calculations require specialist input, record them as review items. Do not present an unfinished bookkeeping ledger as final statutory accounts.
Deliver useful monthly information
Prepare a profit-and-loss report, balance sheet and open-questions summary appropriate to the engagement. Compare significant movements to prior months and ask management to explain unexpected changes.
Record the reporting date, period covered, outstanding issues, preparer and reviewer responsibilities. The month is ready for management use only when the agreed checks and exceptions have been clearly communicated.