CHECKLIST
The Monthly Close Checklist
Thirty-one things to do once a month so that your books stay true, your margins stay honest, and January stops being frightening. About ninety minutes, in six sections, printable.
- Six sections, ninety minutes, once a month
- Every item says why it matters
- Boxes to tick, space to sign and date
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Who this checklist is for
Anyone selling online who does their own books and would rather spend an hour and a half a month than a fortnight in January reconstructing a year.
Sellers doing their own bookkeeping
The order matters as much as the items. You cannot judge a margin until the fees are recorded, and you cannot record the fees until the payouts are reconciled. The checklist puts them in the only sequence that works.
Anyone whose payouts never quite match
The first section is eight items on reconciling gross charges to bank deposits, with a short diagnostic list for the month it will not tie.
Sellers approaching the VAT threshold
One item every month: the rolling twelve-month total against £90,000. It is the check people skip, and the one that costs most when they do.
FACTS
A routine you can actually keep
Each section carries a time estimate and they add up to ninety minutes. If a section overruns badly, that tells you something specific is wrong with how the numbers are being captured.
31 items
Six sections
90 minutes
Once a month
FACTS
The five numbers worth looking at
Gross margin against last month, contribution per unit, advertising against your break-even ROAS, the return rate, and the rolling twelve-month turnover. Five figures, five minutes.