A month-end close is the routine that turns a month of transactions into numbers you can trust. Big companies close in days. A small business can too, with a fixed routine.
Working day 1: capture everything
Record all sales invoices, purchase bills and expenses for the month. Chase missing bills from the team and vendors. Download bank and card statements.
Working day 2: reconcile cash and bank
Reconcile every bank account and the cash book. Every line in the statement should be in the books, and every unmatched entry should have an explanation.
Working day 3: customers, vendors and GST
Review receivables and payables ageing. Match purchases with GSTR-2B so input credit is not lost, and agree sales to the GSTR-1 you are about to file.
Working day 4: adjustments
Book accruals for expenses incurred but not billed, prepaid expenses, depreciation, salary payable and TDS. Check stock if you hold inventory.
Working day 5: review and report
Prepare a simple profit and loss, balance sheet and cash summary. Compare with last month and budget, and write three lines on what changed and why.
Why it is worth the effort
- GST and TDS returns are filed from reconciled numbers
- Advance tax is based on real profit, not a guess
- Year-end audit and tax filing become a formality
- Banks and investors get reliable numbers when they ask
This article is general information, not advice for your situation. Tax rules change, so speak to us before acting on it.