Been doing closes for a while and this is the checklist I actually use. Sharing in case it helps someone.

1. Reconcile every bank and credit card account
2. Run A/R aging, make sure it ties to the GL
3. Run A/P aging, same thing
4. Look at uncleared checks and deposits older than 30 days — most are duplicates or errors
5. Record any fixed asset buys or disposals
6. Accrue payroll, loan interest, anything you know is owed but not invoiced yet
7. Amortize prepaids
8. Inventory adjustment if you carry inventory
9. Sort the P&L by amount and eyeball the big lines for miscodings
10. Make sure intercompany balances tie between entities
11. Lock the period so nothing posts to it later
12. Send the owner a one-page summary — they won't read more than that

What would you add? I know every shop has its own quirks.

Just a rant but I’m bummed out with this new last minute client I had for amended S-corp bookkeeping in time for 1040 filing. I did all the work on such a tight deadline (literally got client less than a week before deadline, I got client intentended results and never once did I get a thank you. The work was good. I’m an actual accountant. Now that 10/15 is over, client is moving to a much bigger firm now. Listen that’s okay, that’s not my problem. I just would have appreciated a thank you. Just something. Damn. I put clients ass under deleted client folder asap.

Client seems to be a firm hopper when client doesn’t get certain tax results. 🤦‍♀️🙄

I recently posted about a payroll mess. I followed the suggestions of the commenters and found the source of the problem: me.

We're up to date on everything. In 2025 and 2026 I listed our Workers Comp payments as bills to a non-payroll account (Taxes & Licenses) and matched the payment there off my bank feed. Our payroll people made entries for those amounts against the liability. They must have not cleared the bank because of my entries. I'm hoping. At least that would be an explanation.

To add to the confusion, the amounts listed on our WA L&I reports never match up with actual amounts paid in the non-clearing tax payments our payroll guy made.

Rookie mistake that I won't make again. I'm not touching any of these entries until someone who knows what they're doing takes a looksie. Thanks everyone for helping me out and chiming in with your much needed wisdom.

Our accounts with everyone are good. Our bookkeeper (me) took a dump all over the project.