Reporting & cash flow
A monthly bookkeeping checklist for Canadian small businesses
Short answer: Doing a consistent set of tasks every month is what keeps books reliable and year-end calm. Here’s the checklist — run it monthly (or hand it to someone who will) and most bookkeeping problems never get the chance to start. This is the monthly piece of the complete Canadian small business bookkeeping checklist.
The monthly checklist
1. Bring in and review all transactions. Make sure every bank and credit-card transaction for the month is imported and nothing is missing.
2. Categorise everything. Assign each transaction to the right account, consistently. Clear the “uncategorised” pile — don’t let it build.
3. Reconcile every account. Reconcile all bank, credit-card, and loan accounts to their statements. This is the step that proves your numbers. See bank reconciliation explained.
4. Review accounts receivable. Check who owes you, and follow up on overdue invoices.
5. Review accounts payable. Confirm what you owe suppliers so expenses land in the right period.
6. Update GST/HST. Make sure sales tax collected and paid is tracked and reconciled for the month. See GST/HST bookkeeping.
7. Handle payroll and remittances. If you have employees, confirm payroll is recorded and remittances are prepared for their due dates.
8. Attach source documents. Make sure receipts and invoices are captured and attached to their transactions.
9. Check for duplicates and errors. Scan for double-entered transactions and anything miscategorised.
10. Review the reports. Look at your profit-and-loss, balance sheet, and cash position. Ask whether the numbers make sense for the month.
11. Note anything unusual. Flag questions or one-off items while they’re fresh, not months later.
Why monthly beats “when I get to it”
Bookkeeping done monthly keeps small discrepancies small. Left for a quarter or a year, the same work becomes an investigation — and that’s exactly how books fall behind. A steady rhythm also means you always have current numbers to make decisions on, and year-end is a clean handoff rather than a reconstruction.
Doing it yourself vs handing it off
If you have the time and discipline to run this list every month, doing it yourself is entirely reasonable. If it keeps slipping — or you’d rather spend those hours on the business — this checklist is precisely the routine a bookkeeper runs for you.
Avora runs this every month so your books stay current and reliable. See what a bookkeeper does every month, or talk to Avora about handing it off.
Last reviewed: August 2026.