Bookkeeping · 8 min read
Bookkeeping Cleanup Checklist
Cleanup work is half detective, half discipline. Run this checklist in order and you'll turn months of mess into a clean ledger your CPA can actually file from.
Phase 1 — Diagnose the damage
- Identify the last reconciled month for every account
- List accounts with missing statements or gaps
- Spot-check 10 transactions per month for miscategorization
- Confirm whether prior-year retained earnings tie to last filed return
Phase 2 — Gather source documents
- Bank statements for every business account, month by month
- Credit card statements with full transaction detail
- Merchant processor reports (Stripe, Square, PayPal)
- Loan statements showing principal vs. interest splits
- Payroll reports from each payroll provider
Phase 3 — Reconcile from the oldest gap forward
- Start with the earliest unreconciled month
- Match every deposit and withdrawal to a source document
- Investigate and clear stale uncleared transactions
- Reconcile each account in chronological order — never skip months
