Basic Bookkeeping Tasks for Small Businesses

One of the biggest stressors of owning a small business is managing the bookkeeping and accounting tasks in regular intervals. One of the best ways to help business owners stay on top of these tasks is to create a bookkeeping checklist based on the tasks that must be completed on an ongoing basis. To help you do so, Tally Services has created this task-list of accounting requirements that should be done on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual basis. Use this handy guide to help you create a checklist that makes sense for your business and your accounting needs.

Daily Tasks

• Cash: Be sure to check that your petty cash and/or the cash you have on hand is counted, reconciled, and accounted for at the end of every day.

• Payments: Be aware of incoming and outgoing payments that will affect your bottom line. Have an idea of what payments should be coming in from clients and what expenditures will hit your bank account; stay on top of these to make sure they happen when they’re supposed to. If not, follow up to ensure your cash flow is correct.  

Weekly Tasks

• Payroll: Update payroll files as needed.

• Bills: Pay any due bills or vendor payments due during the week.

• Invoices: Prepare and send invoices for all services or goods provided or sold throughout the week.

• Payments: Record all incoming payments from vendors or customers and reconcile accounts for the week.

• Forecast: Review forecasted cash flow for the week based on your bills, sales, and payments throughout the week.

Monthly Tasks

• Balance: Balance checkbook and accounts.

• Past Due Payments: Check up on any past-due customer or vendor payments.

• Payroll: Review and process all payroll if paid on a monthly basis; if employees are paid every-other week, do so on a bi-weekly basis.

• Taxes: Meet payroll tax requirements

• Inventory: Check inventory and supplies, order more as necessary

• Profit and Loss: Review your profit and loss reports compared to the past months and also to comparable months and seasons of past years. Make adjustments as necessary.

• Balance Sheets: Review months-end balance sheets.

Quarterly Tasks

• Profit and Loss: Evaluate annual profit and loss statements.

• Payroll: Manage all quarterly payroll requirements.

• Sales Tax: Make all quarterly sales tax payments.

• Income Tax: Make income tax payments.

Yearly Tasks

• Collections: Review all past-due accounts and bills and make a determination if they must be sent to collections.

• Inventory: Study year-end inventory status and sales.

• Year-End Tasks: Complete your year-end tasks including reconciliation, adjustments, and so on.

• Financial Reports: Create and study all year-end financial reports related to your small business.

• Tax Prep: Begin to gather your documentation and forms for tax season.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by all the accounting tasks that must be done on an ongoing basis, contact Tally Services. We’ll help your business create accounting systems and reports that make sense for your needs. By partnering with the local accounting experts at Tally Services, your accounting and bookkeeping stress will be reduced - allowing you to focus on growing and managing your business.