A practical month-end close checklist for Xero

A good month-end close is boringly repeatable. Use this checklist as a starting template and adapt it to your practice.

1. Bank & cash

• Reconcile every bank and credit-card account to the statement.
• Clear or investigate any unreconciled items.

2. Accounts receivable & payable

• Confirm all sales invoices for the period are raised.
• Enter all supplier bills; chase anything expected but not yet received.

3. Accruals

• Accrue known costs not yet invoiced (utilities, professional fees, unbilled services).
• Reverse last period's accruals where the actual invoice has now landed.

4. Prepayments

• Release this month's portion of each prepayment to the P&L.
• Add any new prepaid costs to the register.

5. Deferred income

• Recognise the portion of deferred/again-billed revenue earned in the period.

6. Fixed assets

• Post depreciation for the month.
• Record any additions or disposals.

7. Review & reconcile

• Reconcile balance-sheet control accounts (prepayments, accruals, deferred income) to their supporting registers.
• Review the P&L for anything unusual month-on-month.

8. Sign off & pack

• Lock the period.
• Produce a month-end pack with the numbers, supporting schedules and an audit trail for the reviewer.

Make it faster

Steps 3, 4, 5 and 7 are where teams lose the most time — and make the most mistakes. WorkWithLottie automates the accrual, prepayment and deferred-income schedules, posts the journals, reconciles them to Xero, and generates the signed-off pack, so your checklist shrinks and your close speeds up.