Month-end close is the part of running a business that nobody signs up for. The first week of the month goes to paperwork, and by the time the reports are ready, the owner is too tired to read them. Most of that work doesn’t need a CPA. It needs someone who follows a checklist and doesn’t mind sending the same email twice.
Chasing Receipts
Every card statement has a few charges nobody can explain. So somebody emails the employee. By the nth reminder, it’s already the 8th. That’s how a close drags on.
The fix to this is mostly timing. Have your assistant send each person their own list of missing receipts with the date and amount beside each one. You would be surprised how people answer faster when the short list has their name on it.
A written rule helps too. “No receipt needed under $25” cuts the list nearly in half. Tell people to snap a photo of the receipt the minute they get it. This is how they can make most problems disappear.
Matching Bank Transactions
Accounting software guesses at matches. It’s right most of the time. A $1,200 charge with no matching invoice goes on a question list for the bookkeeper.
That split is the whole point of handing this off. This way, routine items clear fast. You also leave the judgment calls to someone qualified to make them. Build a vendor list once. Show how each recurring charge gets coded. After this, you’ll notice how a question list shrinks within two or three months.
Bank feeds also pull the same payment in twice now and then. It’s the fresh eyes that catch it.
Invoices and Late Payers
On the 1st, run the aging report. Anything past 30 days gets a polite reminder in a template pre-approved by you. At 45 days, a second note goes out. After that, you forward it to your callers
Owners are bad at this. They only send reminders when cash is tight. The worst thing is that it happens when the customer is already two months behind. A virtual assistant for accounting who sends them on a schedule takes the emotion out of it. Customers hear from you every month, so the note never reads like a complaint.
It also keeps a record. When a customer says nobody ever told them the invoice was late, you can show the dates.
Vendor Bills
Bills pile up in the inbox. The assistant enters each one with the due date and codes it from the vendor list. Then there’s the part most people skip: reading the terms.
Some vendors write “2/10 net 30” on the invoice. Pay within ten days, and you take 2% off. On a $5,000 bill, that’s $100 for paying three weeks early. Not many owners notice, but a person looking at every bill does. The assistant can line up the payment batch, and you approve it. That one step stays with you.
The Month-End Package
You and your accountant want the same reports each month. The assistant drops the profit/loss and the balance sheet into one shared folder. This should also have the aging reports beside them. Keep the file names and the order identical every time.
Adding a short note on top saves an email thread. So does a line about an odd refund or a deposit that landed late. The accountant reads the note first, and half the usual questions never get asked.