Every January, the same scene plays out in small businesses everywhere. The accountant sends a list of questions. Someone realizes three months of credit card transactions were never reviewed. A contractor's tax info is missing, and they aren't answering emails. It all gets done, eventually, in a stressful scramble. The owners who glide through year-end aren't doing anything magical… they just started in October, when there was still time.
Here's a practical checklist to work through this month and next.
Why October?
October gives you room to fix problems while you can still do something about them. You have time to:
- Catch up on bookkeeping before the holiday rush
- Talk to your accountant about tax planning while there's still time to act on their advice
- Collect contractor information before January deadlines
- Chase unpaid invoices before year-end
Waiting until December means doing all of this while also running your busiest season, for many businesses.
Step 1: Get reconciled through September
Make sure every bank account, credit card, and loan account is reconciled through the September statement. If you're behind, start with the oldest month and work forward.
This is the foundation. Reports from unreconciled books can be misleading, and any tax planning conversation depends on accurate numbers.
Step 2: Clean up uncategorized and holding accounts
Look for balances in:
- Uncategorized Income
- Uncategorized Expense
- Ask My Accountant
- Payments to Deposit (or Undeposited Funds)
- Opening Balance Equity
Assign the right category to anything in the first three. Group payments sitting in the deposit holding account into the actual bank deposits they belong to. If Opening Balance Equity has a balance and you're not sure why, flag it for your accountant.
Step 3: Run a year-to-date Profit and Loss
Run Profit and Loss from January 1 through September 30, with columns by month. Look for:
- Months that look unusually high or low
- Expense categories that don't make sense
- Transfers or loan proceeds recorded as income
- Personal expenses that slipped in
Then share it with your accountant and ask about tax planning. They may suggest timing certain purchases, adjusting estimated tax payments, or other steps that depend on your situation. That conversation is far more useful in October than in March.
Step 4: Review the Balance Sheet
Run a Balance Sheet as of September 30. Check that:
- Bank and credit card balances match your statements
- Loan balances match your lender's statements
- Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable look reasonable
- There are no odd negative balances in asset accounts
If something doesn't make sense, write it down and ask.
Step 5: Chase unpaid invoices
Open the Accounts Receivable Aging report. Follow up on anything overdue now, while there's time before year-end. For invoices you truly won't collect, talk to your accountant about how to handle them.
Also look for invoices that were actually paid but never matched to a payment in QuickBooks. Those make receivables look higher than they are.
Step 6: Get contractor info ready for 1099s
If you pay independent contractors, you may need to file 1099 forms early next year. Check with your tax professional on the current filing thresholds and deadlines. Then, now in October:
- Run a report of payments to vendors for the year
- Identify contractors who may need a 1099
- Confirm you have a current W-9 for each one, with legal name, address, and tax ID
- Mark them as 1099 vendors in QuickBooks and map their payments to the right box
Chasing a W-9 in October is a polite email. Chasing it in late January is a crisis.
Step 7: Review payroll and owner pay
If you run payroll through QuickBooks or another provider, confirm employee details like addresses are current for year-end forms. If you're an owner who takes draws or a salary, review the year's total with your accountant to make sure it's recorded correctly for your business type.
Step 8: Plan your year-end close
Decide when you'll close the books for the year and who will review them. After your accountant finalizes the year, QuickBooks lets you set a closing date with an optional password, which helps prevent accidental changes to a finished year. Put the steps on your calendar now.
Common mistakes to avoid
Waiting for the accountant to fix it. Your accountant can do a lot, but cleanup billed by the hour is expensive. A tidy file saves money.
Ignoring small balances in holding accounts. Small amounts often point to bigger process problems.
Guessing on 1099s. Get W-9s and confirm requirements with a tax professional.
Making big purchases without advice. Buying equipment in December "for the tax write-off" may or may not make sense for you. Ask first.
Editing closed or reconciled periods. Changes to prior periods can throw off filed returns and reconciliations. Talk to your accountant before touching them.
Your October checklist
- Reconcile all accounts through September
- Clear uncategorized and holding accounts
- Run and review year-to-date Profit and Loss
- Review the Balance Sheet
- Follow up on overdue invoices
- Collect W-9s and set up 1099 tracking
- Confirm payroll and owner pay details
- Schedule a tax planning conversation and your year-end close
Finish the year with clean books
If year-end feels overwhelming, it's usually because the monthly habits weren't in place. Our QuickBooks Mastery for Small Business course walks through the full bookkeeping routine, from bank feeds and categorizing to reconciliation and core reports, so next year-end is a short checklist instead of a scramble.