Before the first close
The chart of accounts, the bank, and a close calendar.
Every month
Reconcile, record revenue, and issue statements.
Keep for someone else
The file a lender, investor, or preparer asks for.
Use the list to see what is missing. If more than two items are open, the company is still designing the books, and a hire will spend their first quarters on setup.
Before the first close
- A chart of accounts that matches how the company actually earns and spends, including a separate line for each revenue stream.
- One bank account, one card program, and a rule for what never goes through either.
- A close calendar with a day the month is done, and a name on each reconciliation.
- Payroll connected to the ledger, so the journal entry is not rebuilt from an HR export.
- Sales tax and contractor payments identified, even if a filing is not due yet.
Every month after that
- Bank and card accounts reconciled to the statement, not to a spreadsheet that was already adjusted.
- Accounts receivable and payable aged, with the invoices that will not be collected marked as such.
- Revenue recorded the way the contracts say it is earned, including what is deferred.
- Payroll, benefits, and contractor payments posted to the right period.
- A balance sheet and income statement a founder can read without a second translation.
What to keep for someone else
- The close package: reconciliations, the statements, and a note on anything that was estimated.
- Equity issuances, option grants, and SAFEs in one place, separate from the operating ledger.
- State hiring, sales tax registrations, and foreign contractors, listed before a filing season finds them.
That package is what a lender, an investor, or a tax preparer asks for. If it does not exist on the close date, the month is not closed. The comparison with hiring an accountant in-house is outsourced bookkeeping versus an in-house accountant.
Questions
What belongs on a startup bookkeeping checklist?
Three groups: setup before the first close, the work every month after that, and the file kept for a lender, an investor, or a tax preparer. The chart of accounts, reconciliations, and payroll sit in those groups.
Does a checklist replace monthly bookkeeping?
No. The checklist is the list of records. Outsourced bookkeeping is the monthly work that produces them. If the list is already late, the next step is the work, not another template.
What should a founder be able to hand someone?
The last closed month, the bank reconciliation that supports it, and a chart of accounts a stranger can read. Those three are the file a lender or investor actually asks for.