A bookkeeping review checklist is the set of tests a reviewer runs on a month someone has already prepared, before the books are signed off. It confirms every account balances to its statement, flags unusual amounts, compares coding with the prior month and makes sure no open question or suspense line is left unexplained.
What does a bookkeeping review check that preparation does not?
A bookkeeping review checks the finished result, not the individual entries. The preparer worked line by line: convert, code, reconcile. The reviewer steps back and asks whether the month as a whole makes sense, whether the proof is in the file and whether anything the preparer could not see from inside the work looks wrong.
The reviewer's three questions
- Is it proven? Each account has a reconciliation that ties to a statement, with no forcing entry.
- Is it plausible? The totals look like this client's business, given what you know about the month.
- Is it finished? No question is open, no line sits in a holding account, and nothing is waiting on the client.
Why a checklist and not a read-through
An unstructured read-through finds what the reviewer happens to look at. A checklist finds the same classes of error every month, on every client, whoever is reviewing. It also leaves a record. Ticked items, with the reviewer's initials and date, show later what was checked and when. File that record with the month's bookkeeping workpapers for each close, so the next reviewer can see it.
Balance proof on every account under review
Balance proof means each bank, card and loan account in the books ends the month at exactly the closing balance on its statement, with a reconciliation report to show it. The reviewer does not redo the reconciliation. They confirm it exists, that it ties and that nothing inside it was forced.
What to look at in each reconciliation
- The statement ending balance entered in the reconciliation matches the printed closing balance.
- The difference is zero.
- Outstanding items, such as uncleared checks, are few and recent. A check outstanding for four months needs a question.
- No adjustment entry was posted to make the difference zero.
Accounts that are easy to miss
Savings accounts with only an interest line, a card the client rarely uses, a loan account and a closed account in its final month all need proof too. Count the accounts on the client's account list and count the reconciliations. The two numbers should match.
Clearing accounts for processors
Clients who take card payments through a processor often have a clearing account between sales and deposits. That account should net to a small, explainable balance at month end. A growing balance usually means fees or refunds were not booked. Bookkeeping for payment processor statements shows how gross sales, fees and payouts fit together.
Which unusual amounts should a bookkeeping review flag?
A bookkeeping review should flag any line that is large compared with the client's usual activity, any round amount where the client normally pays exact figures, and any first-time payee above a small size. Set the size threshold per client. A 2,000.00 payment means nothing for one client and is the largest of the year for another.
A practical threshold
One workable approach is to list every single transaction above a set share of the month's total expenses. For a small client spending 20,000.00 a month, a threshold of 5 percent lists anything above 1,000.00. The percentage is an example. Pick a figure that produces a list short enough to read in a few minutes.
What to do with each flagged line
For each line on the list, the reviewer asks whether its account is right and whether there is support. A large equipment purchase coded to supplies may belong in fixed assets. A large deposit coded to sales may be a loan or an owner contribution. Neither changes the bank balance, so reconciliation does not catch them. Only a look at the amount does.
Duplicate-looking pairs
Two lines with the same amount and payee within a few days are worth one glance. Sometimes the client really paid twice. Sometimes one came from the feed and one from an import. The statement settles it: if it shows one payment, one entry is a duplicate.
Category drift between this month and last
Category drift is the same kind of cost moving between accounts from one month to the next, and comparing each expense account with the prior month is the quickest way to catch it. The comparison costs a few minutes and catches miscoding that every balance check misses, because the money is still in the books, just in the wrong place.
A worked comparison
The figures below are an example for one client.
| Account | Prior month | This month | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Software subscriptions | 640.00 | 0.00 | -640.00 |
| Office expenses | 210.00 | 860.00 | +650.00 |
| Contract labor | 3,400.00 | 3,400.00 | 0.00 |
Software subscriptions fell to zero and office expenses rose by almost the same amount. Nothing about the client's business changed. Opening office expenses shows the usual software charges coded there this month, likely because a vendor changed how its name appears on the statement and the rule no longer matched. The fix is to recode the lines and update the rule.
When a change is real
Not every swing is drift. A new hire, a seasonal month or a one-off purchase moves accounts too. When a change is real, add a one-line note to the review record so the next reviewer does not ask the same question.
Comparing across many months
For clients you review often, a rolling view of three or more months shows patterns a single comparison hides. If your coded rows come out of conversion as one dataset with account and period columns, the layout in putting multiple statement files into one Excel workbook makes that view a single pivot.
Open client questions and suspense lines at review
Open client questions and suspense lines are the items the preparer could not finish. At review, each one is either cleared, or recorded with what it waits on and who owns it. A suspense or uncategorized account with a balance and no notes means the month is not ready for sign-off.
What counts as open
- Lines in uncategorized, suspense or "ask the client" accounts.
- Questions sent to the client that have no reply.
- Provisional entries, such as a month posted from a feed while the statement is still missing.
- Known corrections not yet posted.
Clear, carry or hold
For each open item, decide one of three things. Clear it, if the answer is now in hand. Carry it, if it is small and can be noted and finished next month without changing the picture. Hold the month, if it is large enough that the reports would mislead without it. Write the decision next to the item.
The bookkeeping review checklist as one table
The bookkeeping review checklist below collects every check in this post in the order a reviewer should run them. Each has a pass condition. A check that does not pass either sends the month back or is recorded as an exception with a reason.
| # | Check | Pass condition |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Every account has a reconciliation | Count of reconciliations equals count of accounts |
| 2 | Each reconciliation ties | Difference is zero with no forcing entry |
| 3 | Outstanding items are current | Nothing older than the client's usual clearing time without a note |
| 4 | Clearing accounts net out | Processor and transfer clearing balances are small and explained |
| 5 | Large transactions reviewed | Each line over the threshold has the right account and support |
| 6 | Duplicate-looking pairs checked | Each pair confirmed against the statement |
| 7 | Prior-month comparison done | Every large change explained or corrected |
| 8 | Suspense and uncategorized cleared | Balance is zero, or each line is carried with a note |
| 9 | Client questions answered | No unanswered question affects a material amount |
| 10 | Review record filed | Reviewer, date and exceptions saved with the month |
Keeping the review short
A review that takes as long as preparation will be skipped under pressure. Most of the time should go to items 5 and 7, where judgment matters. Items 1 to 4 should take minutes if the preparer filed their proof. If you want to know where the review hours actually go, time a few reviews the way timing data entry for one client statement describes and look at which items dominate.
AutoBankConvert checks each statement's opening balance, transactions and closing balance during conversion and holds uncertain categorizations in a review queue, which gives the reviewer a cleaner starting point for items 1, 2 and 8.
Review findings that send a month back to the preparer
Some review findings mean the month should go back to the preparer instead of being signed with a note. A reconciliation that does not tie, a forcing adjustment, a missing account, or a suspense balance large enough to change the profit picture all fall in that group. Sign-off on any of them certifies something that is not true.
Return it, with specifics
When a month goes back, say exactly which check failed and what you saw. "Checking reconciliation forced by 312.40 on the 31st" is fixable. "Please recheck" is not. The preparer fixes the item, and the reviewer reruns only the checks that item affects.
Patterns across clients
If the same finding comes back on several clients, the problem is the process, not the preparer. A vendor rule that keeps breaking, a client who never sends one statement, or a clearing account no one owns needs a fix upstream. Note it in the practice's procedures so the next month does not repeat it.
When the review starts from proven statements and a short exception list, sign-off is a confirmation rather than a hunt. AutoBankConvert is built to deliver that starting point for every client in a batch.