Reviewing a client's books

# Reviewing a client's books

Review the books before you prepare the return or close the year. Work through the checklist for each month, then look at the history for anything unusual.

Checklist

1. Month-end checklist. Open it for each month. Every blocking item must be clear before the month is closed.
2. Drafts. Check that no drafts are left for the period. Drafts are not counted in the reports.
3. Tax lines. Check that every income and expense account has a tax line (see tax-lines).
4. Balances. Check the cash, receivables and payables balances against the bank and the aging report.
5. Trial balance. Debits equal credits for the period.
6. Worksheets. Check the sales tax, GST or GST summary worksheets against the tax summary.
7. Snapshot. Confirm a recent snapshot exists before you change anything.

Reading the edit history

The edit history records each change with the date, the person, the device and session, and the value before and after. It cannot be edited or erased.

• Search the history for the account, date or person you are checking.
• Look for changes made after a period was closed, or a posted entry changed or reversed without a reason.
• Owners and accountants can export the history as CSV. This needs a fresh sign-in check (see security-and-sign-in).

Leaving notes

• Use the memo on an entry line, up to 200 characters, for a short reason, such as "Confirmed with client 3 October".
• Use the notes on a contact, up to 2,000 characters, for longer context about a customer or supplier.
• Give the reason when you lock a period. The reason is kept with the lock.

Notes stay with the entry or contact. They do not replace the supporting documents, so keep those with the client file.

Sign-off

Once you are satisfied, close the month and tell the client which periods are closed. Do not close a month that still has open questions. See closing-the-year.