The end of the year is approaching, and with it comes the traditional year-end closing on December 31. For businesses, self-employed individuals, and accounting firms, this period requires a bit of organization and, above all, forward planning. One important point to remember: it’s best to start the new fiscal year as late as possible, ideally once the closing procedures for the current fiscal year are sufficiently advanced.
Rather than waiting until January to gather documents, correct any errors, and review your accounts, November is the ideal time to take an initial inventory of your situation.
For Winbiz users, performing a few checks in advance can save valuable time, minimize oversights, and make the month-end closing process easier.
Here are our best practices for effectively preparing your accounting records before the end of the year.
1. Review and update your accounting records
First and foremost, it’s important to make sure your accounting records are up to date.
November is a good time to take a step back and verify that all transactions from the past few months have been properly recorded.
In Winbiz, be sure to take the time to check the following items:
- Have all supplier invoices been entered?
- Have customer invoices been issued and posted?
- Are the bank transactions up to date?
- Have payments received and made been correctly recorded?
- Have any manual journal entries been entered?
- Have pending transactions been processed?
Keeping accurate and up-to-date accounting records makes year-end tasks much easier.
2. Review accounts receivable and accounts payable
Accounts receivable and accounts payable deserve special attention before closing the books.
For accounts receivable, it’s advisable to review any outstanding invoices and identify any late payments.
For accounts payable, make sure that all received supplier invoices have been properly recorded and that payments match the amounts due.
In Winbiz, review the lists of open invoices and payment schedules to:
- Identify unpaid customer invoices.
- Follow up with the affected customers.
- Verify supplier invoices awaiting payment.
- Check for any duplicates.
- Identify unusual balances.
This review also makes it possible to anticipate any necessary corrections or adjustments.
3. Perform bank reconciliations
Bank reconciliation is an essential step in preparing for year-end closing.
It is recommended that you do not wait for the final December bank statement to perform these checks.
In November, take the time to compare the transactions recorded in Winbiz with the available bank statements.
In particular, check:
- That all bank transactions have been recorded.
- That the payments match the recorded journal entries.
- Ensure that bank fees and interest have been recorded.
- That any discrepancies have been identified and explained.
- That the account balances match the bank statements, taking into account pending transactions.
Regular reconciliation allows you to quickly detect errors and avoid having to search through several months of transactions at the end of the year.
4. Review VAT
VAT is also an important consideration when preparing the year-end closing.
Before the end of the year, it’s a good idea to verify that VAT codes are being used correctly and that transactions have been posted to the correct periods.
In Winbiz, be sure to check:
- VAT codes applied to customer and vendor invoices.
- Any transactions that are VAT-exempt or require special treatment.
- Consistency between the VAT accounts and the prepared statements.
- Any corrective journal entries.
- VAT periods that still need to be processed.
If your company files its VAT returns on a quarterly or semiannual basis, take advantage of this period to verify that previous returns are consistent with your accounting records.
Pay special attention to international transactions, services rendered, and special cases.
5. Review salaries and payroll taxes
For companies that use Winbiz Payroll, November is also a good time to conduct an initial review of payroll data.
In particular, check:
- Employees’ personal data.
- Employment rates and any contractual changes.
- Salary changes that occurred during the year.
- Absences, vacation time, and overtime.
- Allowances and expense reimbursements.
- Social insurance advance payments and final settlements.
Also, be sure to check for any discrepancies between the amounts recorded and the social insurance statements.
The goal is to ensure that the processing of the final December paycheck and year-end tasks proceed smoothly.
6. Prepare the documents needed for year-end closing
The year-end closing is not limited to the journal entries recorded in the software. Certain supporting documents must also be available.
It is therefore advisable to start gathering the documents that will be needed by the accounting firm or the person responsible for accounting.
Documents to prepare include:
- Bank statements.
- Cash receipts.
- Supplier invoices still missing.
- Receipts for business expenses.
- Leasing and financing contracts.
- VAT statements.
- Social insurance statements.
- Inventories and documents related to inventory.
- Supporting documents for fixed assets and investments.
Comprehensive and well-organized documentation facilitates audits and minimizes last-minute back-and-forth.
7. Review Fixed Assets and Investments
If your company owns fixed assets, take the time to verify any acquisitions and disposals that occurred during the year.
Make sure that new investments have been properly recorded and that assets sold or decommissioned have been identified.
In particular, it will be helpful to prepare:
- A list of investments made during the year.
- The corresponding purchase invoices.
- Information regarding sales or disposals of fixed assets.
- Any lease agreements.
- Information needed to calculate depreciation.
These items will be used to prepare year-end adjusting entries and depreciation charges.
8. Check your backups and prepare your Winbiz files
Finally, don’t overlook data security.
Before beginning the year-end closing process, make sure your accounting data is properly backed up according to the procedure specific to your Winbiz environment.
Also take this opportunity to verify:
- Ensure that users have the necessary access.
- Ensure that the fiscal year’s data is properly recorded.
- Ensure that supporting documents are easily accessible.
- Ensure that any discrepancies have been identified.
- Ensure that the necessary data can be transmitted to the accounting firm.
Good IT organization also helps ensure a stress-free year-end closing.
Conclusion: Plan ahead in November to close the books with peace of mind in December
Year-end closing shouldn’t be a race against the clock in January.
By spending a few hours in November reviewing your books, verifying your accounts, and preparing supporting documents, you’ll make year-end tasks much easier.
With Winbiz, take advantage of your software’s features to track your accounting throughout the year and efficiently prepare for this important deadline.
Our advice: Don’t wait until December 31 to ask yourself the right questions. A successful year-end closing starts with good preparation!
Need help preparing your year-end closing with Winbiz? Our team is here to advise you and help you get the most out of your software.