QuickBooksMay 10, 20266 min read

QuickBooks Cleanup Checklist for Small Business Owners

Use this QuickBooks cleanup checklist to spot messy books, unreconciled accounts, duplicate transactions, and reports that do not make sense.

Short answer

QuickBooks needs cleanup when balances do not match statements, transactions are duplicated or missing, AR/AP looks wrong, uncategorized accounts have balances, sales tax payable looks off, or owner and payroll activity is misclassified.

Checklist

Reconcile all bank accounts.
Reconcile all credit cards.
Review the chart of accounts.
Review customer invoices and payments.
Review vendor bills and payments.
Fix duplicate transactions.
Review sales tax settings and payroll entries.
Compare the P&L to bank activity.
Review the balance sheet for strange balances.

Common mistakes

Starting with categorization before reconciliation.
Bulk-moving unclear transactions.
Ignoring negative AR or AP balances.
Treating owner draws as expenses.
Skipping the balance sheet review.

Examples for service businesses

A contractor may have duplicate customer deposits from bank-feed additions.
A landscaper may have sales tax payable mixed into revenue.
A service business may have payroll journal entries mapped to the wrong accounts.

Reconciliation comes first

QuickBooks reconciliation compares what is recorded in QuickBooks to the bank statement. Cleanup is not complete until the accounts reconcile and the reports make sense.