A Simple Weekly and Monthly Bookkeeping Workflow for Small Business Owners

When it comes to maintaining your own bookkeeping, one of the biggest causes of overwhelm is trying to manage it without a consistent plan.

Bookkeeping isn’t usually at the forefront of your mind — running your business is. By the time we sit down to tackle the numbers, there’s often little capacity left, and this gets exacerbated if we don’t already have a reliable plan in place. 

This is where routines come in. 

Your routine is a repeatable process that eliminates decision fatigue, reduces resistance, and keeps your records in check. With enough consistency, the routine can become second-nature. 

In this post, we’ll walk through a weekly and monthly bookkeeping workflow as a starting point for you to develop your own routines that work with your business — and with your energy. 

What a good bookkeeping workflow looks like

Since every business is different, no two workflows are exactly the same, but there are some essential aspects to keep in mind when creating a strong bookkeeping routine. 

First: it needs to be simple, ordered logically, and realistic for you. It might take a few months of trying and tweaking your routines to get these three aspects right.

Second: it should focus on one clear goal, which is to keep your books accurate and up to date. If we pile on several goals (adding a job-cost analysis, a budget-to-actual comparison with refinement, and accounts receivable analysis with collections calls), we risk dipping back into overwhelm. 

That’s not to say these additional goals aren’t important — they are. But if you find bookkeeping overwhelming, keeping those other goals as separate business functions will help considerably. 

Use these routines to help you stay organized and apprised of your finances, while keeping your books up to date.

Then separately, make time for your monthly financial review, tax planning, and strategic decision-making.

Your weekly bookkeeping routine

If asked plainly how often bookkeeping should be done, I typically suggest a weekly routine. But practically, some tasks are best done weekly, while others can be done monthly. 

The weekly and monthly bookkeeping routines in this post aren’t either-or. They’re meant to work together so that all essential bookkeeping tasks are covered.

For more on frequency, see: How Often Should You Do Bookkeeping for Your Small Business?

When you sit down to update your books each week, you can give this workflow a try:

• Gather your supporting documents (including invoices and receipts) in one place. For tips, you might enjoy: How to Organize Business Receipts (A Simple Weekly Routine)

• Enter transactions from your bank and credit card statements for the last week. 

• Alternatively, review all captured transactions if your bank and credit card accounts are synced to your accounting software. 

• Categorize the transactions. This often involves reviewing invoices and receipts to determine the most accurate category. 

• Upload or attach receipts if you use accounting software and this is regular practice for you.

• Flag anything that looks unusual or that you’re not sure how to categorize so that it can be looked into further later on.

Keeping up with these tasks weekly will limit the amount of bookkeeping work that piles up while supporting decision-making and accuracy throughout the month. Additionally, flagging areas of uncertainty early means that there’s less chance of them slipping under the radar. 

Your monthly bookkeeping routine

If you’ve kept up with the weekly bookkeeping routine, then by the time you get down to your monthly bookkeeping timeblock, you’ll already have all of your documents in place and your records updated. 

That’s most of the workload already handled.

On top of the weekly routine, you could try adding a monthly bookkeeping block to complete the following tasks:

• Reconcile your books to your bank and credit card accounts to support accuracy and spot (and resolve) errors.

• Follow up on any missing invoices or questions that you had flagged in your weekly bookkeeping. 

• Review your financial statements at a high level, noting anything unusual or unexpected. For more, read: Demystifying Financial Statements: How To Review Your Numbers Effectively

• Check for any uncategorized transactions, including miscellaneous accounts such as suspense, uncategorized expenses, or undeposited cash, and re-categorize transactions as needed. 

• Do a light review of your accounts payable and accounts receivable aging reports to identify any uncleared items or unpaid invoices. 

These tasks help to ensure that your books are accurate, and that you feel confident in the data you’ve captured. Incorporating high-level monthly reviews helps you stay on top of your finances in between your more in-depth financial analysis.

This is also a great time to check in on your cash flow in the context of your goals or upcoming financial needs. One example is cash savings for future taxes, which we discuss further in this post: Simple Cash Planning Tips to Avoid Tax Season Surprises

Common mistakes to avoid for DIY bookkeepers

Let’s preface this section by saying: don’t let perfectionism stop you from getting into the numbers. 

While bookkeeping accuracy is important, especially for regulatory reporting, the reality is that you’re often doing the best you can with the time, information, and capacity you have. If you work with a tax preparer, you can lean on their expertise to help you iron out any lingering questions. 

The following are common mistakes to be aware of specific to your bookkeeping workflow:

Letting weeks go by without touching the books

We’ve touched on this, so there’s no surprise here — a backlog of bookkeeping work increases the overwhelm and the resistance to diving back into recordkeeping. It also causes missing data and unanswered questions to linger, making them more easily forgotten or missed.

Skipping the monthly reconciliation

Weekly reconciliations could be excessive for many small businesses, but monthly reconciliation is highly recommended. Your statements typically come out monthly as well, making this a great time for an accuracy check. When books go unreconciled for too long, errors linger and can grow into larger issues. 

Missing transactions that didn’t show up on your statements

These are often cash transactions or purchases made using a personal bank account. As part of your weekly documentation process, remember to include any notes on these transactions so that they can be incorporated in real-time into your books.

Mixing personal and business expenses

This is easier to do than you’d think, and often arises because:

• Both business and personal purchases are made on the same receipt (for example, department store purchases). 

• A separate business bank account isn’t being used (for more on this, read: Here’s Why You Need a Separate Bank Account for Your Small Business).

• The business-portion of a personal expense is not documented (for example, business mileage on your personal vehicle). 

Adding safeguards for these common errors when developing your weekly and monthly bookkeeping routine can help keep your routine focused and intentional.

For more on common bookkeeping mistakes, you can visit: Common Bookkeeping Mistakes Small Business Owners Make (and How to Fix Them)

Does managing your own books still feel overwhelming?

If so, it’s perfectly understandable. Not everyone enjoys the detailed work of bookkeeping, and sometimes it simply requires more time than you have available. 

If you find it difficult to stick with a bookkeeping routine, you find your books are frequently behind, or you feel uncertainty around the accuracy of your numbers, you may benefit from working with a dedicated bookkeeper to take this aspect of business off your plate. 

As a bookkeeper, I enjoy the details — and supporting business owners not just as a record keeper, but as a partner in building confidence and clarity around your numbers. If this sounds like the type of support you could use, reach out for a free evaluation of your books — I look forward to meeting you.