QuickBooks Online: How-to Close Year-End Books

As an outsourced accounting firm with expertise in QuickBooks Online, we work with many businesses to help them close out their books for year-end.

In just eight steps, first you must close your books in QuickBooks Online:

1. You need to click the Company name (gear icon), in the upper-right-corner
2. Select Account and Settings
3. Go to Advanced tab
4. Under Accounting, put a checkmark in the Close the books box
5. Enter the Closing date
6. Set whether or not a password is needed to change closed transactions
7. Click Save
8. Click Done

When it comes to year-end, there are certain tasks that you must do in QuickBooks Online in order to close the year and prepare for a new one. Here are the tasks listed in the QuickBooks Online Business Community Section.

QuickBooks Online Task #1: Confirm the first month of your financial year

To confirm or change the first month of your financial year:

1. Go to the Setting icon
2. Select Account and Settings
3. Select Advanced
4. In the Accounting section, verify that the setting in the First month of the financial year field is correct, or select the pencil icon to change the setting
5. Select Save and Done

QuickBooks Online Task #2: Check customer account balances, send statements, and clear outstanding deposits

To check customer account balances:

1. Select Reports
2. In the search bar, enter Accounts Receivable Aging Summary or Accounts Receivable Aging Detail and select the report you want to review. These reports are available in QuickBooks Online Essentials and Plus only
3. Review the report to identify customers with outstanding balances

To send a statement:

1. Select Sales, then select Customers
2. Locate the customer you want to send a statement to
3. From the Action column drop-down menu, select Create statement
4. In the Create Statements window, select Print and Preview to print the statement, or select Save and send to create and preview an email to send with the statement to the customer

You must also confirm that all deposits are cleared, so they are not included in your current year’s income.

QuickBooks Online Task #3: Confirm supplier account balances, pay bills and write checks

By year-end you should be paying any outstanding bills that you owe and addressing any credits, discounts or products that you are owed from your suppliers (if applicable).

To review outstanding bills:

1. Select Reports
2. On the search bar, enter Accounts Payable Aging Summary or Accounts Payable Aging Detail and select the report you want to review. These reports are available in QuickBooks Online Essentials and Plus only
3. Review the report to identify any outstanding bills to pay before the end of the year

QuickBooks Online Task #4: Reconcile bank accounts, credit cards, and petty cash

To reconcile your bank and credit card accounts in QuickBooks online:

1. Go to Settings ⚙️
2. Select Reconcile
3. Follow the prompts to match the transactions on your bank or credit card statement with the transactions on the Reconcile page

QuickBooks Online Task #5: Run year-end reports

To run year-end reports:

1. Go to Reports
2. Locate and review the Profit and Loss report and the Balance Sheet, as well as any customised reports you or your accountant require
3. Make sure that the Profit for the Year figure matches the balance on the Profit and Loss report

QuickBooks Online Task #5: Get expert accounting advice

At this point in the year-end process, it’s best to collaborate with your management and accounting team to lay the groundwork for financial data.  At Plumb, we are an outsourced accounting team, providing virtual or on-site solutions for setting up QuickBooks Online best practices for accounting procedures and the year-end close.

Here are some tasks that should be handled in QuickBooks with the help of an accountant.

• Reclassify transactions
• Distribute profits from the business
• Prepare year-end tax returns
• Close the books (see steps above)

 Need Help with Closing the Year in QuickBooks Online? Contact us! We'd love to help.