Month-end guide
A new bookkeeping client's first month-end
Updated 18 September 2026
The first close of a new client sets the pattern for every one after it. This is what to collect, what to set up, and what to send, so the relationship starts as advice rather than data entry.
Why the first close decides the relationship
A new client has no memory of your work yet, so the first delivery becomes the definition of it. A bare Profit & Loss in month 1 teaches them that you produce statements. A close with a covering note that names what moved teaches them that you watch the business. Both take the same number of hours. Only one supports the fee.
The first close also runs slower than the later ones, because the setup is new and the history is unknown. Budget for it, and let the client know their first delivery takes longer than the ones that follow.
Collect before the month starts
Get the items in the list below before you run the first close, not during it. Chasing them mid-close is the reason first closes run late. The exact set varies by software and industry, so treat this as the floor and not the ceiling.
To collect, first conversation
- Access: login to the accounting software, or an accountant invite - Bank and card feeds connected, and statements back to the opening balance - Prior accountant or preparer contacted for last year's closing balances - Loan and lease statements, so liability balances can be tied - Fixed asset list: what was bought, and what was already depreciated - Payroll: who runs it, and how the filings reach you - Sales tax: the registration, the rate, and the filing frequency - The client's own terms: who they invoice, and how long their customers take to pay
The last item is easy to skip and pays back every month after. If you know their largest customer pays in 45 days, you can write about receivables with the context in mind instead of asking them something they consider obvious.
Set up so month 2 is easier than month 1
Everything you decide in month 1 is something you never decide again. Do the setup once, in writing, so the close itself becomes a checklist rather than a memory exercise.
Setup, once
- A chart of accounts you can defend, cleaned of duplicates and dead accounts - Recurring entries scheduled: depreciation, loan interest, prepaid, accruals - Closing date lock in the software, so a late transaction cannot change a sent month - The export saved: comparative P&L, Balance Sheet, with 2 period columns - A close folder per client, named the same way every month - A note of what you told the client, so month 2 references month 1
The last line is the one that compounds. A covering memo that says what last month said reads like continuity. One that contradicts it, because nobody kept the earlier note, reads like a stranger wrote it.
The first memo carries extra weight
In month 1, the covering note has 1 extra job. The client has just handed their books to a new person, and they are quietly looking for evidence that nothing was broken in the handover. So the first memo states the starting position before it describes the month: opening balances agree, the prior year ties, and anything you found in the handover is named as a question rather than fixed silently.
First memo — the extra paragraph
This is the first close I have prepared for you, so a line on where it starts: opening balances agree to [last preparer / the prior return], and the bank reconciles from [date] forward. Anything I found in the handover is in the questions below rather than fixed without your say-so.
The rest of the memo keeps the standard shape: a headline with direction and figure, 3 to 5 findings, the questions only the owner can answer, and a closing line with a date. A template for that shape is in the month-end memo template.
What to never absorb silently
First closes surface problems: unreconciled history, misclassified expenses, missing records, a prior preparer's figure that does not tie. The pressure is to quietly fix everything before the first delivery so the work looks clean. Fix what is yours to fix. Tell them about the rest.
A client who learns in month 12 that you found a problem in month 1 and said nothing will reread every memo you have sent. The questions section is where a found problem goes, with the figure beside it, and it is also where the fix gets its authorisation.
The first delivery, and the ask
Send the statements and the memo together, as one email, the way every later month will go. Then make 1 ask that sets the pattern: that they reply to the memo with answers to the questions. A client who replies to month 1 replies every month, and the memo becomes a conversation instead of a notification.
Close the email by naming the next date. Month-end work runs on a calendar, and a client who knows when the close arrives stops asking when it is coming.
The checklist, to copy
Copy this into your onboarding folder, 1 per new client.
New client — first month-end — [client]
01 Access, feeds and history collected before the close starts 02 Prior balances obtained and tied to the last return or statement 03 Chart of accounts cleaned, recurring entries scheduled 04 Closing date lock set in the software 05 Export saved: comparative P&L and Balance Sheet, 2 period columns 06 First memo written, with the handover paragraph included 07 Found problems named in the questions, not fixed silently 08 Sent as one email; reply requested; next close date named
Step 06 is free to copy from the month-end memo template, and the standing paragraph it needs is in section 04 above.
Or have it written for you
When the first month-end arrives, Loopwork AI writes the covering memo from the statements you already export. Your first memo is free and takes no card.