Year-end guide for QuickBooks Online

Check when your accounting period starts.

1. Go to Settings and select Account and settings.
2. Select Advanced.
3. In the Accounting section, select the pencil icon ✎.
4. Select the First month of financial year ▼ dropdown, then select the month where you start your financial year.
5. Select Save, then select Done.

Make sure your customer’s info is up to date.

1. Go to Reports (Take me there) and select Standard reports.
2. Select the Type report name here ▼ dropdown.
3. Search for and select the Accounts receivable ageing summary or Accounts receivable ageing detail report.
   Note: These reports are only available in QuickBooks Online Advanced, Plus, and Essentials.
4. Review the report and check for outstanding balances.
   Note: If you find outstanding balances, create and send a statement to the customer.

Clear any outstanding bank deposits from your deposit queue. Record and create bank deposits if there are still payments in the undeposited funds account. This helps you record all your payments in the correct bank account history. 

Note: QuickBooks includes undeposited funds in the income. You still need to move the funds to the bank account history that receives the payments or deposits.

Review your supplier account balances and check if you have any outstanding bills.

1. Go to Reports (Take me there) and select Standard reports.
2. Select the Type report name here ▼ dropdown.
3. Search for and select the Accounts payable ageing summary or Accounts payable ageing detail report.
   Note: These reports are only available in QuickBooks Online Advanced, Plus and Essentials.
4. Review the report, then identify the outstanding bills.
   Note: You can make bill payments to settle any outstanding bills to your suppliers.

Reconcile all your accounts monthly. This helps you get balanced and accurate data by year end.

Prepare to reconcile your accounts for the year end and understand the reconciliation workflow.

Run reports to identify issues and check for discrepancies. Here's how.

1. Go to Reports (Take me there) and select Management reports.
2. Select + Management report, then enter a name in the Management report name field. 
3. Fill out info as needed.
4. Select Reports and charts. 
5. Enter Balance Sheet in the Report ▼ dropdown. Then, select a date range from the ▼ dropdown showing the report period.
   Note: If the field to select the report period is not visible, select the pencil icon .
6. From the Add ▼ dropdown, select Report. 
7. Enter Profit and Loss in the Report ▼ dropdown. Then, select a date range from the ▼ dropdown showing the report period.
   Note: If the field to select the report period is not visible, select the pencil icon .
8. Select Save and Close.

You can check and run other reports as needed. You can also create a management report to see how much you’ve made.

If needed, your accountant can help you distribute retained earnings among partners.

Your accountant can help you with your year-end process. If you haven’t invited them yet, you can add your accountant to QuickBooks Online. This lets them prepare and file VAT on your behalf.

If needed, your accountant can review your accounts and reclassify transactions. They can also manage your transactions to help you organise your books.

After you review all of your financial data, you can close your books for the year-end. This prevents unwanted changes that may affect your reports before filing your VAT.