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Close your books every month and you know where you stand when you make a decision, instead of waiting until tax time to find out.

An operating habit for restoration owners, backed by decades of experience in the trade, no new software required. General education, not tax advice.

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What closing the books actually means

Closing the month is a short, repeatable routine: reconcile the bank and credit card accounts, enter and categorize every transaction, record payroll, match revenue to the jobs that earned it, review what you owe and what you are owed, then lock the period so the numbers stop moving. When it is done, last month is final and trustworthy.

Why monthly, not yearly

Three things break when the books are not closed monthly:

• Job costing stops working. You can only tell whether a job made money once its costs and revenue are recorded and the period is closed.
• You make decisions blind. Hiring, buying equipment, taking on a big loss, all of it is a guess if you do not know your real cash position and margin.
• Problems hide. Errors, double payments, and even fraud surface fast in a monthly close and can stay buried for a year without one.

Lenders and buyers also expect monthly financials. A company that closes its books every month is easier to finance and holds up better when a buyer's accountants rebuild its earnings.

The rhythm: closed by a date

Pick a close date, for example closed by the 10th with a 30-minute review (RocketLevel working figures), and make it real. By that date each month, the prior month is reconciled, categorized, and locked, and you spend 30 minutes reviewing the scorecard. Keep it simple and do it every single month.

Who does it as you grow

Early on, a bookkeeper closes the month and the owner reviews. As the company grows, a fractional CFO adds forecasting and deeper analysis on top of the close, so you get a forward look built on an accurate record of where you have been. The close is the foundation either way.

The deadlines the close should catch

A close that runs on the 10th sits right on top of several filing dates, and the routine should surface them before they are late.

• Employment tax deposits. Your schedule comes from a lookback period, not from your preference. A monthly depositor deposits by the 15th of the following month. A semiweekly depositor deposits on a Wednesday or Friday schedule tied to the payday. And if you ever accumulate $100,000 or more of employment taxes on any day in a deposit period, that deposit is due the next business day, which a big storm payroll can trigger without warning. All three rules are in section 11 of IRS Publication 15, Circular E. These are trust fund taxes, and failing to pay them over reaches you personally under IRC 6672.