How to Customize Your Accounting Checklists to Match Your Workflow

Implementing checklist in your accounting or bookkeeping practice is an amazing way of saving time, boosting your revenue, improving quality of your services and client retention.

Standard checklists for accountants and bookkeepers are a great starting point. And if you are just starting your accounting or bookkeeping business, they may be all you need at this stage helping you grow your business quicker. But at some stage you should consider customising your accounting and bookkeeping checklists. Customising the checklists can allow for even greater efficiency, relevance, and accuracy in aligning tasks with your specific workflows, client needs, or your business’s practices.

How to best customise your accounting and bookkeeping checklists to maximise their benefits?

Identify your core accounting and bookkeeping tasks – when customising your accounting and bookkeeping checklists, it’s important to first identify what it is that you offer to clients. The core tasks that you offer as an accountant or bookkeeper can include, year-end tasks, monthly reconciliations, management reporting etc. But also remember about more general tasks which can include client onboarding. Identifying the core accounting and bookkeeping tasks will help you evaluate which checklists are critical.

Review your current checklists – do your current accounting and bookkeeping checklists cover everything relevant to the clients you work with? Your clients may be different to the clients of another accounting or bookkeeping practice. Do your checklists cover everything you regularly come across or do they have any gaps that need filling? Is there anything you missed in the past that must be include in your accounting and bookkeeping checklists to avoid these omissions in the future?

Tailor checklists to yours and your team’s needs – your accounting or bookkeeping practice isn’t the same as someone else’s practice. Think at what level of expertise your team members are? Junior staff may need more detailed checklists than senior accountants or bookkeepers. What roles are in your accounting team, maybe tax accountants who prepare tax returns, bookkeepers who prepare the accounts for tax accountants before the tax season etc.

Think about your client needs – is your client a sole trader or a limited company? There are differences between preparing a self-assessment tax return compared to a corporation tax return. Also, some clients may require more specific reports for their internal needs and your accounting and bookkeeping checklists should reflect that..

Incorporate accounting software you use – what steps are covered or done by the accounting software you have in your accounting or bookkeeping practice? Are there any steps done purely by the software as part of the automation or does anyone need to be involved? Make sure these steps are included in your accounting or bookkeeping checklists.

Remember that your checklists may require regular reviews. Your practice may start offering additional services or your client base may change. Having standard checklists though is a great starting point that saves lots of time because you don’t have to think of the processes from scratch. And this is exactly what our 10 checklists for accountants and bookkeepers do. You can implement our accounting and bookkeeping checklists straight away and with ease.