Recurring bookkeeping tasks checklist: weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual
A free checklist of the recurring work to track for each client, sorted by how often it comes around, with a simple way to roll each task forward to its next due date.
Recurring work slips when it lives in your head. The fix is one row per task per client, each with a frequency and a next due date, in a list sorted by what's due first. The tasks below are a starting point, not a standard. Add, remove or rename them for your practice and your clients' obligations.
During onboarding, after you tell the client where statements and receipts go, add the monthly document request and any weekly categorization.
The free checklist, by frequency
Weekly
- Categorize bank feed transactions. Set the next due date to your next working day, then weekly from there.
- Run a scope check. List clients by in-scope hours this month, highest first. For any client near the limit, find what's driving the hours. Confirm that each out-of-scope entry was approved by the client before you did the work.
Monthly
- Send the month-end document request. Due on the 1st. One email lists every statement and receipt you need for last month.
- Create this month's close checklist. Do it on Day 1, so the eight close steps have due dates before the work starts.
- Categorize the remaining bank feed activity for the month. Days 1 to 3, so nothing is uncategorized for the period.
- After you deliver the close: log your close time as in-scope work, check the client's scope status, and mark the related recurring tasks done.
Quarterly
- Track the quarterly close due date. For clients who close quarterly, run the close checklist only in quarter-end months, with the period end set to the quarter's last day, and keep a quarterly task for the due date.
Annual
- List each client's year-end work as annual tasks. Which tasks apply depends on the client and on your engagement, so this page doesn't name them for you. Give each one a next due date and it comes back a year later.
Bi-Weekly is a fifth frequency you can use, for work on a two-week cycle.
What to record on each task
- The task and the client it belongs to
- Frequency: Weekly, Bi-Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly or Annually
- Category: Bookkeeping, Payroll, Sales Tax, Reporting or Year-End
- Next due date and the date you last completed it
- Active, yes or no. Switch a task off to pause it instead of deleting it.
- Notes, for anything specific to that client
How to read the due status
| Status | When |
|---|---|
| Paused | The task isn't active. |
| No date | The next due date is empty. |
| Overdue | The next due date has passed. |
| Due within 7 days | The next due date is today or in the next 7 days. |
| Upcoming | Everything else. |
Rolling a task forward
When you finish a task, set its last-completed date to today and move the next due date on by one cycle:
| Frequency | Following due date |
|---|---|
| Weekly | Next due + 7 days |
| Bi-Weekly | Next due + 14 days |
| Monthly | Next due + 1 month |
| Quarterly | Next due + 3 months |
| Annually | Next due + 1 year |
Three views worth building
- Active: active tasks only, sorted by next due date, earliest first. This is the daily list.
- Calendar: active tasks laid out by next due date.
- By frequency: a board grouped by frequency, to see each client's weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual work side by side.
If you mostly do admin support, recurring tasks plus a time log can carry the whole system. See the page on virtual assistant clients. For the monthly work in detail, see the month-end close checklist.
Bookkeeper Client Hub: Onboarding & Month-End Close Notion Kit, $19 on Gumroad. In the kit, a Recurring Tasks database holds these rows per client: a Due Status formula flags what's overdue, a Following Due formula calculates the next date, and a Mark Done button stamps the completion date.
What you get: six Notion-ready CSV files (one per database, with fictional sample rows) plus a written setup guide, BUILD_SPEC, and the guide "Client Onboarding & Month-End Close System". It is a manual build with many steps, not a template you duplicate: you import the CSVs into Notion, then follow the setup guide to build the relations, rollups, formulas, views and buttons. It doesn't connect to your accounting software. Refunds: 14 days from purchase, via Gumroad.
Not yet test-run: the full build has not been test-run end to end in a fresh Notion workspace. If a step doesn't work for you, the 14-day refund via Gumroad applies.
Created with AI assistance. Not accounting, tax, or legal advice.
Refund policy: the paid kit has refunds within 14 days of purchase, via Gumroad: reply to your Gumroad purchase receipt.
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Created with AI assistance. Not accounting, tax, or legal advice. These are general examples; for a specific situation, consult a qualified professional. No affiliate links or sponsored mentions.