Cleaning Up Business Accounts Before Closing
31 October 2026
Editor: ET
Cleaning up business accounts before closing the financial year is an important task for every small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) in Singapore. Accurate financial records help business owners understand their company's performance, prepare financial statements, and manage tax and regulatory obligations.
However, many businesses only review their accounts when filing deadlines approach. Missing invoices, unreconciled bank transactions, and unrecorded expenses can create unnecessary stress and additional accounting work.
By reviewing your accounts regularly, you can reduce errors, improve cash flow visibility, and prepare your business for a smoother financial year-end.
Further Reading: Deferred Tax: Managing Leave and Payroll Accruals
1. Review All Income and Expenses
Start by checking that all business income and expenses have been recorded correctly for the financial period.
Review sales invoices, supplier bills, rental payments, subscriptions, payroll expenses, and other operating costs. Look for missing transactions, duplicate entries, incorrect amounts, and expenses recorded under the wrong categories.
Ensure transactions are assigned to the appropriate accounting period. Some expenses may need to be recognised before payment is made, depending on the applicable accounting treatment.
Accurate records provide a clearer picture of your company's financial performance and help your accountant prepare reliable financial statements.
2. Reconcile Bank Accounts and Transactions
Bank reconciliation is one of the most important steps when cleaning up business accounts.
Compare your accounting records with your bank statements and investigate any differences. Common issues include unrecorded bank charges, duplicate payments, missing receipts, and outstanding transactions.
If your company uses corporate credit cards, payment gateways, or e-commerce platforms, reconcile these accounts as well.
Cloud accounting software such as Xero can help simplify reconciliation by bringing bank transactions into one system. Regular reconciliation makes it easier to identify discrepancies before they become more difficult to resolve.
3. Check Outstanding Invoices and Payments
Outstanding customer invoices can affect your company's cash flow, while unrecorded supplier bills can make your financial position appear stronger than it is.
Review your accounts receivable report to identify overdue invoices. Follow up with customers and assess whether any outstanding debts may be difficult to recover.
Next, review accounts payable to ensure supplier invoices, professional fees, rental expenses, and other liabilities have been recorded.
Make sure expenses relating to the financial period are not overlooked simply because payment has not yet been made.
Keeping your receivables and payables updated helps you plan payments, manage working capital, and avoid unexpected cash flow problems.
4. Organise Receipts and Supporting Documents
Proper documentation is essential for accurate accounting and tax reporting in Singapore.
Organise invoices, receipts, contracts, bank statements, payroll records, and other documents supporting your business transactions. A consistent digital filing system makes it easier to locate records when preparing financial reports or responding to queries from the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS).
IRAS generally requires companies to retain relevant accounting records and supporting documents for at least five years from the relevant Year of Assessment.
Do not rely on bank statements alone. Supporting documents help substantiate business income, expenses, and other accounting entries.
5. Review Payroll and GST Records
Before closing your accounts, check that salaries, bonuses, allowances, reimbursements, and applicable Central Provident Fund (CPF) contributions have been recorded correctly.
Compare payroll reports with your accounting entries and resolve any discrepancies. Ensure employee records are organised for relevant reporting obligations.
For GST-registered businesses, review sales and purchases to confirm that GST has been accounted for correctly. Check tax invoices, credit notes, and supporting documents before preparing GST returns.
Regular reviews can help identify errors early and reduce the risk of inaccurate reporting.
6. Check Fixed Assets, Loans, and Other Balances
Review your company's fixed asset register to ensure that equipment, computers, furniture, and other business assets are properly recorded.
Check whether assets have been purchased, disposed of, or written off during the year. Depreciation and other accounting adjustments should be reviewed according to the applicable accounting requirements.
You should also reconcile business loans, shareholder balances, accrued expenses, and other significant balance sheet accounts.
Investigate any unexplained balances before finalising your accounts. Addressing these issues early helps improve the reliability of your financial reports.
7. Prepare Financial Statements and Review Tax Matters
Once your accounts have been reconciled, prepare the relevant financial reports, including the profit and loss statement and balance sheet.
Review your results for unusual expenses, significant changes in revenue, and differences compared with previous periods. These insights can help you identify opportunities to improve profitability and control costs.
You should also prepare for corporate tax reporting by organising supporting documents and reviewing potential tax adjustments. Accounting profit may differ from taxable profit because certain expenses and income receive different tax treatments.
Singapore companies must also consider applicable IRAS and Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) requirements, including corporate tax filings, financial statement preparation, and annual returns where relevant.
8. Establish a Better Accounting Routine
Cleaning up accounts becomes easier when financial records are maintained throughout the year.
Set a monthly schedule for bank reconciliation, invoice tracking, expense reviews, and management reporting. Assign responsibility for submitting documents and approving transactions, and consider using cloud accounting software to reduce manual work.
Regular bookkeeping also helps business owners monitor financial performance instead of waiting until year-end to discover problems.
A consistent accounting routine saves time, improves visibility, and supports better business decisions.
Further Reading: Deferred Tax: Managing Leave and Payroll Accruals
How Expede Can Help
Expede Tech Pte Ltd provides accounting, bookkeeping, payroll, financial statement preparation, and corporate tax services to support businesses in Singapore.
Our cloud-based accounting solutions and professional support help businesses organise financial records, review transactions, and manage accounting and compliance requirements more efficiently.
Whether your accounts need a routine review or comprehensive catch-up work before closing, Expede can help you identify what needs attention and plan the next steps.
Keep your accounts accurate and your business ready for closing. Visit www.expede.com.sg to explore our accounting services and discuss your business requirements with our team.
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