New bookkeeping client checklist: bank statements and opening balances

A new bookkeeping client's bank-records checklist needs three things: a complete account inventory, a statement-by-statement record of what arrived, and an agreed opening position. Asking for “all the bank statements” without specifying accounts and dates usually leaves gaps.

Download the client records workbook (.xlsx). It has Accounts, Statement inventory and Questions sheets, with fictional examples to replace. It covers the records handover; engagement terms, identity checks and professional onboarding obligations belong in your practice's separate process.

Agree the job and its cutoff

Record the entity, reporting period, account currencies, accounting software, contact person and the date through which the previous bookkeeper completed the records. Ask what “done” means: converted statements, reconciled accounts, management reports or a tax-preparation pack are different deliverables.

Get permission and agree a secure file-transfer method before exchanging financial documents. Do not ask for banking passwords. A bank-issued PDF password, where needed for a supplied statement, is different from access credentials for the bank account itself.

List accounts before collecting files

Include closed accounts, deposit accounts, cards, loans and payment processors used during the period. An account with only a few transactions can still hold an opening balance or transfer needed to reconcile another account.

Use a stable identifier such as “Trading GBP • 1234” rather than relying on filenames alone. Last-four identifiers are labels, not proof that two accounts are different: confirm ambiguous cases with the client.

Make one row per statement period

The inventory records Account, Period start, Period end, Received?, Opening, Closing and Notes. For example:

Account	Period	Received?	Next action
Trading GBP	July 2026	Yes	Check import overlap
Trading GBP	August 2026	No	Client to download
Business card	July 2026 cycle	Yes	Obtain preceding closing balance

The workbook does not automatically infer missing months. Enter the expected periods first, then tick them off as files arrive. Card cycles may not follow calendar months; retain their actual start and end dates.

For inaccessible records, the old-statement guide gives a retrieval starting point. Record who requested the missing file and when to follow up.

Agree the opening balance

Ask for the previous period's closing reconciliation and any outstanding items, not just a trial balance total. Compare the first statement opening balance with the prior statement and explain timing differences with the ledger.

If the prior books are unreliable, document that limitation and agree the reconstruction scope before entering adjustments. A balancing journal with no explanation can hide the very problem the client hired you to solve.

Establish import ownership

Record which date ranges are covered by the bank feed, manual entries, previous imports and the new work. Choose one source for each range. Mark who is responsible for importing so two team members do not load the same files independently.

For PDF-only records, batch-convert the statements, check each result and preserve the source filename in the merged spreadsheet. See combining months into Excel for a worked example.

Review exceptions before calling the pack complete

Use the Questions sheet for missing receipts, unknown deposits, transfers without a matching account, mixed personal expenditure and unexplained opening differences. Include an owner, due date and resolution. A blank response is not confirmation that an item is personal or immaterial.

Check extracted rows even when balances match. A balance check tests net arithmetic, not whether a business purchase is deductible or whether a payee description was read correctly.

Reuse the inventory next month

After the first close, save the account list as the next period's starting point. Keep the completed inventory with the source PDFs and reconciliations. Ask the client to tell you when they open or close an account rather than relying on a different-looking bank total to reveal it.

For clients with several years outstanding, use the catch-up bookkeeping sequence after completing this inventory. The checklist makes the scope visible; NoRekey shortens the statement-entry part of that scope.