The 15-Minute Monthly Finance Review Every Small Business Needs

If you're running a small business, you're probably juggling a dozen roles at once. The last thing you want is to spend hours buried in spreadsheets. But here's the truth: avoiding your numbers doesn't make financial problems disappear—it just makes them more expensive to fix later.

The good news? You don't need to become an accountant overnight. A simple 15-minute monthly review can save you from nasty surprises at year-end, help you spot problems early, and keep your accountant happy (which keeps your fees down).

Let me show you exactly what to check and how to make it manageable.

What You'll Check in Your 15-Minute Review

1. Revenue Across All Your Systems

This is your starting point: making sure the money you think you earned matches the money that actually came in.

Check these sources:

• Your EPOS or operational system

• Merchant statements (Stripe, PayPal, Square, etc.)

• Any petty cash you're holding and its records

• Your bookkeeping records or accounting software

• Your bank statement for the month

The key question: Do these numbers make sense together? Are there any big amounts missing from your bank that should be there? Any figures in your bookkeeping that don't match reality?

A critical point about merchant payments: The money that hits your bank from marketplaces or payment processors isn't your actual revenue—it's revenue minus their fees. Your customers paid £1,000, but you received £970? That £30 isn't a reduction in your revenue; it's a cost of doing business. Your accountant needs to know both numbers: what customers actually paid and what fees you were charged.

Cash is another element that often gets missed when sending information to your accountant. If you're handling any cash, make sure it's documented and included.

2. Who Owes You Money (And Who You Owe)

Late payments can kill a small business faster than almost anything else. This monthly check helps you spot problems before they become crises.

If you're using accounting software regularly: Run your debtors and creditors ageing reports. These show you exactly who owes you money, how much, and how overdue those payments are—plus the same information for bills you need to pay.

If you're not using software yet: Go through your outstanding customer invoices and supplier bills manually. Make a note of anything that's overdue.

It's easy to forget about that one missing payment from a client or overlook a credit note you received from a supplier. This monthly check catches those things before they become problems.

3. Check You Have All Your Paperwork

Do you have copies of all the sales invoices you raised this month? All the purchase invoices you received? Have you sent them to your accountant (if you have one)?

This sounds basic, but it's where things often fall apart. In corporate accounting departments, teams check for missing invoices daily. For your small business, once a month is absolutely fine—but you do need to do it.

Why Monthly? Why Not Just Deal With It at Year-End?

Here's what I've seen happen repeatedly in my corporate accounting career and with small business clients: skip the monthly checks, and you're setting yourself up for expensive problems.

The year-end scramble gets expensive. When you haven't kept track throughout the year, your accountant has to spend extra time unscrambling your records. Many accountants charge a "messy accounts" fee for this additional work—and it's not cheap.

Good accountants can refuse messy clients. Here's something most business owners don't realize: accountants aren't required to take on every client. Good accountants, especially, will avoid very messy situations. Why? It's not just preference—it's professional standards. Both regulations and licensing requirements mean accountants need to guarantee high-quality work. If your records are too chaotic for them to do that confidently, they can (and will) refuse to work with you.

You miss opportunities to fix problems early. Imagine not noticing that your biggest customer hasn't paid in 90 days until your accountant asks about it at year-end. That's a cash flow crisis that could have been prevented.

If you don't have an accountant yet but plan to hire one, keeping tidy records will help you find a good one. They'll be more willing to take you on and more likely to give you competitive pricing.

How to Actually Do This Without Feeling Overwhelmed

The review itself shouldn't take more than 15-20 minutes once you've got the hang of it. Here's my approach:

Stage 1: Collect Everything

Create a folder on your computer for each month. As you prepare for the reviw, save copies of all necessary reports and files there. Having everything in one place is half the battle.

Stage 2: Compare and Check (This Is Your 15 Minutes)

Once you have all your data together:

• Open all the reports

• Compare the numbers across systems

• Make sure you understand any differences

• Create one monthly summary file (Word or Excel) where you note any differences or issues

• Share this file with your accountant

This one summary file will minimize the questions your accountant has for you at year-end, making the whole process smoother and faster.

If It Feels Daunting: Start Small

Don't try to be perfect on day one. Try this approach instead:

First attempt: Just promise yourself you'll look at the reports to familiarize yourself with them. No big reconciliation required. Pick one report—maybe your EPOS summary—and spend two minutes with it. Look at the final sum for the month, check the weekly or daily amounts, note any clear outliers.

Second step: Open just one more report—perhaps your record of takings. Check that the numbers match your EPOS. Write it down in your summary file: "EPOS and takings record match."

With this approach, you're less likely to feel overwhelmed. You'll get through everything you need, one step at a time.

If you get stuck: Put it aside with a note about where you finished. Pick it up the next day with the same "I'm just going to look at it" mindset.

Still feeling overwhelmed? Contact your accountant and ask for help. They likely have tools or advice specific to your situation that will make this easier.

What If You Have a Monthly Accountant?

If you've decided to work with an accountant on a monthly retainer basis, this review process is often built into your working relationship. I regularly reach out to my clients to check if anything's worrying them or if any documents are missing. This prompts them to do a quick check, so nobody's surprised at year-end.

The monthly rhythm creates a partnership where problems get spotted and solved early, rather than becoming expensive emergencies later.

The Bottom Line

Large companies check overdue invoices weekly and reconcile revenue monthly because these checks prevent expensive problems. Your small business deserves the same protection—you just need a scaled-down version that fits your reality.

Fifteen minutes a month. That's all it takes to:

• Avoid year-end scrambles and extra fees

• Spot problems while they're still small

• Keep your records in shape for when you need them

• Build the financial awareness that helps you make better business decisions

Start with your next month. Create that folder. Save those reports. Give it fifteen minutes. You'll be amazed at how much clearer things become when you're checking in regularly rather than dreading the annual reckoning.

Need help setting up your monthly review process or want someone to handle this for you? Get in touch with Kilicaslan Accounting to discuss how we can support your business with practical, ongoing accounting assistance.