Uncleared transactions and overdue accounts: the weekly pulse check your books need
Most bookkeeping problems do not arrive loudly. They drift: an uncleared check from March, an invoice that quietly passed 90 days. A fifteen-minute weekly review catches both while they are still small. Here is the routine we recommend to every client — and run ourselves.
Metric one: uncleared transactions
Open your bank reconciliation window in QuickBooks and look at what is sitting uncleared. A few in-flight items are normal. What is not normal: checks older than 30 days, deposits recorded twice, or charges that cleared the bank but were never recorded in your books. Each one is a small inaccuracy that compounds.
- Checks older than 30 days: contact the payee, then void or reissue.
- Duplicates: delete the duplicate entry the same day you find it.
- Stale deposits: confirm the money actually arrived, then match it.
Metric two: overdue accounts receivable
Run an aging report weekly and look at two things: total overdue, and age. An invoice at 45 days gets a friendly nudge. At 60 days it gets a phone call. At 90 days it needs a decision — a payment plan or a formal escalation. The pattern matters more than any single invoice: a client who pays later every month is telling you something.
Make it a ritual, not a reminder
Same day, same time, every week — Monday morning works well for most owners. Fifteen minutes, two reports, three actions. The value is not in any single week's findings; it is that nothing gets ninety days old unnoticed.
Books stay healthy the way gardens do: small attention, often — never one big rescue in the fall.
Want this routine handled for you? Our weekly pulse check is part of every full-cycle bookkeeping engagement. Get in touch and we will set it up.
Written by Eric R Curtin, Founder and Principal of Black Tie Bookkeeping in Saint Augustine, Florida. Questions about your books? Get in touch.