Most bookkeeping trouble is not hard, it is late: a reconciliation that slipped, a filing that crept up, a year-end that arrived before the books were ready. An accounting calendar fixes that by putting every recurring task where you can see it coming. Below is a small-business calendar you can copy and trim to your own obligations.
The accounting calendar
The table groups tasks by how often they come due. Timing is described generically on purpose — a specific date can move when it lands on a weekend or holiday, and state rules vary — so treat each row as a prompt to confirm the real deadline with the authority, not as the deadline itself.
| Task | Cadence | Typical timing |
|---|---|---|
| Enter and categorize all transactions | Monthly | Ongoing; finalize at month-end |
| Reconcile bank and credit card accounts | Monthly | After each statement arrives |
| Run the month-end close | Monthly | Early in the following month |
| Remit collected sales tax | Monthly or quarterly | On your state Department of Revenue's schedule |
| Deposit and report payroll taxes | Per payroll | On the IRS deposit schedule for your business |
| Pay quarterly estimated income taxes | Quarterly | On the IRS quarterly schedule, if you owe them |
| File the quarterly payroll return (Form 941) | Quarterly | Filed with the IRS each quarter, if you have employees |
| Review quarterly financials against budget | Quarterly | After the quarter's final month closes |
| Send 1099-NEC forms to contractors | Annual | By the IRS deadline in late January (January 31) |
| Send W-2 forms to employees | Annual | By the IRS deadline in late January (January 31) |
| File the annual payroll return (Form 940) | Annual | Filed with the IRS after year-end, if you have employees |
| Take a physical inventory count | Annual | At or near year-end, if you carry stock |
| Close the year and roll retained earnings | Annual | After the final month of the year closes |
| Prepare for the business income tax return | Annual | Deadline depends on your entity type — confirm with the IRS |
How to use the calendar
Copy the rows that apply to your business and delete the rest — a sole proprietor with no employees and no inventory will keep a much shorter list than a product business with a payroll. Then put real dates against the recurring rows for the year ahead, checking each federal deadline against the IRS and each sales-tax or state filing against your state Department of Revenue. Because a due date can shift when it falls on a weekend or holiday, and because state rules differ, the calendar deliberately describes the obligation rather than asserting a date we cannot stand behind for your year and place.
The monthly rows are the engine. Working them on time — entering transactions, reconciling, and running the close — is what keeps the quarterly and annual tasks from becoming emergencies, because a year-end built on twelve clean months is a formality rather than a scramble. The month-end close template is how you actually work those monthly rows, and the year-end closing checklist covers the annual ones in detail.
Staying on track through the year
A calendar only helps if the books behind it stay current, and that is exactly where many small businesses fall behind. If your file is already months out of date, no calendar can catch it up on its own — but our methodology is built to bring a neglected file current and then hand you a clean base this calendar can keep. A free read-only QuickBooks review tells you how far behind your books actually are and what it would take to get back on schedule, at no charge and with no obligation.