Monthly accounting documents checklist

The short answer: each month, send statements for every bank account, your sales invoices or sales register, purchase and expense bills, your cash record, loan statements, and a note of who each payment came from or went to. Add GST, TDS and payroll papers if they apply to you, plus the extra items for your kind of business listed below.

The core list, for almost every business

Document	Why it is needed	Where it usually goes wrong
Bank statements, every account	To reconcile the books against actual money	A rarely used account or a personal account used for business is left out
Sales invoices or sales register	To record income and prepare GST sales data	Cancelled invoices and credit notes are not included
Purchase bills and expense bills	To record costs and support any input tax credit	Bills reach you after month end, or stay with staff
Cash and petty cash record	To account for money that never touched the bank	Cash spends with no voucher
Loan and EMI statements	To split principal from interest	Only the EMI total is known
Payments to suppliers and from customers, noted against parties	To keep balances correct	Bank entries with no clue who paid or why

Add these if they apply to you

• Registered for GST: any e-way bills, debit and credit notes, and the supplier-side data Deepak Mittal asks you to review.
• You deduct TDS: details of each payment, deduction and challan for deposit, including rent and contractor payments where applicable.
• TDS is deducted from you: certificates or statements received, so credits can be matched.
• You have staff: attendance, salary changes, joiners and leavers, advances, plus PF and ESI records where applicable.
• You bought or sold an asset: the invoice or sale document.
• The owner put in or took out money: a note of what it was for, so it is not treated as sales or expense.

Extra items by kind of business

Shops and retail

• Daily sales summary or POS closing report
• UPI, card and wallet settlement reports
• Cash counted and banked
• Returns and refunds
• Stock count, if you take one

Traders and wholesalers

• Party-wise sales and purchase bills
• Delivery challans and transport bills
• Payment and credit note details by party
• Any cheques received but not yet cleared
• Closing stock details

Doctors, lawyers and consultants

• Fee or consultation receipts, and bills raised
• Statements from hospitals or clients showing payments and TDS
• Practice expenses, separated from personal spending
• Details of any equipment bought

Restaurants

• POS day-end reports
• Delivery platform statements, showing commissions and deductions
• Vendor bills for food and supplies
• Staff attendance and payments

E-commerce sellers

• Marketplace settlement and payment reports
• Order, return and refund reports
• Fee and commission invoices from each platform
• Statements of any tax the marketplace collected or deducted from your payouts
• Payment gateway statements for your own site

Manufacturers

• Raw material purchases and stock issued to production
• Production records, including finished goods
• Job work challans, both sent and received
• Power and factory expenses
• Stock at the end of the month, if counted

A folder system that takes ten minutes to set up

Create one folder per month, in the same way each time, on a drive you control:

2026-11
  01-bank
  02-sales
  03-purchases-and-expenses
  04-cash
  05-gst
  06-tds
  07-payroll
  08-notes-for-accountant.txt

Name each file so that it can be found later, for example 2026-11-supplier-name-invoice-123.pdf. Use the notes file for anything odd: a personal payment from the business account, a disputed invoice, or a one-off receipt. A two-line note can save a long back-and-forth.

A simple routine

1. Weekly: photograph or file bills as they arrive, so they do not stay in wallets and drawers.
2. On the first working day of the month: download the bank and settlement statements.
3. By the date agreed with Deepak Mittal: send the folder. Ask for that date in writing, working back from your filing dates.
4. After they finish: review their list of queries, and answer them while you still remember.

We have not listed due dates here because they can change and may vary by your filing scheme. Confirm yours on the GST portal (opens in a new tab), on the income tax portal (opens in a new tab), or with Deepak Mittal.

Sharing documents safely

A checklist is about documents, not access. Do not send passwords or OTPs with your monthly pack. Share files through a method you have agreed with Deepak Mittal, and know who else can open them. The hiring guide explains how to keep control of portal and software access.

This is general guidance, so your business may need more or less. See what to prepare before you speak with AccountOrbit.