This paper addresses the finite strip formulations for the stability analysis of viscoelastic composite plates with variable thickness in the transverse direction, which are subjected to in-plane forces. While the finite strip method is fairly well-known in the buckling analysis, hitherto its direct application to the buckling of viscoelastic composite plates with variable thickness has not been investigated. The equations governing the stiffness and the geometry matrices of the composite plate are solved in the time domain using both the higher-order shear deformation theory and the method of effective moduli. These matrices are then assembled so that the global stiffness and geometry matrices of a moderately thick rectangular plate are formed which lead to an eigenvalue problem that is solved to determine the magnitude of critical buckling load for the viscoelastic plate. The accuracy of the proposed model is verified against the results which have been reported elsewhere whilst a comprehensive parametric study is presented to show the effects of viscoelasticity parameters, boundary conditions as well as combined bending and compression loads on the critical buckling load of thin and moderately thick viscoelastic composite plates.