What Your Bookkeeper Needs From You So Your CPA Appointment Goes Smoothly

Here's something a lot of small business owners don't realize: the easier you make your bookkeeper's job throughout the year, the cheaper and faster your CPA appointment will be. Your CPA works from your financial records. If those records are clean, accurate, and current, your CPA can focus on advising you. If they're not, your CPA spends billable time sorting things out instead.

Here's what your bookkeeper needs from you to keep things in good shape.

Your Bank and Credit Card Statements

All accounts, every month. Your bookkeeper uses these to reconcile your records and catch anything that might have slipped through. Missing statements create gaps that are hard to fill later.

Loan Statements

If you have business loans, your bookkeeper needs the monthly statements - not just the payment amount, but the breakdown of principal and interest. This matters more than most people realize. (We wrote a whole post about it [here.])

Receipts for Expenses

Your bookkeeper can record transactions from your bank feed, but receipts provide the detail that matters for categorization and substantiation. A habit of photographing receipts immediately - most accounting software has a built-in feature for this - goes a long way.

Your Invoices and Payment Records

If you invoice clients, your bookkeeper needs access to those records to make sure income is recorded correctly and outstanding balances are tracked.

1099s You Receive

If you receive 1099-NEC or 1099-K forms from clients or payment processors, pass those along. Your bookkeeper needs to make sure what's reported on those forms matches what's in your books.

A Heads Up When Something Changes

Hired someone? Took out a loan? Bought equipment? Started using a new payment platform? These things affect your books, and your bookkeeper needs to know about them when they happen - not at year-end.

The Bottom Line

Your bookkeeper's job is to keep your records accurate and current all year long so that when tax season arrives, your CPA gets a clean, organized handoff instead of a pile of questions. The more you keep your bookkeeper in the loop, the smoother that handoff will

be.

This post is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal or tax advice. Consult a qualified professional for guidance specific to your situation.