5-Point Checklist: What to Send Your Accountant
Where does the time go? If you are already looking at the calendar and wondering how to accomplish a lot of reporting in a short time for tax season, we understand. Even if you have reconciled your bank accounts, providing the right documentation and gathering lingering paperwork, receipts, etc. can be very time consuming and daunting.
Prioritize and Focus on These 5 Items:
1. Year-End Financial Statements
If you already reconciled your monthly bank statements-GREAT! Simply provide your CPA with the year- end financial information by sending them:
- An accountant's copy of your QB desktop file, or
- Add your accountant as a user in your QuickBooks Online file
- If your accountant is more traditional, provide them with an excel version of your profit & loss statement, balance sheet, general ledger and trial balance (comparing current year to last year).
Need to reconcile your bank account quickly? Save time with these tips.
2. Other Income Documentation
- Provide a copy of all 1099s
- Outline distributions: Make sure your accounting software accurately details any equity contributions that were offset by distributions.
3. Capital Asset Purchases or Sales
Provide any details around price and market value, description, age and who you purchased (check, credit line or loan).
4. Deductions
- Total Charitable Contributions
- Expected corporate profit sharing contribution (if not already paid)
- Company-paid medical insurance for business owners
- Home office? Total up all your utilities, mortgage interest paid, home insurance, property taxes and repairs for your accountant. Also provide some details around the size of your office space, relative to the house size, per square foot.
- Don’t forget to check any personal accounts you may have used for business expenses.
- Member’s Draw/ Contributions offsets expenses
- Make a Journal Entry that would look like this:
5. Report of Total Auto Expenses and Mileage
You can either:
- Keep details on repairs and maintenance, then deduct percent of use for personal or business.
- Keep track of your business mileage and expense it.
Calculating your mileage can be a pain! Here's how small businesses keep track of travel mileage.
We hope this short list helps you prioritize where to spend your time on prepping for taxes. If you need help getting organized or generating financial reports, we are here to help! I am Kathy Dise, and you can reach me at kathy@budgetease.biz.
