Close the records before collecting everything

Tax preparation is easier when the accounting file has a clear stopping point. Confirm that business bank, card, loan, payroll, and payment accounts are recorded through the same period and reconciled where applicable.

  • List every business bank, card, loan, payroll, and merchant account.
  • Identify the last reconciled month for each account.
  • Resolve duplicate feeds, uncategorized activity, and owner transactions.
  • Document open items instead of guessing how they should be treated.

Build one organized source list

  • Prior year federal and state returns
  • Year-end financial reports and reconciliation support
  • Payroll and contractor reporting records
  • Asset purchases, loan activity, and ownership changes
  • Notices, estimated payments, and major changes during the year

Turn unanswered items into meeting questions

Keep a short list of what changed, what remains incomplete, and which decisions are approaching. That helps the first tax-season conversation focus on exceptions and judgment rather than searching through an unstructured document transfer.

Ask the firm to confirm its approved secure method before transmitting returns, identity information, payroll records, or financial statements.

Make it specific

A guide can prepare the question. Your facts determine the answer.

Use this resource to organize the conversation, then confirm the right scope and next step for your situation.

Explore tax preparation

Sources and scope

This guide is general educational information, not accounting, tax, or legal advice for a specific situation. Rules change and individual facts matter, so confirm how any of it applies to you before you act on it.