Year-End QuickBooks Checklist: Get Your Books Ready Before Your CPA Asks
Every January, CPAs send the same email: "Please send your year-end financials." Owners with clean books export two reports and hit reply. Owners with messy books lose a month of weekends.
The best time to prepare is now, in the fall, while there's still time to fix problems. Use this checklist to get your QuickBooks Online file ready before your CPA asks.
1. Reconcile every account through the latest statement
Start here. Every bank account, credit card, line of credit, and loan should be reconciled through the most recent statement. Open the Reconcile tool and check the last reconciled date for each account.
If any account is more than a month or two behind, catch it up first. Every other step on this list depends on reconciled accounts.
2. Clear the For Review tab
No transaction should sit unreviewed. Go through the full list, match what has a match, and categorize the rest. Write down any charges you can't identify and track them down now, while your memory and your email receipts are still fresh.
3. Empty Uncategorized Income and Uncategorized Expense
Run a profit and loss for the year to date. Click into Uncategorized Income and Uncategorized Expense and recategorize every transaction. Your CPA can't deduct what nobody identified.
4. Review your profit and loss line by line
Look at each category. Ask two questions:
Does this number make sense for my business?
Is anything here twice what I expected?
A category far above normal often points to duplicates or misclassified transactions. A category at zero might mean expenses landed somewhere else.
5. Check accounts receivable
Run the Accounts Receivable aging report. Look for:
Invoices clients already paid, where the payment was recorded as a new deposit instead of applied to the invoice
Old invoices you'll never collect. Talk to your CPA about how to handle them before year-end.
Open invoices that were paid make your income look higher than it is.
6. Check accounts payable
If you track bills in QuickBooks, run the Accounts Payable aging report. Bills you've paid should not show as open. Fix any that do, usually by matching the bank payment to the bill.
7. Separate owner activity from business activity
Personal purchases on a business card, money you put into the business, and money you took out should each sit in an owner's equity account, not in income or expenses. Ask your CPA which accounts fit your business structure.
8. Check loan balances
Compare each loan balance in QuickBooks to the latest statement from your lender. Loan payments include principal and interest. Only the interest is an expense. If the full payment was recorded as an expense, your loan balance in QuickBooks is too high and your expenses are overstated.
9. Gather contractor information for 1099s
If you paid independent contractors during the year, make sure each one has a current W-9 on file and that their payments are tagged as 1099 vendors in QuickBooks. Your CPA or payroll provider will tell you which contractors need a 1099 and the filing deadline.
10. Review the balance sheet
Open your balance sheet and check:
Bank balances match your statements
Opening Balance Equity reads zero
Undeposited funds or payments-to-deposit balances are small and recent
Credit card balances match your statements
A strange balance sheet means a problem hiding somewhere in the year.
11. Send your CPA the right reports
Once everything checks out, export:
Profit and loss for the full year
Balance sheet as of December 31
Any other reports your CPA requests
Better yet, invite your CPA as an accountant user so they can pull what they need.
12. Close the books
After your CPA finishes, set a closing date in QuickBooks settings. A closing date protects last year's numbers from accidental edits.
If the checklist feels like too much
If step 1 showed accounts six months behind, the rest of the list gets much harder. A cleanup before December gets your file reconciled, categorized, and ready, so tax season is a hand-off instead of a scramble.
Frequently asked questions
When should I start year-end prep?
October or November. That leaves time to fix problems before December closes, and before your CPA's busy season starts. Waiting until January means fixing problems under deadline pressure.
Do I need to set a closing date in QuickBooks?
It's a good idea. A closing date, set once your CPA finishes, stops anyone from accidentally changing last year's numbers. You can still make changes later if your CPA asks for them.
What if I find problems from earlier years?
Write them down and talk to your CPA before you change anything in a year that's already filed. Some fixes belong in the current year. Others may need an amended return. Your CPA makes that call.
What else does my CPA need besides reports?
It varies by CPA and business. Common requests include loan statements, details on large equipment or vehicle purchases, contractor payment totals, and any payroll reports. Ask your CPA for their list early.
What if I can't get through the checklist in time?
Start with step 1. Reconciled accounts make every other step easier. If the reconciliations show months of problems, a cleanup before year-end will get you to tax season with books your CPA can use.
Is year-end different for a business that started this year?
Slightly. Your CPA will want the date you opened your business accounts, your startup costs, and any money you put into the business. Gather those along with the checklist items.
Get your books ready before year-end
Tell me how far behind you are. I'll reply within one business day to set up a review of your books. After the review, you get a fixed quote and a timeline.
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