You can use this guide to help you gather the documentation you will need to file your firm’s taxes.
Year End Tax Preparation Guide
- Reconcile all bank accounts through December 31st, or the end of the fiscal year.
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Run and Review these reports:
Profit and Loss (P&L) Report - Review income accounts
- Review expense accounts
Balance Sheet Report - Review asset accounts, with special focus on Advanced Client Costs
- Review liability accounts for accuracy
- Loans (proper posting of payments)
- Loan balances
- Review automatic calculation and posting of Retained Earnings, which sums the prior year’s (or years’) income.
- If you want to post prior year’s income to a different equity account, you can use a journal entry to shift posting from Retained Earnings to other chart of accounts.
Trial Balance Report
- Review
General Ledger Report - Review a detailed General Ledger (GL) for the tax year (the GL contains all COA accounts)
Payee/Payor Ledger Report - Review Payee/Payor Ledger for each bank account
- Check payee files to ensure you have a Tax ID.
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Have your accountant log into your account. This access will allow them to make journal entries and handle other activities in real time.