The mindset: you're the gatherer, they're the expert
Your job is not to calculate your taxes — it's to hand your accountant (or tax software) complete, organized inputs. Every hour you spend gathering documents in December saves billable time and stress in filing season, when your accountant is at their busiest. Ask your accountant early whether they have a specific intake checklist; this guide covers what most of them ask for.
The document checklist
- Full-year income records. Sales reports, invoicing summaries, and any records of income from other sources (platforms, marketplaces, side projects). Income that arrived without an invoice is easy to miss — bank statements are your backup.
- Full-year expense records. Your categorized receipts and expense summaries from Guide 1 — digital copies, named consistently.
- Bank and loan statements. Year-end statements for every business account, plus any loans, lines of credit, or credit cards used for the business.
- Payroll records. If you have employees or paid contractors, summaries of what was paid to whom. Keep contractor details current (names, addresses, amounts) — you'll need them.
- Big purchases and disposals. Records of major equipment bought or sold during the year, with dates and amounts. If you sold an asset, keep both the purchase and sale records.
- Home-office details. If you work from home, your accountant will likely ask about the space used, relevant household bills, and hours — have the numbers ready rather than estimating on the spot.
- Inventory counts (if applicable). A year-end count of stock on hand; the difference between start- and end-of-year inventory affects your numbers.
- Prior-year documents. Last year's return and any carry-forward amounts (losses, unused credits) so nothing gets dropped between years.
The financial summaries
Your accountant will want, at minimum, a profit-and-loss statement (income minus expenses for the year) and a balance sheet (what the business owns and owes at year-end). If your books are reconciled (Guide 2), these take minutes to produce in most accounting tools. Hand over the underlying detail too — summaries are for speed, details are for verification.
Questions to have answers for
Accountants often ask questions owners haven't prepared for. Think through these in December:
- Did you take any money out of the business (or put money in)? When, and how much?
- Are any receivables likely uncollectible — invoices you won't realistically get paid?
- Did you make any large purchases you're unsure how to classify?
- Did your business model or structure change this year (new partners, new services, new locations)?
- Are there expenses you incurred but haven't recorded yet?
On deadlines: filing and payment deadlines vary by jurisdiction, business structure, and year — confirm the exact dates with your accountant or your tax authority. Don't rely on what applied last year; deadlines can shift.
What NOT to do
Don't invent categories for things you can't document. Don't delete messy records to make the pile smaller — messy records can still be sorted, deleted records can't be recovered. And don't treat "my friend does it this way" as tax advice: rules differ by place, structure, and situation, which is exactly why the professional exists.
The early-bird advantage
Accountants have a busy season. Getting them your package in January rather than at the deadline means your file gets attention, questions get answered calmly, and you may have time to act on advice (like making last-possible contributions or adjustments) instead of just filing what happened.