Build a consistent year-end folder
Use separate folders for financial reports, bank reconciliations, payroll, assets, debt, owner activity, information returns, and prior correspondence. Include the final income statement and balance sheet with the period and accounting basis clearly labeled. Preserve original source files. If the books changed after an earlier export, identify the current version and explain material revisions so the preparer does not work from conflicting numbers.
Write the business-change memo
Describe new locations, ownership changes, major contracts, asset purchases, business closures, unusual gains or losses, and changes in workforce. List elections or planning decisions previously discussed and attach the supporting correspondence. Identify personal expenses in the business accounts rather than hoping the preparer will recognize them. A plain-language memo often reveals an issue that standard organizer questions miss.
Clarify the engagement and follow-through
Confirm which federal and state returns are covered, who provides missing information, how draft returns are reviewed, and whether extensions or estimated payments are included. Read the draft and ask about anything you do not understand before authorizing filing. Save the signed authorizations, final return, filing acceptance, and payment instructions together. Put next-year action items into the operating calendar.
- Label the final reports and reconcile key account balances.
- Prepare a one-page memo explaining significant changes.
- Give unresolved questions an owner and target date.
- Keep acceptance records separate from draft return copies.
Questions to consider
Should I send passwords to help the preparer?
Use the provider’s approved secure sharing or delegated-access process. Do not send bank passwords or sensitive tax documents through ordinary email.
Does an extension postpone every payment?
Do not assume so. Ask the preparer which filing extensions and payment obligations apply to your return and record the instructions clearly.
Official sources and further reading
Use this guide to prepare questions and organize records. It does not determine eligibility, establish a professional engagement or guarantee a tax or business outcome.