Before You Close the Year, Do This to Keep Your Bookkeeping and Taxes Clean

Before You Close the Year, Do This to Keep Your Bookkeeping and Taxes Clean

With the year wrapping up, this is your chance to make sure your books are accurate before filing season begins. A few simple checks now can prevent tax errors, missed deductions, and payroll discrepancies in January.

Update all remaining transactions

Enter any year-end purchases, mileage, vendor payments, and subscription renewals. Missing transactions lead to incorrect income and expense totals, which affects your tax filings and financial reports.

Reconcile accounts one more time

Confirm your bank, credit card, and loan balances match what is in your bookkeeping software. Even small mismatches can create problems for year-end statements and tax preparation.

Verify final payroll totals

Check employee wages, taxes, and benefits. Make sure everything aligns with your payroll reports so W-2s and payroll tax filings are accurate when January arrives.

Example: A business in Leesburg reconciled its accounts on December 22 and found a cleared deposit that had never been entered. Correcting it kept their revenue reporting accurate and avoided a mismatch during tax prep.

From all of us, we wish you a warm, peaceful, and happy holiday season. Thank you for trusting us to support your business throughout the year. Contact us to discuss how to prepare your books for a smooth year-end close.