Free: 12 checks plus the 2027 filing dates
Year-end bookkeeping checklist: are your books ready for your CPA?
Twelve checks that show whether your books are tax-ready, plus this season's filing dates on one page. Work through it with QuickBooks and your latest bank statements open.
Free. No call, no credit card. Written by Jordan Peacock, a Certified Advanced QuickBooks Online ProAdvisor and bookkeeper in Cranberry Township, PA.
What's on the year-end bookkeeping checklist
Here's how to run each check. The full checklist adds why your CPA cares, the fix for each one, and a score with a straight answer about what to do next.
- 01
Every bank and card account reconciled through December 31
Open each bank and credit card account in QuickBooks and compare its December 31 balance to the ending balance on the December statement. They should match to the penny, and the reconciliation should be finished, not just started.
- 02
No old items stuck in reconciliation
Look at the uncleared checks and deposits on each account's last reconciliation. Anything more than 90 days old needs an answer.
- 03
Nothing left in Uncategorized or Ask My Accountant
Run a profit and loss for the full year. Look for Uncategorized Income, Uncategorized Expense, and, if your books have one, an Ask My Accountant account. Each one should be zero. Then check that the For review tab under Bank transactions is empty. Anything still there isn't in your books yet.
- 04
Personal spending is out of your business expenses
Scan your expense accounts for personal charges: groceries, family dinners, streaming, the personal order that went on the business card.
- 05
Transfers between your own accounts aren't counted as income
Look through your income accounts for the year. Money moved from savings, from your personal account, or from another business you own shouldn't be there.
- 06
Open invoices match what customers really owe
Run an accounts receivable aging report as of December 31. Every open invoice on it should be money a customer still owes you.
- 07
Unpaid bills match what you really owe
Run an accounts payable aging report as of December 31. Every open bill on it should be one you still owe.
- 08
Loan balances match the lender's statement
Compare each loan and line of credit balance in QuickBooks on December 31 to the lender's year-end statement.
- 09
Payroll in the books matches your payroll reports
If you have employees, compare the year's wages, payroll taxes, and benefits in QuickBooks to your payroll provider's year-end reports.
- 10
Every contractor has a W-9, and you know who gets a 1099
Pull a list of everyone you paid this year who isn't an employee. Check that you have a signed W-9 for each one.
- 11
Big purchases are listed for your CPA
List the equipment, vehicles, computers, and improvements you bought this year, with the date, the vendor, and the cost.
- 12
December 31 reports are saved and the year is closed
Once checks 1 to 11 are done, save a full-year profit and loss, a December 31 balance sheet, and the year's general ledger as PDFs. Then set a closing date in QuickBooks.
Key dates this tax season
- February 1, 2027W-2s to employees and the Social Security Administration. 1099-NECs to contractors and the IRS. (January 31 falls on a Sunday this season.)
- March 15, 2027Partnership returns (including most LLCs with two or more owners) and S corporation returns, for calendar-year businesses.
- April 15, 2027Individual returns, which include sole proprietors and most single-member LLCs, and calendar-year C corporation returns.
An extension gives you more time to file, not more time to pay. General information, not tax advice. Your CPA confirms what you file and when.
Who it's for
- Owners who keep their own books in QuickBooks and want to check them before the CPA does.
- Owners who don't want a monthly bookkeeper, just accurate books by tax time.
- Owners whose bookkeeper left partway through the year.
- Anyone whose CPA had to chase them for the books last spring.
Already have a bookkeeper? Hand it to them. It's a fair way to check the work. Behind already? See catch-up bookkeeping prices and timelines.
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