Short answer: Tax-ready bookkeeping in Los Angeles means the full year is closed, every account is reconciled, and nothing sits in uncategorized accounts when your CPA starts. The year-end package includes reconciliation reports, loan statements, fixed asset purchases, 1099 vendor totals and payroll summaries. Your CPA still files the return and keeps the tax advice.
What tax-ready means
Tax-ready books are closed for the full year, every account is reconciled, and the balance sheet ties to statements. Nothing sits in uncategorized accounts, owner activity is separated, and the CPA can find support for anything unusual without a phone call.
When books are not ready, the CPA has two choices: send them back, or fix them at their own rates during the busiest weeks of their year. Neither one gets your return done sooner.
The year-end package
- Profit and loss and balance sheet for the full year
- Reconciliation reports for every bank, card and loan account at year end
- Loan statements showing year-end principal and interest paid
- Fixed asset purchases with dates, amounts and invoices
- 1099 vendor totals, with W-9s on file
- Payroll summaries that tie to the books
- A short note of anything unusual: new loans, asset sales, owner contributions or large one-time items
Working alongside your CPA
The bookkeeping team does not replace your CPA. Your CPA keeps the tax advice, the return and the relationship. The bookkeepers make sure the numbers your CPA starts from are right, and answer their questions about the books directly.
If your CPA has their own year-end checklist, send it. The package is built to match it. Many CPAs are happy to give a bookkeeper accountant access to the file, which saves everyone a round of exports.
Timing in a Los Angeles tax year
Year end is crowded. CPAs, payroll providers and 1099 deadlines all land in January, and the City of Los Angeles business tax renewal follows shortly after. Books that are closed through November before the year ends make December and January far calmer.
If you are already behind, start with catch-up now, and tell your CPA early so they can plan for an extension if one is needed.
Questions your CPA will ask, answered in advance
Was any equipment or a vehicle bought this year, and how was it paid for? Were there new loans, and is the year-end balance on the books the same as the lender's statement? Did the owners put money in or take money out, and is it recorded as a contribution or a draw rather than an expense?
Are there contractors who need a 1099, and do you have their W-9s? Is anything still sitting in an uncategorized or suspense account? Did you sell anything other than your usual products or services? A tax-ready package answers these in writing, which is often the difference between a return filed on time and one filed on extension.
If you do not have a CPA
Ask on the call. The partner team can tell you what they can help with and how to find a CPA who fits your kind of business.
Where we work
We keep books for businesses across the City of Los Angeles, the Westside, the Eastside, the San Fernando Valley, the San Gabriel Valley, the Gateway Cities and the South Bay.
- Alhambra
- Arcadia
- City of Industry
- Commerce
- Diamond Bar
- Downey
- Downtown Los Angeles
- East Los Angeles
- El Monte
- Koreatown
- Lincoln Heights
- North Hollywood
- Pasadena
- Pomona
- San Fernando Valley
- Santa Fe Springs
- Santa Monica
- Sherman Oaks
- South Bay
- Van Nuys
- Vernon
- West Covina
- West Los Angeles
- Whittier
- Woodland Hills
Questions
Do you prepare tax returns?
The work on this page is the books and the year-end package. Ask on the call if you need help with the return itself.
Can you talk to my CPA directly?
Yes. Most questions are faster bookkeeper to CPA, with you copied.
What if my CPA finds an error?
It gets fixed in the books and documented, so the next year starts clean.
When should I start?
As early in the year as you can. Monthly bookkeeping means year end is a short final close, not a project.
Do tax-ready books lower my tax bill?
Clean books do not change the tax law, but they help your CPA find every deduction you can document. Expenses buried in the wrong accounts or missing receipts are the ones most often lost.