Provide Year-End Financials to your Tax Preparer or CPA

All our programs include a fully managed, structured year-end close and financial delivery process—ensuring your books are finalized, approved, locked, and delivered to your CPA in a clean, tax-ready format.

This is not just sending reports. It is a controlled, step-by-step process designed to eliminate confusion, prevent errors, and create a clear handoff between bookkeeping and tax preparation.

What This Service Includes

As part of your year-end process, we will:

• Prepare your financials on the same tax basis you file on (Cash or Accrual)

  • We review your prior-year tax return to confirm your filing basis

  • You will confirm with us if any changes have been made before year-end

Draft Financials (Prepared Mid–Late February)

You will receive a complete set of Draft Year-End Financial Statements, including:

• Profit & Loss

• Balance Sheet

• Statement of Cash Flows (if required)

• Detailed Owner’s Equity Report

• General Ledger (Excel format, depending on transaction volume)

If you file on an Accrual Basis, we will also include:

• AR Aging Report

• Customer Open Invoices Report

• AP Aging Report

• Unpaid Vendor Bills Report

Year-End Draft Financials in February or two months after Fiscal year-end

Your Year-End Financial Report Drafts will be uploaded to Client Portal in a Message or To Do for your Review by the following dates, depending on your service program: Platinum - February 15th

Gold - February 20th

Bronze - February 25th

All other programs - By end of February if all data is supplied Please PROMPTLY review your drafted financials after you receive them ASAP. If we've been working with you all year, then there should be very limited to no updates needed, but unless you check your numbers, you can't know for sure.

The sooner you can provide any feedback the sooner we can make any minor updates as needed. If you don't get back to us with your feedback by the time we have to send your financials for e-signature approval, then further updates will need to be made later after you start your tax planning with your CPA.

Make sure you have delivered the following to us no later than Janaury so this process is handled on time without delays:

• Expense Reports for Personally paid Business Expenses

• Mileage Reports from using your vehicle for business trips

• Home Office Costs

• 1099 forms you received from others

• Interest and tax forms you received from others

• Financial YearEnd Statements and Monthly Statements

• Receipts for fixed asset purchases over $2,500 

• Provide and inventory count if you sell products

• Year-End Questionnaire listing any changes in business info 

If you submit the above information AFTER you receive your DRAFT yearend reports in February, you will be delaying the process for us to get your CPA a financial, as further review and accounting will need to be done in order to include missing information into your financial drafts.

We will post To Do’s requesting this information through out the year and during the Janaury year-end process. Request a tax extension with your CPA if you think you will need more time to gather and turn in your yearend paperwork.

There are always going to be SOME adjustments that you and your CPA may identify due to depreciation schedules and your personal tax situation.

Your CPA can supply us with any journals to be added to your closed books if you don't catch them during this phase.

However, if significant updates are needed, a change order for the additional time will be sent, as this will be considered out-of-scope backwork that should have been dealt with during the year. So please stay on top of your monthly financial reviews and quickly respond with any feedback on your year-end draft financials.

Client Review & E-Signature Approval

Your drafted financials are delivered to you via E-Signature for formal approval.

This step is critical that shows that we have now done our part to provide you with financials by the due date set to the best of our ability with the information and feedback you have supplied to us to date.

Before signing, you should:

• Review your financial statements for accuracy and reasonableness

• Ensure all outstanding invoices and expenses are accounted for

• Confirm no missing bank or credit card activity (based on To Do’s)

• Verify inventory balances (if applicable)

• Flag anything that does not look correct to note with your CPA

We guide you through this process, but your approval confirms: “These financials reflect my business activity for the year.”

If you delay signing these financials, then you will delay our ability to send the financials to your CPA. This is why it is critical that you review your numbers all year and make time at year's end to go over your numbers so that when you get to signing these draft reports, you can do so and move to the next stage with your CPA for TAX prep as soon as possible.

There are always going to be additional minor adjustments and potential changes that you and your CPA may identify when you start your tax prep processing and are considering your personal tax situation. These can be added to your books after he finishes the tax return if minor.

Your CPA can supply us with any journals to be added to your closed books if you don't catch them during this phase.

However, if significant updates are needed, you are required to FILE AN EXTENSION of your taxes so you don't rush the process.

If we have to deal with significant past period updates in your bookkeeping during March or later months in the year, we will send a change order for the additional time, as this will be considered out-of-scope backwork that should have been dealt with during the year, and in the two months following year-end (Janaury and February). 

So please stay on top of your monthly financial reviews and quickly respond with any feedback on your year-end draft financials so we can get them sent to your CPA by or before the end of February so they can begin on your tax prep.

Closing the Books

Once you sign your drafted financials:

• We officially close your books for the year

• A password lock is applied to prevent any undesired changes

• This signals to your CPA “the books are ready for tax prep”

• No updates are made without explicit CPA authorization (list of journals to make)

This ensures your financials remain stable, consistent, and audit-ready.

That said, it is fine if your CPA gives us a list of journal entries to make so that the financials are in alignment with the tax return. We will make these updates after the tax return is prepared.

Delivery to Your CPA or Tax Preparer

After your books are closed and approved:

• We send your finalized year-end financials directly to your CPA or tax preparer

• We can also grant your CPA access to your QuickBooks file for seamless collaboration

• Your CPA now works from a clean, finalized set of books—not a moving target

If Changes Are Needed After Closing

If your CPA determines updates are required, there are two paths:

Option 1: Journal Entry Adjustments (Most Common)

• Your CPA provides adjusting journal entries

• We post them to your books

• Updated financials are generated

• You receive a new E-Signature for final approval

Option 2: Re-Opening the Books (More Complex Cases) 

If extensive changes are required:

• Books must be formally re-opened

• Additional cleanup or corrections may be needed across periods

• This is handled as a separate project or hourly change order

This typically occurs when:

• Prior periods were never properly cleaned up

• There are unresolved To Do’s or uncategorized transactions

• Very few financial meetings were attended during the year to review the reports

• Your CPA identifies deeper corrections that impact multiple periods

How This Supports You

External Benefit: ✔ Smooth, professional delivery of tax-ready financials directly to your CPA

Internal Benefit: ✔ A structured, stress-free process with confidence your records are accurate, complete, and organized

What You Should Do When You Receive Your Draft Financials

To get the most value from this process, you should do the following during the year and in January / February as much as is possible:

1. Review Your Financial Statements Analyze your Profit & Loss, Balance Sheet, and supporting reports. If something doesn’t look right—flag it.

2. Account for Outstanding Activity Ensure all invoices, expenses, and financial activity are captured. Check your To Do’s for pending items.

3. Confirm Reconciliations Are Complete We reconcile accounts before delivery, but missing statements or data will be flagged for your review.

4. Verify Inventory (if applicable) Provide your year-end inventory count. This directly impacts your financial accuracy and tax position.

5. Review your Accountable Plan This is your plan for how the business handles expense reimbursements to you and your staff.

6. Turn in Expense Reports Provide any expense reimbursement reports for things you may have paid for personally the the business should reimburse you for or expense.

7. Check Distribution Totals Confirm that partner and owner draws and distribution totals taken during the year are accurate.

8. Plan with Your CPA After signing, schedule time with your CPA for tax planning and strategy.

9. Build Your Next-Year Budget Use your financials to set revenue targets, expense plans, and financial goals.

10. Assess Financial Health Evaluate profitability, cash flow, and overall business performance.

11. Plan for Growth Use your financial insights to guide expansion, hiring, and strategic decisions.

12. Ensure Compliance Confirm all required filings (federal, state, and local) are completed. Check portal To Do’s and notifications.

13. Ask Questions Early If anything is unclear, schedule time with our team—we will walk you through your numbers.

Why This Matters

Without a structured year-end process:

• Financials change while your CPA is working

• Errors go unnoticed

• Tax prep becomes slower and more expensive

• Stress increases for everyone involved

With ABBL:

• Your books are clean, locked, and approved

• Your CPA receives exactly what they need

• You have clarity and confidence in your numbers

The Bottom Line

We don’t just “send reports.”

We guide you through a controlled year-end close process, ensure your financials are accurate and approved, lock your books, and deliver everything directly to your CPA—so tax season is smooth, efficient, and fully supported from start to finish.