CPA coordination & tax-ready booksWhat Does My CPA Need From Me? A Plain Document List

Marcus (hypothetical, but you may know him) runs a small HVAC company. Every January he gets an email from his CPA with a checklist attached. Every January he reads it, feels a mild sense of dread, and closes it until March.

The list is short. Trouble is, it's written in CPA, and nobody explains which items come from where. So it sits there, like the gym bag in the trunk of the car.

Here's the plain version. Below is what your CPA typically needs from you, sorted by where you'll find it, with a note on what each one is for. Your CPA may ask for more or less depending on your business and entity type, so treat this as a starting point and use their list as the final word.

What does my CPA need from me from the books?

These come out of your accounting software, and they're the foundation everything else hangs on:

1. Profit and loss statement for the full year.
2. Balance sheet as of December 31.
3. Trial balance as of December 31 (every account and its ending balance in one list).
4. General ledger detail, if your CPA asks for it.
5. Accounts receivable and accounts payable aging reports at year-end, if you use the accrual basis (recording income and expenses when earned or incurred, rather than when cash moves).

These reports are only useful if the books are reconciled and reviewed first. If you're not sure they are, start with how to prepare your books for your CPA, then come back here.

Banking, cards and loans

1. December statements for every business bank account.
2. December statements for every business credit card.
3. Year-end loan statements showing the balance and the interest paid during the year.
4. Any new loan documents from the year (agreements, closing statements).
5. Payment processor annual summaries and any year-end forms the processor sent you.

Statements let your CPA confirm that the balances in your books are real. Loan statements show interest paid, which the books need to match.

Payroll and contractors

1. Your payroll provider's year-end reports: annual payroll summary, W-2 and W-3 copies, and the quarterly payroll filings.
2. State payroll and unemployment filings.
3. A list of contractors you paid, with amounts, and the W-9 for each.
4. Copies of the 1099s you issued, if they've already been filed.

Most payroll providers have a year-end report bundle. Download the whole thing, even the parts you don't understand. Your CPA will.

Equipment, vehicles and big purchases

1. A list of equipment, vehicles, computers and building improvements you bought, with dates, costs and invoices.
2. Anything you sold, traded in or retired, with dates and amounts received.
3. Vehicle records if you have them (business mileage logs, for example).

The CPA decides how each item is treated for tax purposes. Your job is to make sure they have the facts. We go deeper on this in fixed asset records: what to track when you buy equipment.

Ownership, entity and owner-level items

1. Last year's tax return (if this is a new CPA).
2. Entity documents: formation documents, operating or partnership agreement, any changes in ownership during the year.
3. Records of owner contributions and distributions.
4. Estimated tax payments made during the year, with dates and amounts.
5. Notices you received from the IRS or state agencies.
6. A short note on big changes: new location, new state, new entity, new partner, a large customer won or lost.

That last one sounds informal. It's one of the most useful documents for accountant review, because it tells your CPA where to look first.

A worked example: one folder, five subfolders

Say Marcus decides this year will be different. Instead of forwarding 40 emails, he builds one shared folder called "2026 Tax Year" with five subfolders:

1. Books: P&L, balance sheet, trial balance, A/R and A/P agings.
2. Banking: three bank statements, two card statements, the truck loan statement, the Stripe annual summary.
3. Payroll: the provider's year-end bundle, plus a contractor list showing four subcontractors paid $18,400, $9,250, $6,700 and $2,100, each with a W-9.
4. Assets: the invoice for a $14,800 refrigerant recovery machine bought in April, and the bill of sale for an old van sold in October for $6,500.
5. Entity and other: last year's return, the operating agreement, estimated payment confirmations, and a five-line note about the year.

He sends one link. His CPA replies with two questions instead of fourteen. Marcus feels almost smug, which is a rare emotion in tax season.

Tips for working with a CPA

A few habits make working with a CPA smoother:

• Ask for their list early, in November or December.
• Send everything at once rather than in a trickle.
• Keep receipts organized during the year, not reconstructed in January. Our guide to receipt management for small business shows a setup that holds up.
• Answer follow-up questions quickly. A three-day reply loop can push your return back by weeks.

When ABFI handles a client's books, we put this package together and hand it to the client's independent CPA. We don't prepare or file returns; the CPA does the tax work and makes the tax calls. More on that handoff on our CPA coordination page.