Fall Bookkeeping Tasks

While the rest of the world is focused on football, pumpkin lattes, and flannel, a bookkeeper is starting to think about the end of the year and gearing up for tax season.

Here are Task It 2 ME's team's Top Fall Bookkeeping tasks we encourage our clients to think about now.

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Account Reconciliations

The best practice is to reconcile your accounts on a monthly basis, but the reality is that sometimes this doesn't happen. Now is the time to start gathering statements and get caught up. In addition to your checking/bank accounts, here are some other accounts to think about.

• Credit Cards - you have been making payments, but have you reconciled the statements, accounted for all the expenses?

• Electronic Payment Accounts like PayPal and Venmo - while meant to be a "clearing" account (meaning funds don't typically stay in the account, rather they are transferred to a traditional checking account), it is good to review and ensure that all income and /or expenses have been accounted for.

• Loan accounts: While you have been making payments, now is the time to make sure the loan interest expense is being captured.

End of Payroll Prep

In some ways, payroll runs on autopilot during the year. At the end of the year; however there can bring a flurry of activity in the payroll department. Here are some things to think about. .

• Review of employee data - make sure you have the best address and/or email address (if you plan on having W2's emailed to employees) for everyone. If your employee moved, make sure you have updated Local Residency Certificate on file - are you withholding and reporting the employee's local tax to the right municipality?

• End of Year/Holiday Bonuses - While tempting to hand an employee a cash bonus, Employee Bonuses must be processed through payroll. There are options on how to do this. Reach out now to make a plan for adding a bonus to your employees' end-of-year compensation

• Look ahead to 2020 Payroll - will employees be getting a raise at the beginning of 2020? Will payroll deductions for various benefits be changing? With the end of year rush, these items can be missed. If you have changes, set up a time to talk.

1099 Prep

1099's for Non-Employee compensation are due to your contractors and the IRS by January 31st; making the need to hit the ground running on the 1st of January essential. Now is the time to review your vendor spend, determine your 1099 vendors and confirm that you have the proper documents on file to issue a 1099. Need help determining if you need to submit a 1099? Check out this article from the IRS or check with your CPA

CPA Planning

Once the clock strikes midnight on 12/31, the options your CPA has to tax plan become limited. A late year meeting with your CPA can assist with setting you up for a "no-surprise" tax season

In all of this, don't forget that you have a partner. We are here to help make sure that you are ready for the close of the year. Have you be ignoring some of these task? Then call us today to get moving!