The following is a list of items you can do to save money on tax preparation fees and make your tax preparer love you!
1. Reconcile all bank accounts and review outstanding checks and deposits for those that have been outstanding for over 6 months to determine whether they need to be re-issued or voided, while staying in compliance with state unclaimed property laws.
2. Review accounts receivable aging report for reasonableness, adjust allowance for doubtful accounts, and verify aging report balance ties to accounts receivable account on the balance sheet.
3. Perform a year-end inventory count and make any necessary adjustments.
4. Review prepaid expenses for reasonableness.
5. Review unbilled services for reasonableness.
6. Adjust depreciation to actual.
7. Review accounts payable aging report for reasonableness and verify aging report balance ties to accounts payable account on the balance sheet.
8. Accrue payroll, if applicable.
9. Tie out loan balances to bank statements and verify accuracy of other liability balances.
10. Verify balance as of 1/1/10 in retained earnings has not changed from the prior year. Verify against your tax return if necessary.
11. Review all income and expense accounts for reasonableness.
12. Verify net income on balance sheet ties to year-to-date net income on income statement.
13. Update information on employees and vendors (i.e., address, SSN, EIN, etc.).