YOUR BOOKKEEPING OPTIONS

YOU MUST START &  MAINTAIN A QUICKBOOKS ACCOUNT IN ORDER FOR US TO DO YOUR BOOKKEEPING. ** PLEASE NOTE, THE QUICKBOOKS SERVICE IS A SEPARATE CHARGE.

• Cash  Basis (receipts and disbursements, banking & credit card activity, and payroll) Least expensive option. ** THIS IS THE OPTION FOR THE PRICING LISTED ON OUR WEBSITE. **
• Modified  Accrual  (including accounts receivable and accounts payable, banking & credit      card activity, and payroll)-Most popular option.
• Full  Accrual (including prepaid expenses, accrued expenses, accrued payroll, and      deferred revenue)-For businesses that bill on 30 day nets & order on credit. 

Below is a list of documents and information needed to complete your bookkeeping in full and generate accurate records for your business.  PAPER CASH BUSINESSES (MEANING BUSINESSES THAT DON'T ACCEPT DEBIT/CREDIT CARDS, ZELLE, CASHAPP, APPLE PAY, ETC. ) NEED SOME SORT OF INCOME RECORDS, WHICH ARE TYPICALLY INVOICES ISSUED TO CLIENTS. If you don't have invoices, you should have receipts that you wrote to the client, or emails where they ordered the service, etc. 

INCOME DOCUMENTS

Bank statements. --Electronic .pdf copies. You will be uploading these copies to bookkeeping your portal. We need these, even if you use QuickBooks. Please download the copies to your desktop, so that you have them ready during onboarding.

CASH BUSINESSES--Invoices issued to your clients for paper cash businesses only. Please note, we need the entire amount of cash collected, but we only need a few invoices as proof. 

QuickBooks access (only if you have it), we need access to your electronic bookkeeping files (Simply Accounting/QuickBooks, Excel etc.). Invite us to access your QuickBooks account by adding accountant, and using the email: quickbooks@howardtaxprep.com

Zelle transactions, & ATM withdrawal/deposit explanations. These explanations can be given through your bookkeeping portal once you become a paid client. 

Cash App transactions that are left in the app explanations. These explanations can be given through your bookkeeping portal once you become a paid client. 

Copies of checks written.--If you don't have copies, you must complete our CHECK form here. This can be done once you become a paid client. 

Merchant (Square, PayPal, Stripe, Shopify, etc.) end of the year transaction report. You must go online, and download the 1099-K forms, along with the transaction reports (that show the fees assessed, refunds, etc.) provided by the merchants. If you don't know how to do this, please google "how to download 1099-K from __________" (_____ is where you put the name of your ecommerce service and/or merchant account service provider). Please make sure to also retrieve the end of year fees that the merchant charged you.

Zelle transaction explanations. If your bank doesn't feed over the recipient, these explanations can be given through your bookkeeping portal once you become a paid client.

EXPENSE DOCUMENTS

1099 Contractor Payments/Distributions to contractors. Complete our list of payments to contractors here. 

Advertising & promotional expense emails, or receipts for single purchases over $750.

Cellphone bill/internet bill/fax bill for your business space only, NOT YOUR HOME. We only need 1-2 statements.

Company Credit card ANNUAL INTEREST PAID. This is typically found on your last statement.

Company credit card statements. These will be uploaded to your bookkeeping portal.

Equipment owned documentation. Think Food truck, heavy machinery, construction tools, etc. For construction tools, you can lump all tools into once price & category of “tools.” You must complete our form here. 

Equipment rentals documentation. Think copiers, heavy machinery, etc.

Insurance statements (general liability, business owner policy, automobile). 1-2 statements are enough.

Internal Loan documentation to the company from shareholders (should be fully documented). This is not the EIDL, or PPP loans. These loans would be distributions from the business to the owner, that aren't owner compensation, and that the owner will pay back.

Lease/Mortgage statement for your business space only, NOT YOUR HOME. 

Loan documentation (PPP, EIDL, operating lines, mortgages, installment/car loans). 

Outside Lender(s) Loan documentation(PPP, EIDL, operating lines, mortgages, installment/car loans).

Payroll tax payments & payroll tax returns.

Receipts for all purchases of “big ticket” items--can use bank statements, or online purchase accounts. Think: Furniture; Computers; Vehicles; & Equipment.

Retail/Excise Sales Tax payments, and sales tax returns.

Utilities (if not paid through your bank account) for your business space only, NOT YOUR HOME. We only need 1-2 statements.

Vehicles owned by the business only! We need the vehicle’s information (i.e., lease documents, purchase contract, annual interest statement). Use this form to categorize the information.

Wages and salaries paid, including casual labor. This includes documented payments to your children. 

Make sure that you KEEP RECEIPTS FOR ALL MEALS, OFFICE SUPPLIES, MATERIALS, & OTHER PURCHASES.