How to prepare your books for your accountant

Short answer: Agree what your accountant needs, then deliver dated reports, reconciliations, supporting schedules and unresolved questions through a secure channel. Organized records can reduce avoidable follow-up; fees and turnaround depend on the engagement and work required. This is the handoff piece of the Canadian bookkeeping checklist.

Here’s what “ready for your accountant” actually looks like.

Why it’s worth the effort

Your accountant needs to know which balances have been checked and which still need work. Agree the period, delivery date, formats and responsibilities for adjustments, filings and approvals. A question list is more useful than guessing an uncertain classification. Use the year-end close checklist for the work before handoff.

The year-end checklist

1. Reconcile every account

Reconcile all bank, credit-card, and loan accounts through the year-end date, and resolve any lingering discrepancies. Unreconciled accounts are the number-one reason year-end figures can’t be trusted. See bank reconciliation explained.

2. Review accounts receivable

Review customer balances for missing receipts, credits, disputes and potentially uncollectible amounts. Give your accountant the collection history and ask them to confirm any write-off or tax adjustment; overdue does not automatically mean uncollectible.

3. Review accounts payable

Confirm what you owe suppliers is complete, so expenses land in the correct year.

4. Sort out GST/HST

Make sure GST/HST collected and paid is reconciled and filings are current. See GST/HST bookkeeping.

5. Reconcile payroll

If you have employees, confirm payroll records and remittances are complete and reconciled, ready for T4 preparation.

6. Confirm loans and financing

Match loan balances to lender statements, and separate interest from principal so they’re recorded correctly.

7. Review fixed assets

List equipment or other capital assets bought or sold during the year, so depreciation and any gains or losses can be handled properly.

8. Separate owner and shareholder transactions

Make sure money you put in or took out of the business is recorded correctly — owner draws, shareholder loans, or contributions. Mixed-up owner transactions are a frequent source of year-end confusion.

9. Tidy the chart of accounts

Fix miscategorised transactions and make sure personal and business expenses are cleanly separated.

10. Gather documentation

Pull together statements, invoices, receipts and loan documents. The CRA’s general retention rule is six years from the end of the last tax year they relate to, with exceptions. Check the retention and location requirements.

11. Produce the reports

A profit-and-loss statement, a balance sheet, and a general ledger for the year, tied out to your reconciled accounts.

What your accountant should receive

• Reconciled accounts and a tied-out trial balance
• Complete, accurate receivables and payables
• GST/HST and payroll reconciled and current
• Loan and fixed-asset detail
• Clean owner/shareholder transaction records
• A profit-and-loss, balance sheet, and general ledger
• The supporting documents behind them

Hand that over and your accountant can get straight to the tax work.

If this list feels daunting

It’s a lot — and it’s exactly the work a bookkeeper does through the year so that year-end is a calm handoff instead of a reconstruction. If your books aren’t in this shape, you have two options: catch them up before filing, or keep them current monthly so you never face the scramble again.

If your accountant keeps asking for records you don’t have, that’s usually a sign the underlying bookkeeping needs attention. Talk to Avora and we’ll get you to a clean, accountant-ready file — or take the quick Bookkeeping Health Check first.

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Reviewed October 16, 2026. Confirm the required package and tax adjustments with your accountant.