How to Prepare Your Books Before Hiring an Accountant: A Complete Guide
Get your bookkeeping accountant-ready — reduce costs, save time, and avoid surprises
Hiring an accountant is an important step for any business — whether you're preparing tax returns, applying for financing, or reviewing your company's financial performance. However, accountants can work far more efficiently, and often at a lower cost, when your bookkeeping is accurate and well organised.
Preparing your books before meeting with an accountant helps reduce errors, saves time, and ensures your financial information is complete. In this guide, we'll walk through the essential steps to get your bookkeeping ready before handing it over to an accountant.
Small Business Bookkeeping: Complete Guide →
Why Preparation Matters
The less time your accountant spends fixing errors, the more time they spend advising you.
- Faster completion of accounting work
- Fewer questions and delays
- More accurate financial statements
- Lower accounting costs
- Easier tax preparation
- Greater confidence in your financial records
Good bookkeeping allows your accountant to focus on providing valuable advice rather than correcting mistakes. If your records need a clean-up first, see our guide on how to clean up messy bookkeeping records before you start.
The Complete Bookkeeping Preparation Checklist
Update All Financial Transactions
Before your accountant reviews your books, ensure all transactions have been entered. This includes:
- Sales invoices
- Customer payments
- Supplier bills
- Business expenses
- Bank deposits
- Credit card transactions
- Loan repayments
Missing transactions lead to incomplete financial reports — and more questions from your accountant.
Reconcile Every Bank Account
Bank reconciliations should be completed for every account. Verify that:
- Book balances match bank statements
- Outstanding transactions are identified
- Duplicate entries are removed
- Bank fees and interest have been recorded
Accurate reconciliations are one of the most important parts of preparing your books. Our guide on how often you should reconcile your bank account explains the recommended frequency.
Reconcile Credit Card Accounts
If your business uses credit cards, reconcile them just as carefully as your bank accounts. Confirm:
- All transactions are recorded
- Balances match statements
- Interest charges are included
- Business expenses are categorised correctly
Organise Supporting Documents
Your accountant may need supporting documentation for certain transactions. Gather:
- Bank statements
- Credit card statements
- Sales invoices
- Supplier invoices
- Expense receipts
- Loan agreements
- Payroll records
- Tax correspondence
Organised records speed up the review process significantly. See our guide on how to organise receipts for your small business for practical tips.
Accountants often charge by the hour for any corrective work they perform on your books. Every unreconciled account or missing receipt discovered during their review could add unexpected cost to your bill. Preparation pays for itself.
Review Accounts Receivable
Check your customer balances and ensure:
- Outstanding invoices are accurate
- Duplicate invoices are removed
- Payments have been allocated correctly
- Old balances are investigated
Clean receivable records improve the accuracy of your financial statements. Learn more about why accounts receivable is an asset and how it affects your balance sheet.
Review Accounts Payable
Review supplier balances to ensure:
- Bills have been recorded
- Payments are correctly allocated
- Duplicate bills are removed
- Outstanding liabilities are accurate
This helps present a true picture of your business obligations to your accountant.
Check Fixed Assets
Review your business assets — including equipment, computers, vehicles, furniture, and machinery. Ensure recent purchases and disposals have been recorded correctly. Your accountant will need accurate asset records to calculate depreciation. See our guide on what depreciation is and how it works.
Verify Loan Balances
Compare loan balances with lender statements. Confirm:
- Principal repayments are recorded
- Interest charges are captured
- Outstanding balances match lender records
Loan accounts that don't reconcile to lender statements will flag as errors in your financial reports.
Review Payroll Records
If you employ staff, ensure:
- Payroll is up to date
- Employee records are accurate
- Taxes have been recorded correctly
- Pension or superannuation contributions are complete
- Leave balances are correct
Payroll discrepancies can create compliance issues — the sooner they're identified, the easier they are to resolve.
Review Your Financial Reports
Generate and review your three core reports before your accountant meeting:
| Report | What to Look For |
|---|---|
| Profit and Loss Statement | Unusual income or expense items; missing revenue lines |
| Balance Sheet | Asset, liability, and equity balances that look unexpected |
| Cash Flow Report | How cash has moved through the business; timing gaps |
If anything appears unusual, investigate before your meeting. See our guide on which financial reports small businesses should review monthly.
Resolve Suspense Accounts
Many businesses accidentally leave transactions in suspense or uncategorised accounts. Review these accounts carefully and allocate every transaction correctly before your accountant review. Leaving unresolved balances is one of the most common issues that delay accounting work.
What Documents Should You Provide to an Accountant?
To help your accountant work efficiently, have the following ready:
- Bank statements for all accounts
- Credit card statements
- Sales invoices and customer records
- Supplier invoices and bills
- Expense receipts
- Payroll reports and employee records
- Loan and finance statements
- Previous tax returns and financial statements
- Business Activity Statements or VAT returns
Your accountant isn't only there to prepare financial statements — use the meeting well. Consider asking about:
- Tax planning opportunities for the year ahead
- Ways to improve cash flow
- Business structure — is your current structure still appropriate?
- Software recommendations for your stage of growth
- Financial KPIs you should be tracking
- Any compliance deadlines approaching
Prepared questions help you gain maximum value from the meeting.
Does Organised Bookkeeping Reduce Accounting Fees?
In most cases — yes, significantly.
Well-organised records allow accountants to spend less time correcting bookkeeping errors and more time on higher-value work like tax planning and financial advice. The time saved is directly reflected in your bill.
Businesses that arrive with unreconciled accounts, missing receipts, and incomplete records often pay substantially more in accountant fees — and receive less strategic value from the engagement. If you've fallen behind, read our guide on how to catch up on overdue bookkeeping first.
Think of your accountant like a specialist surgeon — they do their best work when everything is already prepped and sterile. Handing over messy records is like arriving for surgery without completing the pre-op checklist. Preparation isn't optional; it's what makes the outcome successful.
- Missing transactions not entered into your accounting software
- Unreconciled bank or credit card accounts
- Mixed personal and business expenses in the same account
- Missing receipts for expense claims
- Duplicate invoices or bills not cleaned up
- Outdated or incorrect payroll records
- Ignoring unusual balances in financial reports
For the full list of what goes wrong, see our post on 10 common bookkeeping mistakes small business owners make.
Should You Hire a Bookkeeper Before Your Accountant?
In many cases, yes. A professional bookkeeper can:
- Update overdue financial records
- Complete all bank and credit card reconciliations
- Correct bookkeeping errors
- Organise supporting documents
- Prepare accurate financial reports
- Ensure your records are fully accountant-ready
This allows your accountant to focus on higher-level financial advice and compliance — rather than fixing data entry. See what a bookkeeper does and what a bookkeeper can do for your small business.
Final Thoughts
Preparing your books before hiring an accountant benefits both you and your accountant. Accurate bookkeeping reduces costs, improves efficiency, and ensures your financial reports present a true picture of your business.
Whether you're preparing for tax season, seeking finance, or reviewing business performance, organised bookkeeping creates a smoother and more productive accounting process. To build a consistent routine that keeps your books accountant-ready year-round, explore our bookkeeping best practices guide for small businesses.
Key Takeaways
- Update all financial transactions before your accountant review
- Complete every bank and credit card reconciliation
- Review customer and supplier balances for accuracy
- Organise all supporting documentation in advance
- Verify payroll and loan records match source statements
- Review your financial reports and investigate unusual balances
- Resolve all suspense and uncategorised account entries
- Consider hiring a bookkeeper first to ensure records are accountant-ready
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Reconciled accounts provide more accurate financial information and reduce the amount of corrective work required — which directly reduces your accountant's time and fees.
Typically you'll need bank statements, invoices, expense receipts, payroll reports, loan statements, previous tax returns, and your current financial reports.
Yes. Many businesses engage a bookkeeper to organise and update their financial records before working with an accountant. This is often a cost-effective approach that reduces overall accounting fees.
Questions help confirm that transactions have been recorded correctly and ensure the financial statements accurately reflect your business. Fewer questions means your preparation was thorough.
Often yes. Well-organised records allow accountants to spend less time correcting bookkeeping errors and more time providing valuable strategic advice — which is where the real value lies.
About the Author
Ishara Vithana is a senior finance professional with over two decades of experience in accounting, bookkeeping, and small business finance. He is a Xero Certified Advisor and Partner, Dext Certified Expert, Fathom Advisor, and Tally Prime expert. Through Finance Made Simple, he helps small business owners and DIY bookkeepers understand accounting, bookkeeping, and business finance with practical, easy-to-follow guides.
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