Questions to ask your bookkeeper before filing season

Many trail problems are handoff problems. The bookkeeper holds one set of folders; the person who signs the return holds another; neither has a shared index.

Ask where support lives

Where are invoices stored for this entity? Who keeps bank exports? Are withholding slips filed monthly or only at year-end? Write the answers down.

Ask how amendments are filed

When a figure changes after a draft, does the support folder get the amendment notice and the revised schedule together? Silent updates are a common source of later confusion.

Ask what will not be ready

Knowing a vendor invoice is still outstanding is better than discovering the hole the night before filing.

A compliance gap assessment is useful when these conversations keep revealing different answers from different people.