How to Clean Up Your Accounting Records Before Your CPA Needs Them

Tax season has a way of revealing exactly how organized your books really are.

For many business owners, the stress doesn’t come from filing taxes — it comes from realizing their accounting records are incomplete, inconsistent, or scattered right when their CPA needs clean numbers.

The good news is that cleaning up messy books doesn’t require a total overhaul. With a few focused steps, you can get your records accurate, organized, and tax-ready before deadlines create pressure.

Start With Reconciliations (This Is the Foundation)

Before you categorize expenses or track down receipts, you need to confirm that your accounts match reality.

If your bank and credit card accounts aren’t reconciled, your financial reports won’t reflect what actually happened — which makes tax prep harder for everyone involved.

A clean reconciliation process ensures your books are grounded in real cash movement, not guesswork.

Fix Uncategorized and Misclassified Transactions

Most messy bookkeeping comes down to one issue: transactions were never coded correctly.

As you review your ledger, look for expenses sitting in vague categories or transactions that were left uncategorized entirely. These small gaps add up quickly and can distort your year-end financial picture.

Cleaning these up now also helps your CPA identify deductions properly and avoid misreporting.

Get Receipts and Documentation Into One Place

Even if your numbers are accurate, missing documentation can create problems during tax filing — especially for larger or higher-risk expense categories.

Instead of hunting through inboxes or folders later, this is the time to centralize receipts and attach them to the transactions they support.

The goal is simple: if an expense needs to be explained, you should be able to find the proof quickly.

Review Contractor and Payroll Records Before It’s Urgent

Contractor payments and payroll details become a major focus during tax season, and they’re often where businesses fall behind.

If you worked with freelancers or vendors this year, make sure their information is complete and properly tracked. Waiting until January to request missing W-9s or correct payment totals creates unnecessary friction when deadlines are close.

A quick check now can prevent a lot of back-and-forth later.

Take a Look at Outstanding Invoices and Bills

Tax prep depends on accurate timing — not just totals.

That’s why it’s important to review what’s still open at year-end: unpaid invoices, outstanding vendor bills, retainers, or prepaid expenses.

These items often require accounting adjustments, and addressing them early helps your CPA file accurately without last-minute surprises.

Run the Core Reports Your CPA Will Ask For

Before you send anything to your accountant, make sure your key financial reports tell a clean, complete story.

Most CPAs will request documents like:

• Profit and Loss Statement
• Balance Sheet
• General Ledger
• Year-to-Date Expense Summary

If these reports look confusing, incomplete, or inconsistent, it’s a sign more cleanup is needed before tax filing begins.

Don’t Wait Until Deadlines Force the Cleanup

The best tax seasons happen when bookkeeping is handled proactively, not reactively.

When your accounting records are clean and organized ahead of time, your CPA can focus on higher-value work — maximizing deductions, ensuring compliance, and helping you plan forward — instead of spending billable hours correcting preventable bookkeeping issues.

Decimal helps businesses stay tax-ready year-round with accurate bookkeeping, clean reporting, and systems that keep your accounting records organized long before deadlines arrive.

Because tax season is stressful enough. Your books shouldn’t make it worse.