Clients Hand Off Messy Books Right Before Tax Deadlines
146 posts across 17 communities in the last 30 days; 42% from r/Accounting.
“For the report and data-cleanup work, I'd talk to independent bookkeepers. They see the same messy exports every month and may know several businesses with the same problem. Ask which task keeps delaying their work before offering to automate anything. [re: How can you get the…”
“Not sure if this is the right place but i got tired of getting ripped off. I had the best cpa around these parts at $350 an hour. 3 businesses. I do the bookkeeping. Year after year they do my taxes and tgen obe year ask me "did you buy a farm "? Had it for all the years you did…”
“interesting approach. i run a small accounting practice and field those exact questions every week from clients, the margin one especially stings when they haven't looked at their COGS breakdown in months the challenge i see with a tool like BAAB is getting owners to actually…”
Bookkeepers and accounting professionals are frustrated by the lack of consistent, accurate bookkeeping practices from their CPA colleagues and clients. This leads to rushed processes, inaccurate tax filings, and a reliance on the bookkeeper to correct errors or handle tasks that should be the responsibility of the CPA or client. The need for better communication and clearer roles is evident.
SOURCES (60)
“the eternal struggle of walking into a role and realizing the last person treated the ledger like a suggestion box. ap seems to attract that chaos more than most corners of accounting [re: Accounts payable]”
“I had several clients move away to different states. Eventhough I told them that I can prepare taxes in any state. A few have been flakes. A few more probably didnt like that they owed for the first time ever, eventhough I kept telling them to update their W4's because they were barely breaking even and the new tax laws might not favor them . Who knows.....Some went on to TurboTax and try to do them themselves. So I am just waiting for the call to help fix their return because they messed so”
“Track each property's P&L separately in your books — makes the passive loss stuff way easier at filing time. [re: Passive Loss Disallowed / Schedule E Question]”
“That sounds like a lot to deal with especially when you're still learning the firm's systems. Accuracy and clear communication matter just as much as speed in bookkeeping. [re: Is this normal in a small accounting firm? Unrealistic productivity expectations, years of backlog]”
“Oh heck no. As soon as I’m sure of the amounts I always tell them if we’re close to a deadline. I want to make sure they have the money ready to pay beforehand. [re: Tax Accountants: Tell me your 10/15 horror stories]”
“I had my firm as a side thing my first year while I was employed as a cpa doing tax at another firm. When I went off on my own after that first year I started with 8 clients then ended up with 65. Starting next year I have 100 clients. [re: 1st year solo preparers]”
“Another factor is the kind of clients you are servicing. Our office has 3 professionals plus 1 intern and only filed 475 returns this year. But our income averages 1.2m - 1.4m. [re: 1st year solo preparers]”
“For the report and data-cleanup work, I'd talk to independent bookkeepers. They see the same messy exports every month and may know several businesses with the same problem. Ask which task keeps delaying their work before offering to automate anything. [re: How can you get the initial customers for your small side business?]”
“An accountant or bookkeeper could be a useful referral partner here. They already see which clients spend hours rebuilding reports, and you'd have a specific problem to demonstrate. [re: How can you get the initial customers for your small side business?]”
“Not sure if this is the right place but i got tired of getting ripped off. I had the best cpa around these parts at $350 an hour. 3 businesses. I do the bookkeeping. Year after year they do my taxes and tgen obe year ask me "did you buy a farm "? Had it for all the years you did my taxes. I started doing my own taxes for 3 businesses. I got super busy one year and a cpa firm kept bugging me to do my books- i never do this but i did. My first bill comes for $550. I go look in QB audit a”
“interesting approach. i run a small accounting practice and field those exact questions every week from clients, the margin one especially stings when they haven't looked at their COGS breakdown in months the challenge i see with a tool like BAAB is getting owners to actually articulate the problem correctly, half the time they think it's a pricing issue when it's really a slow-paying client or inventory bloat. if the onboarding can tease that out without feeling like homework you mi”
“You say the invoices weren't recorded in Company B, the amount is impactful, the books are accrual, and the returns have been filed. Sorry but if you want to do it right, the returns need to be amended. [re: Unpaid Bills into Loan Payable]”
“I've been a full charge Bookkeeper as my primary income for well over twenty years. I've done a lot- healthcare practices, furniture sales, restaurants, funeral homes, etc. The 2 industries that defeated me were construction accounting ( modular homes sold to residents of mobile home parks) and I had a one off client that asked me to do payroll for their baseball team. I've done plenty of payroll, I've done it manually using only spreadsheets with no software without a single iss”
“Hi all, I'm researching how small businesses in India handle their billing and GST work, and I'd like to hear from people who deal with it daily. For those of you who work with small traders or shops: Do your clients still send handwritten or paper bills? Roughly how many per month? Who enters them into Tally/Zoho/etc., and how long does it take? What is the most annoying or error-prone part? Have you tried any tool to speed this up? What worked or didn't? I'm not sellin”
“What are the pros and cons of requiring new business tax clients to use either our bookkeeping services or a trusted outside bookkeeper? Also, would this include Schedule Cs and 990s? submitted by /u/schmidt9 [link] [comments]”
“thank you for responding! totally agree, i did some data entry on the tax side for some of these clients and it really helped connect the pieces. i’m hopeful this next step goes that way too. [re: reviewing and closing books course]”
“Let’s say if you’re planning to hire a bookkeeper for your business would you directly go ahead and hire someone or would you prefer someone who can do one month of cleanup for you first and you can review their work to build some trust? I’m starting my bookkeeping business and planning to onboard small businesses. I was wondering if I should add one month trial for a fraction of price for my clients so we both can figure out if we are a good fit for each other. Before I roll this out I wonder i”
“First off, take a breath. I’d be frustrated too. If you’re already handling payroll yourself after your bookkeeping company dropped the ball three times, the last thing you need is a mess with tax liabilities and payments that don’t reconcile. Honestly, I’d start by running a full payroll tax liability report in QBO and comparing it against your actual bank transactions and tax payment confirmations. Don’t assume the balances in QBO are accurate until you’ve verified what was actually paid and w”
“So much non-compliance I can’t believe it. Health insurance all wrong on S Corporations. accruing sizable expenses on cash basis companies, no historical fixed asset detail, changed the prior year balance sheet materially, modified basis computations and the capital accounts to amounts never seen before, removed properties from the books through a quagmire of adjustments executed through some of the above. submitted by /u/mgepark [link] [comments]”
“Today my accounting professor told me that a lot of the accounting I do won't be in excel but whatever software the company uses. This is pretty contrary to a lot of the things I have heard online. So the question is realistically how much of my time will be in excel and how much will be in another software? Edit: I appreciate all of the replies I can't believe I got so many in the time I was just driving home from class! I have taken an excel course so I am familiar and I'm okay at”
“I worked for a small CPA firm for 5 years, the amount of time is extremely variable. I had one client that only took me 10 minutes to do their months bookkeeping. They had like 20 transactions per month. Another one would take me an entire day because they had 6 credit cards, and 2 chequings accounts. I also had to adjust their loan payments for interest every month [re: Is this normal in a small accounting firm? Unrealistic productivity expectations, years of backlog]”
“Payroll. Some business owners can be a little overconfident when they start hiring people. They try to do everything themselves and before long, they have hours in a spreadsheet, filings in a separate system and everything in between handled manually. Many come to learn the hard way that moving it all into one platform where time data flows into payroll automatically and filings run on their own removes most of the back and forth. [re: What's one business process you wish you'd simplified earlie”
“Sir i am doing the same work as you written in your post. I can do anything in bookkeeping and financial statements [re: Small bookkeeping firm needs advice on hiring staff]”
“And do you agree with this? [re: Is this normal in a small accounting firm? Unrealistic productivity expectations, years of backlog]”
“The backlog of files is interesting. If the prior accountant was really that good, how did the backlog persist? The conflict between those two positions indicates they're likely lying about how good the prior people were to try and squeeze more work from you. IMO they want you competing with a fictional "perfect" hire that doesn't exist. Why did they make you work from PDFs instead of bank feeds or a CSV directly from the bank? There's no good reason to force someone to do”
“Just had two clients come in basically one time. One was a lady with a rental property. Tried to use TurboTax for schedule E. Got confused with AI and then came to me. I did her return and then she complained about my fees. Then she basically asked me to show her how I prepared her return probably so she can try and do it herself next year. Had another one come in who basically wants me to analyze her withholding so she doesn't owe taxes. Originally wanted to use me for tax prep but seems li”
“Plenty of good niche advice here already. I have one more .... Answer owners’ questions where they ask them. I’ve been replying to QuickBooks and Xero questions on Reddit for a couple of weeks, and owners do reply back. Today alone a new owner posted a QuickBooks file in shambles and asked how to start fresh. What I try to do is give the steps in full, try to skip the pitch, and then end with one question about their setup. Which software do most of your clients use? [re: Growing Bookkeeping Bus”
“Hi everyone! I'd appreciate some honest feedback from both bookkeepers and accountants, particularly those who have worked in small CPA firms or outsourced bookkeeping environments. I recently started working remotely as a bookkeeper for a small US-based accounting firm that hires international contractors. I already have experience in bookkeeping and accounts receivable, so I'm not entirely new to the field. However, I'm still learning this firm's systems, procedures, and indivi”
“I am working on a year-end where the company is considered an active trader. It looks like in previous years all they did was record the sale of shares as income and the purchase of shares as the expense. I understand there is no schedule 6 work to be done on this file. I am just confused as this does not seem right. Can anyone provide some insight on how this should be accounted for. submitted by /u/Negative-Virus7632 [link] [comments]”
“For those of you running your own accounting or tax preparation practice, I’m curious how you handle CRA reviews and audit requests for personal tax clients. Let’s say you prepare and file a client’s T1 return, and a few weeks or months later, the CRA comes back requesting supporting documents, receipts, or additional information to review a particular deduction or claim. Do you generally include responding to these CRA requests in your original tax preparation fee, or do you charge an additiona”
“I’m looking to take my bookkeeping business to the next level. What are you doing as a bookkeeping business owner to grow your business and find clients?? Not the obvious ways like referrals, contacting CPA’s ect. What else has worked for you at finding clients and growing your business? submitted by /u/Timely-Sea4615 [link] [comments]”
“Does anyone have experience doing accounting bookkeeping for a family member to share? My parents own a handful of multi family rental units. My mom’s “guy Pete” who files her returns is retiring soon and they are trying to finish out the 2025 return now. Every year it’s a swirl to close out QB and review whatever the heck my mom’s entered. She’s on cash basis and although it’s been 40 years of doing this, she still doesn’t understand certain elements of bookkeeping or accounting in general. My”
“I'm thinking of taking a 3 months class bundles to get a bookeeping certificate. the classes are bookkeeping level 1 + 2 excel level 1 computerized accounting 1 + 2 (sage 50 or quickbook) payroll judging from the classes, what kind of job can I expect to get? what are the responsibilities? what kind of wages can I expect to get? I have no official experience. how easy is it to get a job with the above education and how relevant/useful are those skills? thanks PS: I have 3ish years of self bo”
“They definitely are and I am in tax if that changes your opinion lol [re: What the fuck is up with people being ok with disorganized and messy workpapers?]”
“It won't help immediately, but try sending your resume to firms that handle tax representation clients. Often those clients need their business books recreated (or even created for the first time) and many firms will contract this work out. [re: Should I go back to someone I don’t wanna work for?]”
“I have recently been recruited as a software engineer to work on an accounting software managament system for Canadian and Quebecker ( Québécois) markets. I would like to gather as much information from anyone who worked on this topic, any dos and don'ts, any tips or things to look into before doing this. If someone can share their experience regarding doing accounting software generally, and for the canadian market specifically. That would be appreciated. submitted by /u/Timely_”
“Hello! Looking for any advice or recommendations to make my book keeping simple! I’ve recently gone out on my own after working for a gym for a number of years (employer). Now doing contract work with a number of gyms but also private PT. As of right now, I’ve just been documenting my income + expenses through Google spread sheets, which I share with my accountant. It works, but I’m curious if there’s a more efficient way to track everything? Are there any apps or software specifically built for”
“The PBC list advice above is solid. A few things I’d add that tend to matter more when you only have 3 people: Pull up last year’s audit adjustments and the management letter. Whatever they flagged last time is what they’ll look at first this time. If they booked AJEs, figure out why and fix it in the books before they show up. Name one person as the auditors’ point of contact. If requests come in from five directions and three of you are answering them, things get sent twice or not at all. Keep”
“I'm a 14-year-old student, currently taking part in Youthquake (a program by Diia Business, Ukraine). I need 5 minutes of help from bookkeepers or accountants 🙏 For my class assignment I need to understand how documents from clients actually get to you — who sends on time, who needs three reminders, what you've already tried. It's 8 questions, about 5 minutes, and completely anonymous. I need 20–30 answers this week and honestly don't know where else to get them. So if you can h”
“Thanks for clarifying that. So it appears that your "financial" information has not yet been translated to the "standards" used by business professionals. That would be a very good "first step" in making "business sense" of what's going on. [re: Business turn profitable but reached a growth ceiling and feeling like a loser]”
“Bro, a good bookkeeper will save you insane amounts of money. The same thing goes for a good lawyer, although I'm not so sure about the money part, more like a good headache. [re: What was the first business compliance task that caught you off guard?]”
“I’m curious to hear from accountants, bookkeepers, auditors and tax professionals, both current and former, about the worst, strangest or most memorable experiences you’ve encountered while doing your job. Have you ever dealt with clients who refused to provide financial records, demanded impossible tax deductions, concealed important information, ignored professional advice, or expected you to somehow make their financial problems disappear? Perhaps you’ve encountered business owners who had ab”
“Once they go over that threshold they go to a firm that does audits. I’ve become friends with one of the partners. If they feel it’s easier and cheaper to do the 990 I’ll let them do it. If they want me to do I’ll do it. I’m not getting peer reviewed for doing one or two audits or reviews even though I’ve done them a lot before and have the software. [re: Performing an audit for the first time as a tax professional]”
“Another firm doing the audit while you keep the return is the move, keeps the client and keeps you out of a mess you already said you're not comfortable with [re: Performing an audit for the first time as a tax professional]”
“Hey everyone! I'm working toward my accounting degree and eventually want to become a CPA. I've been seriously considering starting a small bookkeeping business on the side, serving small businesses in my area. I've had some experience categorizing business expenses in QuickBooks and currently work as a teller. I know there's a difference between having some bookkeeping experience and being responsible for an actual client's books. I don't want to take on clients before I”
“For those working in public accounting, how many clients do you handle? Do you usually finish everything by the end of the month? And do you also handle other things like sales tax filings? submitted by /u/Kinglexsy [link] [comments]”
“How do you find them ? The business brokers I’ve talked to usually have leads for a bundled tax/bookkeeping operation rather than a pure play bookkeeping [re: Buy Bookkeeping Business]”
“My expertise are in accounts receivable. And accounts payable. Trying to build an expertise on compliance and taxation part ( it will take a little time). Beside this I am planning to enter into reselling business might be online. [re: I am into accounts and finance as an executive with an experience of 10 years. My income is quite low and have realise that my growth is very restricted and have very little scope of growth. What I should do increase my income. I am also looking for any side incom”
“We’re on Great Plains from quickbooks. It was a change! [re: Industry folks: How many hours do you actually work each week?]”
“I have a system but it’s hard to keep up with and frankly - horrible and needs improvement (if not an overhaul). Must be familiar with the new(ish) trust accounting rules that in CA. Any recommendations? Looking for an enthusiastic recc! Sole practitioner so obviously reasonable rates and outsourced, and would love someone I can stay with til the end :-) thank you! submitted by /u/Fit_Spot_1807 [link] [comments]”
“year ago, it was me and one part time accountant doing books for 4 startup clients. all from friends. good ones too. but referrals just stopped, and i had no idea how to find more without spending money i didn't have. quick thing before anyone asks. We not a big firm. it's 3 of us. no huge marketing budget, no crazy growth plan. we just got better at finding the right people and quit doing everything manually. my dumbest early move was cold emailing every startup i could find. the whole”
“i would by searching for small local bookkeeping firms and reaching out to owners directly. you could also ask cpa's and tax professionals if they know anyone nearing retirement who might be open to selling. [re: Buy Bookkeeping Business]”
“No, cold calling isn’t critical for a new accountancy service. I’d first ask people who recently switched accountants what finally made them leave. Missed deadlines? Unclear fees? Use their actual answer to decide who’s worth calling and why. More dials won’t fix a missing reason to switch. [re: Is cold calling still a critical in 2026?]”
“The Vision: My dream would be to offer full-package accounting services to small/medium businesses. Bookkeeping, personal/business taxes, consulting, and potentially a couple other avenues I'd propose exploring. Ultimately, I'd be looking to go full time once the practice is stable and earnings are enough; if/when the day comes. You don't have to live in the same state as me. The Ask: Ideally looking for an individual with a few years of experience in tax filings (business/personal).”
“agreed, the bookkeeper angle is underrated because they already hold the trust and see the books every month. leading with something specific about the books beats any generic pitch [re: Is cold calling still a critical in 2026?]”
“Ya, I haven't been bookkeeping for too too long but it really tickles me the way clients think sometimes. I found out recently that instead of entering every invoice when a delivery comes into a store I work with, they combine all of the numbers to make one big invoice 😂 I was like wow everyone is SO creative. [re: The devil's number]”
“Double entry bookkeeping means there's a transaction for the money leaving your account, and a transaction for the money going into the other account. It's why Firefly has an "account" for Starbucks, etc. [re: FlyBudget: a free, open-source, self-hosted budgeting app (inspired by Monarch/YNAB). First week: 28 stars, a first contributor, and a new release!]”