What to send your bookkeeper each month: a checklist for Yakima contractors
When you finish a job, you know where the materials went and what changed along the way. A month later, a bank transaction may tell only a small part of that story.
For a roofing, plumbing, handyman or construction business in Yakima County, a useful bookkeeping habit is to gather the records and the explanation together - especially by project. This checklist gives you a starting point for that conversation with your bookkeeper.
1. Gather the account statements
Collect the statements for the business bank and credit card accounts used during the month. Include accounts that had little activity, and flag any new or closed account.
This step can be skipped entirely if you have been working with your bookkeeper and they have read-only access (never give your bookkeeper the ability to move money) to your accounts. You still ought to flag activity.
Statements help your bookkeeper compare the account's transactions and balances with the books (we call that reconcilliation). A connected bank feed isn’t enough; a list of imported transactions does not explain every purchase or resolve every difference; there needs to be an understanding of why transactions were done and what they are. Intuit's reconciliation guidance explains the comparison.
2. Keep receipts and invoices with the details
Gather receipts, supplier invoices, customer invoices and payment records. Keep enough detail to explain who was paid, what was purchased, when it happened and how much it cost. Supporting records help explain the entries in your books. The IRS recordkeeping guide describes common supporting documents.
For job-related purchases, add the job name or number while you remember it. Flag a purchase used across several jobs instead of assigning the whole amount to one without explanation.
This is a sometimes very time consuming, but it can be made easier, if you send your receipts directly to your bookkeeper - with the relevant information. Otherwise having project folders is incredibly useful.
Example: A hardware-store receipt totals $186. You know some items went to a repair job and the rest will stay in the shop. Send the receipt with a note identifying those items. That gives your bookkeeper a question they can resolve with you, rather than a transaction they have to guess about.
3. Add a short “what changed” note
Use a quick text, or email to flag anything unusual: a customer refund, new equipment, a supplier credit, a payment you cannot identify, or a business purchase you paid for personally.
You do not need to decide the accounting treatment yourself. Explain what happened and ask how it should be recorded. Keep unresolved items on one list so they do not disappear into the ether.
This is where it is important to have good relationship with your bookkeeper, and be in good communication.
4. Agree on one handoff routine
Choose a regular time with your bookkeeper to gather the packet and review open questions. Agree on where records should go and who follows up on missing information. Use the agreed secure sharing method rather than sending sensitive records in an ordinary message.
Your monthly handoff checklist
Account statements gathered
Receipts, invoices and payment records organized
Job names or numbers added where useful
Unusual transactions and missing records flagged
One list of questions ready for review
Start with a routine you can keep
The best next step is a process you can repeat. Bring the records you have, identify what is missing, and work through the questions together.
If you don’t have everything to start with, that’s fine. It is more important to build good habits, and build a relationship with you bookkeeper (whether in-house or external).
Read more about why clean books matter, or contact Courage Bookkeeping to talk about bookkeeping for your Yakima County business.