Tips for Closing your Financials for the First Quarter

March 31st marks the end of the first quarter for all companies that close their books on December 31st. This is the time to clean up your books so that you can send financial statements to your CPA for tax planning purposes. Here are some items that need to be completed at the end of the quarter:

  1. Reconcile all your bank, loan, lines of credit, and credit card statements through March 31st

  2. Review your Income Statement (Profit & Loss) from the beginning of the year through March 31st

  3. Review your Balance Sheet from the beginning of the year through March 31st

  4. Prepare your Quarterly Payroll Reports, if you have employees and run payroll yourself. If you have a payroll agency, then they will prepare them for you. Verify whether or not they are mailing the reports to you for your signature or they are authorized to sign them for you and are mailing them directly to the government agencies. Obtain copies of the reports for your CPA.

  5. Make sure you have started to gather tax id information for all vendors / subcontractors that have performed services for you. You will need to send out a W9 form (located at www.irs.gov) in order to obtain their company information. You will need to send out 1099’s by January 31st.

  6. Having a financial package, such as QuickBooks® helps to organize and prepare financial statements for your CPA. This software is user friendly as long as the set-up is done properly. Call ATD Solutions at 877-ATD-QB41 with any questions regarding the software.

If you are in need of assistance to make sure that your financials are correct and your QuickBooks® file is set up properly, please call ATD Solutions at 877-ATD-QB411. ATD Solutions is staffed with qualified QuickBooks® Certified Pro Advisors who have accounting background degrees. Locations in Michigan, Kentucky, Florida, and South Carolina.