Year-End Bookkeeping Checklist: What to Send Your Tax Preparer

What does every investor need, whatever they do?

Bank, card and loan statements for the full year, reconciled books, every closing statement for purchases and sales, loan documents, and your prior year return. Everything else depends on what you invest in.

Each strategy adds its own documents to this core list. If you run more than one strategy, add every section that applies.

What does a flipper need to add?

Rehab invoices by property, the cost of any flip still unsold at December 31, draw and payoff records for each loan, and contractor payment totals with W-9s on file.

An example from Demo Flips LLC, the company in our sample report. On Sep 21, 2026, Demo Flips LLC paid Sample Plumbing LLC $1,240 for work on Project 8, 1500 Sample Pl, Folsom. The invoice is still to come. One missing invoice like this goes on the list now, so it is in the folder before January.

What does a wholesaler need to add?

Assignment agreements and settlement statements for each deal, a list of deposits still out at December 31, forfeited deposits with the deals they belonged to, and marketing spend for the year.

The 2026 deals for Demo Wholesale LLC, and what each one adds to the package.

Marketing for the year: $4,800 of mail and $3,100 of cold calling, $7,900 in all.

What does a landlord need to add?

Rent records per unit, a statement per property, mortgage statements showing principal, interest and escrow, security deposits held, and the purchase closing statement for any property bought during the year.

Property 1 for Demo Rentals LLC, 275 Demo St, Davis, shows why the mortgage statement matters. Its October 2026 payment, in invented data, splits 3 ways.

Property 2, 1640 Test Way, Vacaville, was bought on Jun 2, 2026, so its purchase closing statement goes in. It was also refinanced, so the refinance statement goes in too: a new loan of $240,000, the old loan of $180,000 paid off, $4,800 of loan costs and $55,200 of cash out.

What about deals that straddle the year end?

A flip bought in one year and sold in the next has costs in both. Its unsold cost at December 31 has to be stated. Deposits still out at year end belong on the list too.

This is where an investor's year end differs from most businesses. Demo Flips LLC bought Projects 1 to 5 between October and December 2025 and sold all 5 in 2026, so each one has costs in both years.

At the end of September 2026, the sample report showed 3 properties with costs on the books and no sale against them.

Cost so far is the purchase cost (price plus closing costs) plus rehab, loan costs and holding costs. Project 8: $442,700 + $42,240 + $9,770 + $17,118. Project 9: $352,160 + $61,500 + $7,540 + $21,614. Project 10: $269,668 + $0 + $5,986 + $824.

A property still unsold on December 31 goes on the list with its cost to date. Deposits work the same way. Each one goes on the list with its deal, its amount, the date paid and its state at December 31. Demo Wholesale LLC Deal 3 shows the record: $1,500 paid on Jun 20, 2026, forfeited on Aug 12, 2026. How any of these is treated on the return is for your CPA to decide.

What about contractors and W-9s?

Totals paid per contractor for the year, with a W-9 on file for each. Ask anyone missing one before January, while the work is recent and the contractor is easy to reach.

The contractor totals for Demo Flips LLC in the September 2026 sample report, year to date.

Demo Framing Crew has no W-9 on file, so it is on the list now. We deliver 1099-ready reporting. You or your CPA file the 1099s. Contractor totals are needed in January, and the W-9s are what make them usable. For what to keep on each contractor, see contractor 1099 records.

When are the 1099 and partnership filing dates?

Form 1099-NEC is due January 31 and a partnership's Form 1065 is due March 15. A date on a weekend or holiday moves to the next business day. For 2026 returns, that means February 1 and March 15, 2027.

Read on irs.gov on Oct 23, 2026. The Form 1065 instructions set the date as the 15th day of the 3rd month after the tax year ends. This page is updated every tax year.

Which returns your entities file, and when, is for your CPA to confirm. Your bookkeeper hands over the books and the package, and your preparer files. For who does which part, see bookkeeper vs accountant vs tax preparer.

What if the books are not in a state to hand over?

That is a cleanup, not a checklist. Past periods are rebuilt from the source documents deal by deal, and then the package is assembled from books that reconcile.

The core list above still applies. The statements and closing statements are the source documents a cleanup rebuilds from. To see how it works, read about our real estate bookkeeping cleanup.

What does a finished year-end package look like?

Financial statements for the year, per-deal or per-property reporting, reconciled accounts, contractor totals with taxpayer details, and the supporting documents indexed so your preparer can find anything without asking.

What we hand you for your CPA:

• Financial statements for the year, for each LLC.
• A per-deal report for flips and wholesale deals, or a per-property report for rentals.
• Every bank, card and loan account reconciled to December 31.
• Cost basis per property, and the records your CPA uses to set depreciation.
• Contractor totals for the year, with the W-9 details, ready for 1099 reporting.
• A short list of open questions, so nothing is left to guess.
• The supporting documents, indexed by property.

A property's cost basis is a running total, from its purchase closing statement through every improvement. We explain that record in rental property cost basis and depreciation records.

Flipper Bookkeeping prepares the books and the package. Your CPA or tax preparer prepares and files the return. We do not file returns or 1099s.

The return starts from the book figures, and your CPA then applies the tax rules, so the 2 can show different numbers. We cover that in book income vs taxable income.

The package comes from the monthly books, closed and reconciled every month.