# Bookkeeping that carries into the return

Keep each client's books where you prepare their return. Bring a company in from QuickBooks Online. Close each month. At year end, the books carry into the return.

## A set of books for each client
Each client business gets its own books. Start from a chart of accounts made for its kind of business, or bring its own. Each account keeps its history from year to year. Your staff sees every client's books from one list. You see which months are closed and which are still open. A client with more than one company gets books for each one.

## Bring in books from QuickBooks Online
Connect a client's QuickBooks Online company, with the client's consent. The chart of accounts, the opening balances and the past activity come across. Each account is matched to yours once, and the match is kept. Bring in more months whenever you need them. A client who keeps working in QuickBooks Online sends you each month's activity the same way.

## Bank and card activity, sorted by your rules
Connect each bank and card account, and the activity comes in each day. Your rules sort it into the right accounts. A rule can look at the payee, the amount or the memo. What the rules cannot sort goes to a review list. Your staff sorts it once and can save the choice as a new rule. Each change is kept with who made it.

## Reconcile every account
Match each account to its bank or card statement. Items that match are checked off for you. What is left shows up on its own, so your staff can find the gap. A reconciled month is locked, so nothing changes behind you. Each reconciliation is saved with its statement for the file. A reviewer can open any month and see how it was done.

## Close the month
Close each month with the same steps every time. Post journal entries for things like accruals and depreciation. A second person approves each entry before it posts. Review the trial balance, and the month is locked. Partners' capital accounts roll forward on their own. If a change is needed later, the month is opened again on purpose, and the change is logged.

## Financial statements for the client
Print the balance sheet and the income statement for any month, quarter or year. Compare this year with last year, or with a budget. Send the statements to the client's portal with your firm's name on them. The client can see their own books there when you allow it. Each set of statements is saved, so you can find last year's in seconds.

## From the books to the return
At year end, the trial balance carries into the business return. Each account is mapped to a line on the return once. The map is kept for next year. Your year-end changes post to the books and to the return at the same time. So the return and the books always agree. Your reviewer sees both side by side. See [business returns](/business-returns).

## The forms that come from the books
Payments to contractors and others in the books become 1099s at year end. Wages in the books become W-2s. Each person's tax ID is checked before the forms go out. Each person gets a copy in their portal, or by mail. The forms are e-filed for you. Your staff reviews them all on one board. See [information returns](/informational-filings), or [try the platform](/try?for=accounting) to see the returns your books would feed.