Walk into your appointment ready. Answer a few questions and this free tool builds a personalized checklist of the income documents, statements and records to gather before you meet your CPA.
Answer a few quick questions below. It is private - nothing is submitted or stored - and takes about a minute.
This tool is for general information only and is not tax advice. Results depend on details it does not capture - confirm with your CPA before acting.
Here is what the checker asks and why each step matters. Prefer to talk it through? Contact us and we will help directly.
A first appointment needs the items a new preparer cannot pull from history: a government photo ID, Social Security numbers for everyone on the return, a copy of the prior-year federal and state returns, and a signed engagement letter or intake form. Returning clients can skip what the firm already holds. The trap is switching firms and assuming the new preparer has last year's return or the carryover schedules - bring them.
Organized records speed up preparation and reduce errors.
Official guidance: IRS recordkeeping guidance
The engagement letter sets the scope of the return, the fee basis, and each party's responsibilities, while an intake organizer collects dependents, bank details for direct deposit, and life-event changes. Ask whether the firm provides a secure client portal for uploads. A common mistake is emailing Social Security numbers and tax documents unencrypted - use the portal or another secure channel instead.
Your firm may provide a secure portal for uploads.
Official guidance: IRS recordkeeping guidance
Collect every Form W-2 and all Form 1099 variants - 1099-NEC and 1099-K for gig and business income, 1099-INT and 1099-DIV for bank and investment income, 1099-B for sales, 1099-R for retirement, 1099-G for unemployment or state refunds, and SSA-1099 for Social Security. Match them against the IRS wage-and-income transcript so nothing is missed. The trap is overlooking a 1099-K from a payment app or a small 1099-INT; the income is reportable whether or not a form arrives.
Use the interactive tool above to see how this applies to your situation.
Official guidance: IRS recordkeeping guidance
Itemizing helps only when total itemized deductions exceed the standard deduction, so gather Form 1098 for mortgage interest, property tax bills and state tax records (subject to the SALT limitation), medical expenses, and charitable acknowledgments. Obtain a contemporaneous written acknowledgment from each charity for larger gifts and keep Form 8283 support for larger noncash donations. The common error is claiming charitable or mortgage deductions without the substantiating statement, which can be disallowed on examination.
Itemized deductions need supporting statements.
Official guidance: IRS recordkeeping guidance
Bring both sides of the business: income records (Form 1099-NEC, Form 1099-K, and your own logs of cash receipts) and expense records (receipts, a mileage log supported by IRS Publication 463, and home-office details for Form 8829). Also gather any Form 1040-ES estimated payments made during the year. The trap is running personal and business money through one account, or reporting gross receipts without the expense records needed to compute net profit and self-employment tax.
Business income needs income and expense documentation.
Official guidance: IRS recordkeeping guidance
Last year's return supplies carryovers (capital loss, net operating loss, charitable, and credit carryforwards), depreciation and basis schedules for business or rental assets, and the prior-year AGI used to authenticate an e-filed return. Bring both the federal and the state return. The trap is providing only the federal copy or omitting the depreciation and basis schedules, which forces the preparer to reconstruct figures that should simply carry forward.
Use the interactive tool above to see how this applies to your situation.
Official guidance: IRS recordkeeping guidance
A checklist keeps the appointment efficient, but the records behind it are what matter: keep the source documents that substantiate every item reported, and retain them for the limitations period under IRC Section 6501 (generally three years, and longer for basis records and substantial omissions). The trap is bringing summaries or spreadsheets without the underlying Forms W-2, 1099, and 1098 and the receipts the preparer needs to verify the figures.
Print the checklist and assemble every listed record so the preparer can substantiate each item under IRC Section 6001. Keep the checklist on your device and gather the listed records; taxpayers must retain documentation substantiating return items under IRC Section 6001.
Official guidance: IRS recordkeeping guidance
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