Closing Your Company's 2004 Books in January -- A Crucial Checklist for Bookkeepers.

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- Closing your company's 2004 books in January involves a lot more than flipping the back cover or clicking "save" on some accounting software files.

It may be your last chance to spot a variety of tax deductions for 2004 and to avoid a wide range of problems in 2005--from vital insurance expiring to missed bad debt write-offs to accounting errors that will require amended tax returns to running triggering an IRS notice that results in endless correspondence.

The following checklist, published by the American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers (www.aipb.org) for its members, was compiled by Certified Bookkeeper Margaret L. Grepo, CB, AIB Partners, Cherry Hill, NJ, a bookkeeping and accounting services company.

Apply items as are appropriate:

--Verify that all source documents have been processed.

--Verify that Accounts Payable vendor statements have been reconciled.

--Review and record prepaid expenses.

--Issue Accounts Receivable customer statements.

--Review Accounts Receivable, and record bad debt.

--Reconcile all bank accounts.

--Review bank accounts, and adjust for stale items.

--Review and record changes in or adjustments to inventory value.

--Review and record each asset acquisition/disposal.

--Review asset schedules, and prepare or revise as needed.

--Verify fixed and intangible asset balances, depreciation and amortization against the related schedules, and record or adjust.

--Reconcile credit card and loan accts.

--Verify that W-9 forms have been received for independent contractors and send additional requests for any W-9s not received.

--Verify that all payroll, sales, information, and income tax forms have been filed for the period.

--Verify payroll, sales and income tax liability balances.

--Produce trial balance.

--Review or attach supporting documentation for each asset and liability account balance on the trial balance.

--Archive those files that your company needs to retain.

--Make sure that your workers' comp insurance is in effect for the coming year.

--See if company liability and life insurance needs to be increased or reduced and that beneficiaries listed are up to date.

--Make sure you have received and reviewed renewals for all insurance policies.

--Make sure that all assets leased or purchased during the year have been added to the appropriate insurance policies.

--Make sure that all vital business records for which there should be off-site copies have been reproduced and archived.

--Verify that amounts reported on the four quarterly 941s agree with amounts on your W-3 and W-2s before you file. The IRS and SSA crosscheck the following amounts:

FIT withholding: W-3, Box 2 = 941, Line 3.

SS. wages: W-3, Box 3 = 941, Lines 6a and 6b.

Medicare wages: W-3, Box 5 = 941, Line 7.

If these amounts do not agree, find the error and make adjustments on the 941 and/or W-3 and W-2.

The total of Box 1 of all W-2s need not agree with the 941, Line 2 for the year. But if you change any other amounts on a W-2, you may end up having to file a 941c.

AIPB is the national association and certifying organization for bookkeepers, established in 1987, currently with 30,000 members, www.aipb.org.