An accountant does not charge you for the return. They charge you for the hours it takes to turn what you hand them into a return. That is why the same Schedule C costs one client $400 and another $1,200, and why some firms tell a new sole proprietor they are "too small" and drop them. Too small means: the cleanup costs more than the fee.
So here is the list, in the order a preparer wants it, and the one habit that makes you the client they keep.
The list
- Income by source. Every payment you received, dated, with who paid you. Match it to any 1099-NEC or 1099-K forms you received, because the IRS matches them too.
- Expenses by Schedule C line. Not a bank export. Totals per category: advertising, supplies, contract labor, software, insurance, meals (they will apply the 50% rule), and so on. The full list with examples is here.
- Receipts for anything they might question. Attached to the expense, not in a separate folder. A receipt the preparer has to hunt for is a receipt that gets left out.
- Mileage log. Date, miles, purpose, for every business trip. The 2026 standard rate is 72.5 cents a mile to June 30 and 76 cents from July 1, so 3,000 untracked miles is $2,175 to $2,280 of deduction gone.
- Home office facts. Square feet of the office and of the home, or the simplified method ($5 a square foot up to 300).
- Estimated payments you made. Dates and amounts of every 1040-ES payment. Preparers cannot see these; you have to tell them.
- Last year's return. It sets the safe-harbor floor and shows carry-forwards.
- Assets you bought. Anything over a few hundred dollars that lasts more than a year: laptop, camera, truck. Date and cost.
Tax prep checklist: the package in one table
Print this, tick it off in January, and send it as one package in February. Each row is something a preparer asks for; the right column is where it comes from if you kept books all year, and where to find it if you did not.
| Item | Where it comes from | Done |
|---|---|---|
| Income list by payer | Your books, checked against every 1099-NEC and 1099-K | ☐ |
| Expense totals per Schedule C line | Your books, or your sorted bank and card statements | ☐ |
| Receipts for large items, meals, travel and gifts | Attached to the expense, not a separate folder | ☐ |
| Mileage log with year-end odometer reading | Your log, or rebuilt from your calendar | ☐ |
| Home office square footage | A tape measure, once | ☐ |
| Estimated payments with dates, including January 15 | Your IRS online account or bank statements | ☐ |
| Last year's return | Your preparer or your own files | ☐ |
| Assets bought this year, with date and cost | Receipts for anything that lasts more than a year | ☐ |
| 1099-NEC forms you sent to contractors | Your filing copies, due January 31 | ☐ |
| Health insurance and retirement contributions | Year-end statements from the insurer and plan | ☐ |
If more than three rows are blank in December, the books are the problem, not the list. Our guide to catching up on bookkeeping before tax season fills them one month per sitting, starting from your statements.
Why "too small" happens, and how not to be it
A small-practice CPA earns their margin on tax and advisory. Bookkeeping cleanup is the low-margin part, and a shoebox in April is pure cleanup at the worst week of the year. On r/Accounting the profession says it out loud: bookkeeping is the work they push down or turn away. On r/smallbusiness the other side of that conversation reads "my CPA told me I was too small and dropped me".
The way out is not a bigger business. It is a smaller cleanup. Send the eight items above in February, as one package, with categories already assigned and receipts attached, and you have turned yourself from a cleanup job into a twenty-minute return. Preparers keep those clients and price them fairly, because the price is the hours.
What the package looks like when the books were kept all year
If every expense was filed on the day it happened, the package is not something you assemble. It is something you download. ClaryBook produces a line-by-line Schedule C worksheet in form order, a mileage log at the IRS rate, and a receipt archive your preparer can open next to the numbers. The February email to your accountant becomes one attachment and one sentence.
Books that are current all year, from your phone
Text a receipt or type what you spent. ClaryBook files it under the right Schedule C line, keeps a running quarterly estimate, and hands your accountant a tax package with every receipt attached. $30 a month, 30 days free, no card.
Start freeIf you do not have an accountant
Three honest options, in order of cost:
- File it yourself with consumer tax software. Fine for a single Schedule C with clean books. The books are the hard part; the software is the easy part.
- An enrolled agent (EA). IRS-licensed tax specialists, usually solo, often cheaper than a CPA for a straightforward Schedule C, with full rights to represent you if the IRS writes.
- A CPA, once there is planning to do: an S-corp question, a second business, real estate.
Whichever you pick, the list above is the same. Related: the five-minute weekly bookkeeping system.
FAQ
What should be on a tax prep checklist for a sole proprietor?
Income by payer checked against your 1099s, expense totals per Schedule C line, receipts for large items, meals, travel and gifts, a mileage log, home office square footage, estimated payments with dates, last year's return, assets bought this year, 1099-NEC forms you sent, and health insurance and retirement contribution statements.