Repeat steps for all bank accounts until all bank statements are saved

Repeat steps for all credit card accounts until all credit card statements are saved

Do not begin rolling forward the Sales Tax Workpaper until the prior period has been fully closed and reconciled If a new state or jurisdiction needs to be added, flag to the Reviewer before proceeding — new state registrations and nexus determinations should always be confirmed with the client's CPA

Confirm the correct accounting method (Cash or Accrual) is being used when pulling the Sales Report If the client uses multiple sales platforms, confirm all platforms are included — missing a platform is one of the most common causes of sales tax underpayment

Reconcile one state / jurisdiction at a time to avoid confusion If a variance cannot be resolved, do not adjust the workpaper arbitrarily — flag to the Reviewer and confirm the correct treatment before making any changes

Repeat steps for all loan accounts until all loan statements are saved

If the Payroll Period covers part of another month, save reports for that payroll period as well — a payroll journal entry will need to be posted for the split period

Confirm the correct accounting method (Cash or Accrual) was used when pulling the Sales Report from the Accounting Software

Do not begin Checking - California x3944 Preparation until the Bank Statement for Checking - California x3944 has been saved to Client Folder/Controllership/Bank Statements per the Client Documentation section Step 1: If the bank feed is consistently missing transactions or showing errors, flag to the Reviewer — a persistent sync issue may require the bank feed connection to be reset or re-authenticated Step 2: When matching transactions to existing entries in QBO, confirm the match is correct before accepting — incorrect matches can create duplicate entries or mispost transactions to the wrong period Step 3: When in doubt about how to categorize a transaction, flag it for the Reviewer rather than making an assumption — incorrect coding can have a material impact on the financial statements

Do not begin Clover x0740 Preparation until the Bank Statement for Clover x0740 has been saved to Client Folder/Controllership/Bank Statements per the Client Documentation section Step 1: If the bank feed is consistently missing transactions or showing errors, flag to the Reviewer — a persistent sync issue may require the bank feed connection to be reset or re-authenticated Step 2: When matching transactions to existing entries in QBO, confirm the match is correct before accepting — incorrect matches can create duplicate entries or mispost transactions to the wrong period Step 3: When in doubt about how to categorize a transaction, flag it for the Reviewer rather than making an assumption — incorrect coding can have a material impact on the financial statements

Do not begin Capital One Spark Miles x4914 Preparation until the Credit Card Statement for Capital One Spark Miles x4914 has been saved to Client Folder/Controllership/Credit Card Statements per the Client Documentation section Step 1: If the credit card feed is consistently missing transactions or showing errors, flag to the Reviewer — a persistent sync issue may require the feed connection to be reset or re-authenticated Step 2: Pay particular attention to meal, entertainment, and travel expenses — these categories often require additional detail (business purpose, attendees) for tax purposes Step 3: When in doubt about how to categorize a transaction, code to Uncategorized Expense and flag it for the Reviewer rather than making an assumption

Do not begin Paclife Loan Preparation until the Paclife Loan Statement has been saved to Client Folder/Controllership/Loan Statements per the Client Documentation section Step 1: Confirm the beginning loan balance in the Loan & Debt Schedule matches the prior period's ending balance before updating — if there is a discrepancy, flag to the Reviewer before proceeding Step 2: Always confirm the principal / interest split directly from the Loan Statement or amortization schedule — do not estimate or calculate independently without supporting documentation

If the Payroll Period covers part of another month, confirm the reports for that payroll period have also been saved — a payroll journal entry will need to be posted

Confirm the correct accounting method (Cash or Accrual) was used when pulling the Sales Report from the Accounting Software

Do not approve the reconciliation until all variances have been resolved or approved — do not file a return based on unresolved variances

Always save the filed return confirmation immediately after filing Confirm the payment due date for each state / jurisdiction before processing — late payments may result in penalties and interest

Do not begin review until the Preparer has completed the Checking - California x3944 Preparation task in full including the Step 4 confirmation checklist Step 2: Run a transaction detail report for Checking - California x3944 from the Accounting Software to review all coded transactions for the current close period in one view — this makes it easier to spot inconsistencies or misclassifications Step 3: If any flagged items require client input before a final determination can be made, escalate immediately and do not approve the preparation until a decision has been received

Do not begin review until the Preparer has completed the Clover x0740 Preparation task in full including the Step 4 confirmation checklist Step 2: Run a transaction detail report for Clover x0740 from the Accounting Software to review all coded transactions for the current close period in one view — this makes it easier to spot inconsistencies or misclassifications Step 3: If any flagged items require client input before a final determination can be made, escalate immediately and do not approve the preparation until a decision has been received

Do not begin review until the Preparer has completed the Capital One Spark Miles x4914 Preparation task in full including the Step 4 confirmation checklist Step 2: Run a transaction detail report for Capital One Spark Miles x4914 from the Accounting Software to review all coded transactions for the current close period in one view Step 3: If any personal or non-business expenses are identified, escalate to the client immediately — do not approve the preparation until the correct treatment has been confirmed

Do not begin review until the Preparer has completed the Paclife Loan Preparation task in full including the Step 3 confirmation checklist Step 2: Cross-reference the journal entry amounts against the Paclife Loan Statement saved in Client Folder/Controllership/Loan Statements to confirm accuracy

If the client's payroll platform integrates directly with the Accounting Software, confirm whether entries are being auto-posted before manually entering to avoid duplicates Confirm all payroll tax deposits have been made on time — late or incorrect deposits can result in IRS penalties Repeat journal entries for each pay period — do not combine multiple pay periods into a single journal entry

If any payroll liability accounts show an unexpected balance, investigate immediately — outstanding payroll liabilities can result in penalties if not resolved by the filing deadline

Record a separate journal entry for each state / jurisdiction — do not combine multiple states into a single entry

Confirm the client's capitalization threshold before adding any new assets — purchases below the threshold should be expensed rather than capitalized Always record depreciation on the last day of the close period Confirm with the client's CPA before recording any gain or loss on disposal — the tax treatment of asset disposals can be complex

Do not complete the Month-End Close Checklist until all close tasks have been completed and approved by the Reviewer The Month-End Close Checklist serves as the official record that all close tasks have been completed — do not mark any item as complete unless it has been fully completed and approved

Do not begin Checking - California x3944 Reconciliation until the Checking - California x3944 Preparation task has been completed and approved by the Reviewer Step 1: If the Beginning Balance does not match the prior period's reconciled ending balance, stop and flag to the Reviewer immediately — do not proceed with an incorrect opening balance Step 3: Never force a reconciliation to balance by creating an unsupported journal entry — if the reconciliation does not balance, investigate and resolve the discrepancy before completing Step 4: Always save the Bank Reconciliation Report immediately after completing — do not close the reconciliation without saving the report to the Client Folder

Do not begin Clover x0740 Reconciliation until the Clover x0740 Preparation task has been completed and approved by the Reviewer Step 1: If the Beginning Balance does not match the prior period's reconciled ending balance, stop and flag to the Reviewer immediately — do not proceed with an incorrect opening balance Step 3: Never force a reconciliation to balance by creating an unsupported journal entry — if the reconciliation does not balance, investigate and resolve the discrepancy before completing Step 4: Always save the Bank Reconciliation Report immediately after completing — do not close the reconciliation without saving the report to the Client Folder

Do not begin Capital One Spark Miles x4914 Reconciliation until the Capital One Spark Miles x4914 Preparation task has been completed and approved by the Reviewer Step 1: If the Beginning Balance does not match the prior period's reconciled ending balance, stop and flag to the Reviewer immediately Step 3: Never force a reconciliation to balance — if the reconciliation does not balance, investigate and resolve the discrepancy before completing Step 4: Always save the Credit Card Reconciliation Report immediately after completing

Do not begin Paclife Loan Reconciliation until the Paclife Loan Preparation task has been completed and approved by the Reviewer Step 2: If the Accounting Software balance does not tie to the Loan Statement, do not adjust arbitrarily — investigate the root cause and flag to the Reviewer before making any changes

Do not begin review until the Preparer has completed both Payroll Preparation and Reconciliation sub-tasks in full If the client's payroll platform auto-posts to the Accounting Software, confirm the auto-posted entries are correct before approving — auto-posted entries are not always accurate

Pay particular attention to outstanding payroll liability balances — any liability that should have been remitted but remains open should be escalated immediately

Cross-reference all Sales Tax journal entry amounts against the Sales Tax Workpaper and Sales Tax Liability Report saved in Client Folder

Confirm all new asset additions meet the client's capitalization threshold Confirm the depreciation method and useful life used for each new asset is consistent with the client's depreciation policy

Open items should be the exception — if there are consistently open items at month end, escalate to identify and resolve the root cause

Do not begin review until the Preparer has completed the Checking - California x3944 Reconciliation task in full including the Step 5 confirmation checklist Step 2: Cross-reference the Bank Reconciliation Report against the Bank Statement saved in Client Folder/Controllership/Bank Statements to confirm the ending balance and cleared transactions are consistent Step 3: Any outstanding checks older than 90 days should be escalated to the client — these may represent uncashed checks that need to be voided and reissued or escheated per applicable state unclaimed property laws

Do not begin review until the Preparer has completed the Clover x0740 Reconciliation task in full including the Step 5 confirmation checklist Step 2: Cross-reference the Bank Reconciliation Report against the Bank Statement saved in Client Folder/Controllership/Bank Statements to confirm the ending balance and cleared transactions are consistent Step 3: Any outstanding checks older than 90 days should be escalated to the client — these may represent uncashed checks that need to be voided and reissued or escheated per applicable state unclaimed property laws

Do not begin review until the Preparer has completed the Capital One Spark Miles x4914 Reconciliation task in full including the Step 5 confirmation checklist Step 2: Cross-reference the Credit Card Reconciliation Report against the Credit Card Statement saved in Client Folder/Controllership/Credit Card Statements Step 3: Any disputed charges should be escalated to the client immediately — confirm the client has contacted the credit card issuer to dispute the charge before approving

Do not begin review until the Preparer has completed the Paclife Loan Reconciliation task in full Step 1: Cross-reference the Paclife Loan Statement saved in Client Folder/Controllership/Loan Statements against the Accounting Software balance and Loan & Debt Schedule to confirm all three tie