How Close the Books Works
How Close the Books handles general information, tax figures, dates and corrections, and where the line sits between a guide and advice from a CPA.
- Filed in
- Close kit
- Form
- Charter
- Dated
Contents, 4 sections
Close the Books is written by The Close the Books editors for owners and office managers who keep their own books. A wrong answer in accounting costs money, so the ground rules come first.
Where a guide stops and your CPA starts
Each guide explains how a task is normally done. None of it is tax, legal or financial advice for your business. Methods, business structures and local rules can change the right answer, and a CPA who knows your facts decides. When a guide reaches that point, it tells you.
Figures we leave out
Tax rates, thresholds and filing dates move every year and differ by place, so you will not find them stated as current fact. If a number matters, the guide names who publishes it, usually your tax authority or your accountant. The amounts in our tools and examples are made up to show a method.
What we do not do
We do not prepare or file returns, review anyone’s books or answer questions about a specific tax situation. The editors share one byline and make no claim to be licensed accountants.
When a page is wrong
Tell us through the contact page. We fix a confirmed error on the page and move its date, so a changed page looks changed. Where a rule has shifted since a page was written, the date shows how far to trust it.
The month-end close checklist is the page readers use most.