Here at LEOZIE Bookkeeping LLC, we understand the urge to “fix” things in QuickBooks after the year end financials have been done and sent off to your CPA to file taxes. The struggle to want to make your bookkeeping perfect is a real thing. You spot a tiny error and think, “Hey, I’ll just tweak this.” Well, hold up, my friend and step away from the keyboard! Changing data post-filing is like riding on a Merry-Go-Round. The more you change, the more you throw off your financials and around and around in circles you go. Once the year has been completed and the QuickBooks file has been locked down, changes should never be made unless they are the CPA final adjusting entries. Those are the ones the CPA hands over to depreciate assets or close out equity accounts into Retained Earnings and there may be other necessary adjustments, but once a year has been closed, resist the temptation to make changes. Sit on your hands, step away from the computer, leave your office, hold your breath, do anything but make changes that will affect the financials in any way.
Here’s why you should resist the urge:
- The IRS Hates Surprises
Once you hit the close the year button and have sent your financial packet to your CPA, and even more important, once your CPA has hit the SEND button to file your taxes, the tax gods have spoken. If you change the data in QuickBooks, you’re rewriting history—and the IRS hates surprises, not to mention how frustrated you will make your CPA. - Your Books Will Have Trust Issues
If you start adjusting things, your QuickBooks file and your filed tax return won’t be on speaking terms anymore. They’ll be like two exes giving each other the silent treatment—awkward and hard to work with. And guess who’s stuck in the middle trying to reconcile them? Avoid the drama and leave it alone. - Financial Reports Gone WRONG
Once your data’s been filed, it’s set in stone. If you go back and mess with it, your financial reports turn into a funhouse mirror—everything’s warped and unreliable. And while funhouse mirrors are great at the county fair, they’re terrible for your business decisions.
So… what should you do if you find a mistake? Contact your CPA and have them advise you of what to do. They may have you enter the correction as a journal entry for the end of the year or most likely as of the first of the following year. There is a possibility that the correction may warrant a refiling of your taxes. Make sure to run this through your CPA because they will catch you if you don’t and it will not be a cozy, sit by the fireplace with a mug of hot chocolate in your hands, conversation. It will be an uncomfortable lecture that will make you crumble and shake at the knees.
The best thing to do is to hire a bookkeeper. Call us! We’ve got your back. We can help fix the problem without throwing your books into a tailspin.