--- title: "Year-End Document Checklist | EverStone CPA" url: https://www.everstonecpa.com/year-end-document-checklist description: "A free checklist of every document your accountant needs at year-end, grouped by where it comes from. Download it, work down it, hand it all over at once." type: tool updated: 2026-10-02 summary: "A free checklist of the records an accountant asks for at a corporate year end, listed in the order they are normally requested. Working through it before the file is handed over is what keeps a year end from turning into a series of follow-up emails. No sign-up." faq_count: 4 publisher: EverStone CPA Inc., a Chartered Professional Accountant firm registered with CPA British Columbia and CPA Alberta service_area: British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Manitoba language: en-CA contact: info@everstonecpa.com · https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online --- [Home](https://www.everstonecpa.com/) [Resources](https://www.everstonecpa.com/resources) Year-End Document Checklist Free PDF # Year-End Document Checklist Updated 2 October 2026 This page is print-friendly. Use your browser’s Print (Ctrl/Cmd⁠+⁠P) to keep a paper copy beside you. Part of the [free checklist library](https://www.everstonecpa.com/checklists). Everything your accountant needs, in the order they will ask for it What this covers, at a glance. [Download the PDF — free](https://www.everstonecpa.com/downloads/everstone-year-end-document-checklist.pdf) Printable one-pager · 166KB · Version 2026-07-26 · No sign-up required **Quick answer:** A free checklist of the records an accountant asks for at a corporate year end, listed in the order they are normally requested. Working through it before the file is handed over is what keeps a year end from turning into a series of follow-up emails. No sign-up. If something on this list does not exist yet, it is far better to say so now than at year-end. [An email enquiry](https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online) sorts out what is actually needed. ## What is in it - **From the bank** — 5 items - **From your books** — 5 items - **From payroll** — 5 items - **From the CRA** — 4 items - **Assets and liabilities** — 4 items - **Corporate records** — 4 items One page, designed to be printed and worked with a pen. Brand header, our contact details and a version date on the page. Year-ends are slowed less by accounting than by weeks of requests and waiting: the bank statement, then the loan agreement. Your accountant will ask for everything on this list; gathering it in one pass is the cheapest way to shorten the engagement and lower its cost. The list is grouped by *where the document comes from* rather than by what it proves, because that is how you actually collect things: everything from the bank in one sitting, everything from the payroll system in another. Items that only apply to some businesses are marked, so a sole director with no vehicles and no inventory can skip a third of it without wondering whether they have missed something. Nothing here is specific to us. If you use another firm, the list is the same — the questions at year-end do not change with the letterhead. A practical way to use it: work down the list once, put everything into a single folder, and only then send it. Accountants price year-end work on how much chasing it needs, so one complete handover is worth more than six prompt replies to six separate questions. If something on the list genuinely does not apply to your business, say so rather than leaving it out — a stated “no inventory” closes the question, while silence generates an email. This checklist is also lesson one of the [Year-End Playbook](https://www.everstonecpa.com/year-end-playbook), a free five-email course pacing the whole close. Clients send documents by secure upload link and sign electronically, rather than by email attachment. See [how documents and signatures move](https://www.everstonecpa.com/client-portal). ## Want the updated version each year? Tax figures and filing dates move. Leave your email and we will send the refreshed copy when it changes. That is all we use it for. The download above works either way. ## Common questions about year-End Document Checklist **Why gather everything before my accountant asks?** Because the asking is what makes it slow: weeks of requesting a bank statement, waiting, then the loan agreement. Gathering everything at once is the cheapest way to shorten the engagement and cut its cost. [Ask about your case →](https://www.everstonecpa.com/quick-question) **Why is the list grouped this way?** By where a document comes from rather than by what it proves, because that is how you actually collect things — everything from the bank in one sitting, everything from the payroll system in another. **What if half of it does not apply to me?** Items that only apply to some businesses are marked, so you can skip them rather than wonder whether you have missed something. **What gets forgotten most often?** Two things, every year: the December bank statement, which often is not available until January, and personal expenses that ran through the business account. Both are far easier to deal with now than in a query letter three weeks from now. **General information, not tax advice.** This checklist is a general aid for Canadian business owners. It does not account for your circumstances and does not create a professional relationship. Speak to a CPA before acting — [send an enquiry](https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online). [Every fiscal year-end, and the filing month it creates](https://www.everstonecpa.com/year-end-filing-months) [January is when February is decided](https://www.everstonecpa.com/january-owner-checklist) [Ending a corporation well is a sequence, not an event](https://www.everstonecpa.com/closing-or-selling-your-corporation) [Monthly Bookkeeping Checklist A free one-page monthly bookkeeping routine: reconcile, categorize, review, file.](https://www.everstonecpa.com/monthly-bookkeeping-checklist) [CRA Review and Audit Document Checklist](https://www.everstonecpa.com/cra-audit-document-checklist) [Transfer pricing rules modernised, and the documentation window cut to 30 days](https://www.everstonecpa.com/tax-update/transfer-pricing-changes) [Accruing a bonus at year end: the 180-day rule](https://www.everstonecpa.com/blog/accrued-bonus-180-day-rule-canada) [Employment contract vs contractor agreement: what each document actually does](https://www.everstonecpa.com/blog/employment-contract-vs-contractor-agreement) [Prepaid expenses at year end: what has to be deferred](https://www.everstonecpa.com/blog/prepaid-expenses-year-end-canada) [Year-end hub The guide behind this checklist.](https://www.everstonecpa.com/year-end-hub) [Financial statements](https://www.everstonecpa.com/financial-statement-preparation-canada) [All guides and resources](https://www.everstonecpa.com/resources) [Send an enquiry](https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online) ## Talk to a CPA about this One CPA, start to finish. Fixed fees in writing before work begins, and no obligation. [Get My Fixed Quote](https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online) [Ask a Free Question](https://www.everstonecpa.com/quick-question) Email info@everstonecpa.com ★★★★★ “…We switched to him last year for both our personal and small-business taxes — responsive, knowledgeable and quick.” Heather Powers · Google review --- Source: https://www.everstonecpa.com/year-end-document-checklist Prices: https://www.everstonecpa.com/pricing · Contact: info@everstonecpa.com · https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online