What a Good Bookkeeper Asks a New Hampshire Business Owner for in the First Month

What should a new bookkeeper ask for in the first month?

Last year's tax returns, access to your accounts, a starting point for the balances, and a list of every tax account the business holds. If you have staff or pay contractors, add payroll reports and contractor forms. What matters is that they ask, because each item answers a question the bank feed can't.

The bank is still where most of the work starts. The IRS page on what records to keep says that for most small businesses, the business checking account is the main source for entries in the books. But a statement only shows money moving, not what the business owed or had already reported when the new bookkeeper took over.

The rules below are as the IRS, New Hampshire and Vermont agency pages stated them when we checked them in September and October 2026.

Why does a bookkeeper need last year's tax return?

Because the books have to pick up where the last return left off. If the opening balances don't agree with what was reported, somebody has to explain the gap at tax time, and it's cheaper to find it in month one. A loan or a big owner draw can easily get counted twice.

The IRS record retention page makes the same point from the other side: keep copies of your filed returns, because they help in preparing future returns. For a New Hampshire business, a good bookkeeper asks for the state business tax returns as well as the federal one. The Department of Revenue Administration's 2025 business tax instructions say a Business Profits Tax return has to be filed once gross business income passes the filing threshold, even if there is no profit, and the Business Enterprise Tax has a threshold of its own.

If the same firm will prepare your return, you may also be asked about Granite Tax Connect. The DRA's Granite Tax Connect page says you can connect your tax preparer to your account there.

What does the full first-month list look like?

Should you hand over your bank password?

No. Ask your bank whether it offers a separate user or view-only access, and if it doesn't, send statements each month instead. In your accounting software, the bookkeeper should have their own login, so the access can be switched off cleanly if you part ways. If the software was never set up properly in the first place, QuickBooks setup and support is usually the first job, before any monthly work.

Say you run a plumbing business in Nashua with a van loan and one card that sometimes gets used for groceries. A careful bookkeeper asks for the loan statement so each payment can be split into principal and interest, and asks which card charges were personal. Both feel fussy in week two and save a messy conversation in March.

Which tax accounts should come up?

Every account the business files under: federal, state business tax, payroll, and sales tax anywhere you collect it. The DRA's Granite Tax Connect page lists the taxes it handles, including Meals and Rentals, Business Profits and Business Enterprise. What's missing is a general sales tax. The DRA's sales tax FAQ says there is no general sales tax on goods purchased in New Hampshire, and its interest and dividends tax page says the state doesn't tax W-2 wages. So there's no New Hampshire income tax to withhold from wages.

Crossing the state line changes that. Say you sell furniture from a shop in Portsmouth and deliver to customers in Burlington. The Vermont Department of Taxes sales and use tax page puts the state rate at 6% and says out-of-state sellers must register and collect once their Vermont sales or number of transactions pass a set level over a twelve-month period. Its sales tax FAQ says the tax is based on where the buyer takes the item, and the local option tax page lists Burlington among the towns that add 1%. So a good bookkeeper asks where your goods end up, as well as where you sell them from.

With employees, expect questions about payroll filings. New Hampshire Employment Security's employer taxes page says every employer files a tax and wage report for each calendar quarter while it has employees. The wages in the books should match those reports.

What should a bookkeeper ask about contractors?

Who you paid, how much, and whether you have a W-9 from each. The IRS independent contractor forms page says the first step with a contractor is to have them complete Form W-9, and to keep it on file for four years. Payments at or above the IRS reporting threshold then go on Form 1099-NEC. Chasing W-9s in the autumn beats chasing them in January.

How far back should a bookkeeper look?

Usually one year, more if something is missing. The same IRS retention page says to keep records that support a return until its period of limitations runs out, which is 3 years in the ordinary case. Employment tax records are kept for at least 4 years, and records are kept indefinitely for a year where no return was filed.

If a year never got filed, or the books stopped halfway through one, the first month is a cleanup. That's what catch-up bookkeeping is for.

What if your bookkeeper asked for none of this?

Ask them what they started the books from. There may be an innocent answer, such as a colleague who already had the files. If the answer is the bank feed and nothing else, the opening balances are a guess.

Ledger House works in two ways: an ongoing monthly bookkeeping partnership, or a one-time cleanup and setup when the books need fixing first. If you're not sure which you need, get in touch. The first consultation is free and commits you to nothing.