Agree the business and period first
Identify the GST registration, period, locations and activities covered by the handover. If you sell through a shop, website and marketplace, list all three. Explain whether books are maintained centrally or separately. The office should know what the supplied data includes before using it for a return or reconciliation.
Keep sales and adjustments together
Send a usable sales register with invoices, cancellations, returns and credit notes for review. Explain unusual entries and documents received after the earlier handover. For marketplace or website sales, retain transaction reports as well as settlement statements: a bank payout can contain deductions and adjustments that need their own explanation.
- Identify each report by business, registration and period
- Include every sales channel in the completeness check
- Explain cancellations and returns rather than deleting the trail
- Flag invoices or adjustments not included in earlier records
Organise purchase evidence and differences
Keep supplier invoices and the purchase register available alongside the relevant portal information. An entry in one source does not, by itself, settle every question about the underlying transaction or its treatment. Missing documents, supplier differences and disputed items should go onto a follow-up list for review rather than being silently treated as resolved.
Define who checks, approves and files
Bookkeeping, return preparation and reconciliation are connected tasks, but the engagement should say which work the office is doing. Agree who provides missing information and who confirms the working. The filing route and timetable depend on the registration and applicable period; a monthly handover is an organising method, not a statement that every business has the same filing frequency.
Keep a completion folder and an open-item list
After the agreed work, retain the final working, available acknowledgements and payment records. Record questions still awaiting evidence, the person following up and the next action. This makes the next handover easier and helps distinguish a completed filing from a difference that still needs review. Share financial files only through the channel agreed with the office.
Your preparation checklist
Tick what you already have. You can still contact us if something is missing.
Examples are illustrative. General guidance, not a conclusion on your particular facts. Requirements and available routes should be checked for your business and period.