Still Behind on Your Books? These Are the 4 Things Your Accountant Needs by October

"Hey Mareaka, I know we’re late again this year getting our numbers together. If we wait until December, is it too late to do anything about taxes?"

Short answer? Yep.

If you wait until the holiday slowdown to send in your financials, you’re not planning—you’re just reacting.

And that usually means missed deductions, late decisions, and bigger tax bills.

Most roofers/HVAC contractors don’t realize how much control they lose by dragging their feet until year-end.

Your accountant needs time—not just data—to help you lock in smart moves.

When the books are late, your only option is to clean up the mess.

But if you send the right stuff in October, you get to make proactive calls that can still save you thousands.

What You’ll Learn in This Article

Why October is a critical tax planning window
The 4 reports your accountant needs right now
How early data leads to smarter year-end moves
What happens if you wait until December (hint: it’s not good)

Before we dive into it, let me introduce myself if we haven’t met yet.

I’m Mareaka from Bunch Accounting, and I specialize in helping roofing and HVAC business owners like you make confident, profitable decisions.

Pushing bookkeeping until Q4 is like waiting until the fourth quarter of a game to check the scoreboard.

You can’t win if you’re not looking at the numbers.

Every year, we see contractors miss out on vehicle deductions, bonus planning, or S corp payroll adjustments just because they waited too long to send in their info.

Real Money on the Line

One HVAC owner delayed sending their numbers until December 20.

By then, we couldn’t make any payroll adjustments or depreciation moves.

They lost over $11K in potential savings—just because they didn’t share what we needed 6 weeks earlier.

Step-by-Step Fix

Here’s exactly what your accountant needs to give you a real tax plan in October:

Up-to-Date Financials: Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet through September at minimum. We can’t plan with old data.
Asset Purchase List: Trucks, tools, software—anything you bought this year. Section 179 and bonus depreciation need lead time.
Payroll Reports & Owner Draws: This helps us adjust S corp wages or bonus payouts before year-end.
Big Q4 Plans: Thinking of buying a vehicle? Planning crew bonuses or equipment upgrades? We need to model the timing and tax impact now.

If you delay until December, you’re limiting your accountant’s ability to help. By that point:

Payroll changes like adjusting S corp wages can’t be processed in time.
Section 179 deductions on vehicles or equipment might miss the placed-in-service window.
Bonuses that could’ve reduced tax liability can’t be timed properly.
You’ll likely end up paying more—either in taxes or for last-minute cleanup work.
We’ve seen contractors miss $10K+ in savings just because there wasn’t time left to act.

A roofing contractor doing $940K/year, sent his books in mid-October for the first time. We spotted $37K in asset purchases and moved $12K into bonus depreciation before Thanksgiving. The result? A $9K lower tax bill and no surprises in April.

Get Your Free Guide