Year-end financial statements, business and personal returns, sales tax filings where they apply, payroll reporting, and the periodic figures that tell you how the year is going. Many also advise on entity choice and owner compensation. Audits, formal assurance reports and specialist tax disputes usually go elsewhere, and a straight answer about that is a good sign.

Year-end statements satisfy the filing. Figures during the year are what let you act while acting still helps: pricing, hiring, a tax bill you can see coming. If your business carries inventory, employs people or borrows, monthly or quarterly numbers usually earn their fee. A quiet sole proprietorship often does not need them.

Either a fixed monthly amount covering an agreed list of work, or a bill per engagement with extras charged as they come up. The state of your records drives the number more than anything else. Ask what is inside the fee, what counts as extra, whether a phone call is billable, and get the list in the engagement letter.

Last year's statements and filed return, login access or a copy of your books, bank and credit card statements, loan agreements, payroll summaries, and any notices you have received. Add a short list of what changed this year. A firm that can see the previous year can quote properly instead of guessing.

You engage the new firm, and it writes to the old one for the working papers and prior filings. You are entitled to your own records. Timing matters: moving in the middle of a filing cycle costs more because two firms touch the same year. Settle any outstanding invoice, since unpaid bills can slow the handover.