{
  "question_id": "CG-MCE-137",
  "slug": "how-to-vet-and-choose-a-bookkeeper-before-you-hand-over-your-books",
  "display_title": "How do I vet and choose a bookkeeper — what should I ask, what do the credentials and certifications mean, and what should I check before I hand over my books?",
  "format": "article-v2",
  "applies_to": {
    "countries": [
      "US"
    ],
    "frameworks": [],
    "tax_year": null,
    "platforms": []
  },
  "general_concept": true,
  "summary": "Treat each item on a candidate's profile as a claim until its issuer confirms it: the licensing authority for a CPA license, the IRS for enrolled-agent and preparer credentials, and the association or vendor for a certification. For insurance, get a current certificate and proof of renewal. Then test the work with questions, references and a small first job, and set up the accounting file and subscription in your own name before giving the provider its own limited logins.",
  "body": "## How do you separate what a candidate claims from what you can check?\n\nLicenses, IRS credentials, certifications and insurance are recorded by the body that issued them, so check each with that body, finding its website or phone number yourself rather than using a link, screenshot or number the candidate supplies. For an issuer not named below, the check counts only if you can establish, without relying on the candidate, that the issuer is genuine; otherwise treat the claim as unconfirmed. How they close a month, who reviews their work and how they handle errors cannot be looked up; the questions, references and first job below test those. Rapport and quick replies prove neither.\n\nThe checklist below pairs each common claim with its check:\n\n| Claim | Independent check | Who holds the answer |\n|---|---|---|\n| CPA, or CPA firm | That the license is active, not only issued | The state board of accountancy, District of Columbia or U.S. territory that issued it |\n| Enrolled agent, or Annual Filing Season Program participant | For an enrolled agent, the Office of Enrollment, with the IRS directory as a first look; for a participant, the directory and the year its record covers | IRS |\n| PTIN only | PTIN entered on the return filed with the IRS | IRS |\n| Will prepare your returns | Their credential, as above, and a state register where one exists | IRS; in California, CTEC for preparers who are not CPAs, enrolled agents or attorneys |\n| Certified Bookkeeper | Confirmation from the issuer | American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers |\n| QuickBooks Certified ProAdvisor | Confirmation from the issuer | Intuit |\n| Insured | A current certificate, its end date and proof of renewal | The insurer |\n| Your data is protected | Their written security program and answers to the data questions | The provider's own documents |\n| \"I do the work myself\" | Names and locations of everyone who will touch your books | The provider, tested with references |\n\n## What do the credentials on a profile actually mean?\n\nThey are not equivalent: some are government licenses or IRS credentials, others are private certifications.\n\n### What does a CPA license signify?\n\nThe IRS's page on preparer credentials and qualifications says CPAs are licensed by state boards of accountancy, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories. It says they have passed the Uniform CPA Examination, completed a study in accounting at a college or university and met their board's experience and good character requirements, and must comply with ethical requirements and complete specified levels of continuing education in order to maintain an active CPA license. Confirm with the authority that issued the license that it is active, not only issued; the California Board of Accountancy's License Lookup page, for example, links to searches for California and out-of-state licensed CPAs and firms.\n\n### What does enrolled-agent status signify?\n\nThe IRS's enrolled agent information page says an enrolled agent has earned the privilege of representing taxpayers before the IRS, either by passing a three-part comprehensive IRS test covering individual and business tax returns or through experience as a former IRS employee, and must adhere to ethical standards and complete 72 hours of continuing education every three years. The IRS's page on verifying an enrolled agent's status directs requests to its Contact the Office of Enrollment form.\n\n### What do the Annual Filing Season Program and a PTIN signify?\n\nThe IRS's credentials page calls the Annual Filing Season Program a voluntary program recognizing return preparers who are generally not attorneys, CPAs or enrolled agents, and says the IRS issues its record of completion for continuing-education hours obtained in preparation for a specific tax year, so check which year a candidate's record covers. It says preparers with an active PTIN, no professional credential and no part in that program are authorized to prepare tax returns. It describes the IRS's public directory as listing attorneys, CPAs, enrolled agents, enrolled retirement plan agents and enrolled actuaries with valid PTINs for 2022, plus Annual Filing Season Program Record of Completion recipients, so it will not show a preparer who holds only a PTIN.\n\n### What do bookkeeping and software certifications show?\n\nThe American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers' page on its Certified Bookkeeper designation says candidates pass a four-part national certification exam, sign its Code of Ethics, and submit evidence of at least 2 years' full-time bookkeeping experience or 3,000 hours' part-time or freelance experience, gained before or after the exam, with 3 years from passing to complete it. The page does not say what keeping the designation requires. Intuit's page on becoming a certified ProAdvisor presents QuickBooks certification as product expertise, names certifications for particular products such as QuickBooks Online, and asks holders to pass a short recertification exam every year because Intuit continuously updates its products; it also lists a separate Intuit Bookkeeping Certification. Ask which certification, for which product, a badge refers to. Confirm either certification with its issuer: neither AIPB's designation page nor Intuit's certification page describes a public lookup, so ask the issuer, using contact details you find yourself, whether the person holds it now.\n\n## What extra check applies if they will also prepare your tax returns?\n\nReturn preparation is a separate permission, so check it as its own step. The IRS's Topic 254, on choosing a return preparer, says paid preparers must have a PTIN to prepare all or substantially all of a tax return, and are required by law to sign the return and include their PTIN on it. It says only attorneys, CPAs and enrolled agents can represent taxpayers before the IRS in all matters, including audits, collections and appeals, while Annual Filing Season Program participants have limited rights to represent taxpayers for audits of returns they prepared and signed. Confirm any credential as above, then check your state's rules. For a preparer who holds only a PTIN, the IRS's credentials page says to make certain your preparer has one and enters it on your return filed with the IRS, though not necessarily on your copy, and that PTIN holders not in the directory may still provide quality return preparation services. In California, CTEC's Find or Verify a California Tax Preparer page says only CPAs and their employees, attorneys with the State Bar of California, CTEC-registered preparers and IRS enrolled agents can prepare tax returns for a fee, and lets you search its register by name or CTEC ID. CTEC notes that CPAs, enrolled agents and attorneys are exempt from registering, so check CPAs and enrolled agents as above.\n\nIf return work may go abroad, ask before you sign anything. The IRS's FAQs on section 7216, the criminal provision barring preparers from knowingly or recklessly disclosing or using return information, say that where the other preparer is outside the United States or any U.S. territory or possession, the taxpayer must agree and sign a form consenting to the disclosure, and they set separate limits on Social Security numbers.\n\n## What insurance should they carry, and how do you confirm it is in force?\n\nTravelers' undated page on errors and omissions (E&O) insurance says it helps protect against the costs of allegations made by clients for inadequate work, negligent actions or failure to provide the expected level of service, and that accounting professionals, including tax preparers and consultants, can be at risk for liability exposure. The same page says contracts require E&O cover for some professionals, and calls it wise even where no contract requires it. Theft is a different class: Travelers' undated page on fidelity and crime insurance says that cover addresses the most common threats to organizations, such as employee dishonesty, computer fraud and theft, and helps protect businesses from dishonest acts committed against them. A provider's crime policy may therefore not respond to a loss of your money; if the provider will move money, ask whether it does, and read that wording.\n\nConfirm cover rather than accept it. Travelers' undated page on contractual risk transfer says a certificate of insurance is not a copy of the policy but a description of the coverage in force at that time, and advises watching when the policy will expire and getting proof of renewal. Ask for a current certificate, note when the policy ends and ask for proof of renewal then; you can also ask the insurer it names, reached through contact details you find yourself, to confirm the policy. That check counts only if you can establish that the insurer is genuine without relying on the certificate or the candidate; if you cannot, treat the cover as unconfirmed.\n\n## What should they be able to show about protecting your data?\n\nThe IRS's page Protect your clients; protect yourself says Federal Trade Commission regulations require professional tax preparers to create and enact security plans to protect client data. The FTC's guide to its Safeguards Rule lists tax preparation firms among the financial institutions it covers, and says the program must be written and appropriate to the size and complexity of the business, the nature and scope of its activities and the sensitivity of the information. Its listed elements include a designated Qualified Individual, encryption of customer information, multi-factor authentication for anyone accessing customer information, and selecting service providers able to maintain appropriate safeguards. The same guide says the FTC has exempted institutions holding customer information on fewer than five thousand consumers from certain provisions, and lets the Qualified Individual approve alternative controls where encryption is not feasible and, in writing, an equivalent secure access control in place of multi-factor authentication. Ask what replaces any element the program omits before treating the gap as a failure.\n\nThe IRS page and the FTC guide name tax preparers and tax preparation firms without settling whether a practice that only keeps books is covered, so for such a candidate a written program shows how the practice is run, not that a legal duty is met. Ask every candidate, bookkeeping-only or not, to show you the written program or a summary, and to answer these questions:\n\n- Where will my records be stored, and in which country?\n- Who can open them, and does every login need a second sign-in factor?\n- Which subcontractors or outside services touch my data, and how do you check them?\n- What happens to my data when the engagement ends?\n\nA practice's full data-security obligations are a separate question.\n\n## Which questions show how the work is really done?\n\nAsk the candidate to walk you through their process; a real answer names steps, dates, documents and people, as below:\n\n| Question | A substantive answer includes |\n|---|---|\n| How is a client's month organized? | Dates for when documents arrive, entries are made, the month closes and reports go out |\n| What does closing a month involve? | A checklist they can show you, ending in a review, and a rule that a closed month is not changed without telling you |\n| What do you reconcile, and against what? | Every bank, card and loan account, each against its statement, every month, with differences explained |\n| Who reviews the work before I see it? | A named reviewer, or a sole practitioner's written self-review, and what it checks |\n| Tell me about an error you found in a closed month. | What it was, how they found it, how they told the client and what they changed |\n\nAnswers such as \"I keep everything up to date\" or \"the software reconciles it\" say nothing; ask for the checklist or an anonymized sample.\n\n## What should a competent provider commit to before work starts?\n\nA competent provider will readily put these in writing before any access:\n\n- A scope naming the accounts, periods and tasks, including whether returns, payroll or payments are in or out\n- Deliverables, and the date each arrives\n- Access on your terms: their own logins, created by you, limited to the scope and removable by you at any time\n- The names of the people doing the work, and your consent before anyone else, including a subcontractor or offshore team, joins\n- A hand-back at the end: your documents returned and open items listed, with their access removed by you that day\n\nReluctance on any of these is a signal. Drafting the engagement letter, and deciding who is responsible for the accuracy of the books, are separate questions.\n\n## Why must the file, subscription and data be in your name first?\n\nIn QuickBooks Online, Intuit's help on changing the primary admin (updated September 8, 2026) says the person who sets up the account is the primary admin by default, and that the primary admin is the main person who has access to every part of a QuickBooks account and can manage everyone. Intuit's help for accountants on transferring primary admin access back to a client (updated August 5, 2026) says it is not recommended for firms to be the primary admin, though an accountant a client invites, or who starts a company file for the client, can also be its primary admin, and can transfer the role if the client wants it; the client accepts it from an emailed link. So create the company yourself, or have the role transferred to you before work starts, and pay the subscription from the business's own account. Intuit's help on changing the primary admin says the new primary admin must already be a user with the Admin role, and that on QuickBooks Online Simple Start you contact Intuit for the transfer. Intuit's undated Multiple Users page says you can invite your accountant to log in separately; do that rather than share your own login. On another platform, find the vendor's owner or subscriber role and make sure it is yours, so you can remove the provider's access without their help.\n\n## How do you test a provider on a small first job?\n\nGive the first job a firm boundary, such as one month's reconciliation of one bank account and one card, or the clean-up of a single quarter, with access limited to what it needs. Then check the output yourself:\n\n- Each reconciliation's ending balance matches the statement you downloaded from your bank, not a copy they sent.\n- Every item they could not match or categorize is listed with a question, not parked in a catch-all account.\n- Categories fit how your business earns and spends, and any change from before is explained.\n- It arrived on the promised date.\n\nIf it fails any of these, stop there; if it passes, widen scope and access one step at a time. Checking the work once the engagement is running is a separate question.\n\n## What should you ask references?\n\nAsk for two or three clients similar to you in size and software, including one who has been through a year-end with the provider. The candidate picks its references, so they add to the independent checks and never replace them. Ask for specifics:\n\n- What went wrong at some point, and how did they handle it?\n- What were they like at year-end, or when a tax notice arrived?\n- Who did the work day to day, and did that change?\n- Would you hire them again for the same work?\n\nA reference who cannot give a specific example has told you little.\n\n## Who will actually do the work, and what happens when they are away?\n\nThe person you interview may not be the one who handles your records, so get the names, roles and locations of everyone who will, and put the security and continuity questions to each. The form of provider changes what else to ask:\n\n| If the provider is | Also ask |\n|---|---|\n| An individual | Who covers illness, vacation and year-end peaks, and how many other clients close in the same week as you |\n| A firm | Who is assigned, who reviews them and how work passes on when staff leave; verify the credential of the person who does or signs the work, not only the firm's |\n| A software-plus-service provider | Whether your ledger sits in a subscription in your name or on their platform, what you can export at the end and in what format, and whether a named person or a rotating team does the work |\n\nWhere a subcontracted or offshore team does the work, ask where it is based and how your data reaches it, and put every security question to that team; for return work, the section 7216 consent above applies. The IRS's Topic 254 adds a continuity test for preparers: consider whether the individual or firm will be around for months or years after filing to answer questions about the return.\n\n## What limits should you set if the provider will move money?\n\nAuthority to pay lets the provider cause a direct loss, so set these limits before granting any access:\n\n- **Separate logins.** The provider gets its own user at the bank and in any payment or payroll service, never your credentials. Chase's undated help page on assigning and editing rights, for example, lets you select an access level for each account and assign daily limits; ask your bank for its equivalent.\n- **No self-release.** The provider may prepare payments but not approve them. Chase's undated help page on approving transactions says you or an authorized user can approve a payment for processing, so keep that right with yourself, or another person who is not the provider, for every payment, with no amount below which the provider pays alone.\n- **Payees stay with you.** Only you add a payee, including an employee, or change a payee's details. You keep your own record of each payee's confirmed details outside any system the provider can edit, and approve a payment only when its destination matches that record.\n- **Your own view.** Your approval login uses a second sign-in factor, and you keep your own access to every bank and card account and read the statements yourself.\n\nHow to confirm a new or changed payment destination is a separate question.\n\nThe day the provider's work ends, remove its users, recovery contacts and connected payment apps from the bank and every payment, payroll or tax-payment service yourself, and change any PIN or password it ever held.\n\n## What are the red flags?\n\nEach flag is tied to the step that surfaces it; the return-preparation row rests on the IRS's Topic 254:\n\n| Red flag | Where it shows up |\n|---|---|\n| A credential the issuing body cannot confirm, or pressure to rely on their own link or screenshot | The checklist |\n| General answers about closing, reconciling and review | The competence questions |\n| Reluctance to put scope, timing, access or hand-back in writing | The commitments |\n| Wanting your login, or the subscription in their name | Ownership |\n| Reconciliations that do not match the statement you downloaded | The first job |\n| No names or locations for the people doing the work | Who does the work |\n| No current certificate, a policy period that has ended, or no proof of renewal | Insurance |\n| A tax preparer with no written security program, or any candidate that cannot answer the data questions | Data security |\n| A preparer who will not sign the return, asks you to sign a blank tax form, bases fees on a percentage of your refund or offers to deposit all or part of it into their financial accounts | Return preparation |\n| Asking to approve payments or change payee details | Money movement |",
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "REF::1",
      "url": "https://www.irs.gov/tax-professionals/understanding-tax-return-preparer-credentials-and-qualifications",
      "title": "Understanding tax return preparer credentials and qualifications",
      "publisher": "Internal Revenue Service",
      "published": "page last reviewed or updated 29-Jan-2026",
      "retrieved_at": "2026-09-28T22:07:05+00:00",
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    {
      "id": "REF::2",
      "url": "https://www.dca.ca.gov/cba/consumers/license-lookup.shtml",
      "title": "License Lookup",
      "publisher": "California Board of Accountancy",
      "published": "last updated 16-Nov-2022",
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      "id": "REF::3",
      "url": "https://www.irs.gov/tax-professionals/enrolled-agents/enrolled-agent-information",
      "title": "Enrolled agent information",
      "publisher": "Internal Revenue Service",
      "published": "page last reviewed or updated 29-Jan-2026",
      "retrieved_at": "2026-09-28T22:07:06+00:00",
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      "id": "REF::4",
      "url": "https://www.irs.gov/tax-professionals/verify-the-status-of-an-enrolled-agent",
      "title": "Verify the status of an enrolled agent",
      "publisher": "Internal Revenue Service",
      "published": "page last reviewed or updated 28-Jul-2026",
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      "id": "REF::5",
      "url": "https://aipb.org/certification-program/certification-individual/",
      "title": "The Certified Bookkeeper (CB) Designation",
      "publisher": "American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers",
      "published": "undated",
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      "title": "Become a Certified ProAdvisor",
      "publisher": "Intuit (QuickBooks)",
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    {
      "id": "REF::7",
      "url": "https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc254",
      "title": "Topic no. 254, How to choose a tax return preparer",
      "publisher": "Internal Revenue Service",
      "published": "page last reviewed or updated 24-Sep-2026",
      "retrieved_at": "2026-09-28T22:07:08+00:00",
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      "id": "REF::8",
      "url": "https://ctec.org/taxpayers/find-verify-preparer/",
      "title": "Find or Verify a California Tax Preparer",
      "publisher": "California Tax Education Council (CTEC)",
      "published": "undated",
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      "id": "REF::9",
      "url": "https://www.irs.gov/tax-professionals/section-7216-frequently-asked-questions",
      "title": "Section 7216 frequently asked questions",
      "publisher": "Internal Revenue Service",
      "published": "page last reviewed or updated 28-Jun-2026",
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      "url": "https://www.travelers.com/business-insurance/professional-liability-insurance/errors-omissions",
      "title": "Errors and Omissions Insurance (E&O)",
      "publisher": "Travelers",
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      "title": "What Is Fidelity and Crime Insurance?",
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      "id": "REF::12",
      "url": "https://www.travelers.com/resources/business-topics/business-continuity/what-is-contractual-risk-transfer",
      "title": "What Is Contractual Risk Transfer?",
      "publisher": "Travelers",
      "published": "undated",
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    {
      "id": "REF::13",
      "url": "https://www.irs.gov/tax-professionals/protect-your-clients-protect-yourself",
      "title": "Protect your clients; protect yourself",
      "publisher": "Internal Revenue Service",
      "published": "page last reviewed or updated 16-Sep-2026",
      "retrieved_at": "2026-09-28T22:07:09+00:00",
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      "title": "FTC Safeguards Rule: What Your Business Needs to Know",
      "publisher": "Federal Trade Commission",
      "published": "published December 2024",
      "retrieved_at": "2026-09-28T22:07:06+00:00",
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    {
      "id": "REF::15",
      "url": "https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/primary-administrator/change-primary-admin-user-quickbooks-online/L9TU91iOk_US_en_US",
      "title": "Change the primary admin role in QuickBooks Online and Intuit Enterprise Suite",
      "publisher": "Intuit (QuickBooks)",
      "published": "updated 9/8/2026",
      "retrieved_at": "2026-09-28T22:12:58+00:00",
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    {
      "id": "REF::16",
      "url": "https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/manage-client/transfer-primary-admin-access-back-quickbooks/L4vCcWCAw_US_en_US",
      "title": "Transfer primary admin access back to your QuickBooks Online client",
      "publisher": "Intuit (QuickBooks)",
      "published": "updated 8/5/2026",
      "retrieved_at": "2026-09-28T22:15:03+00:00",
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    {
      "id": "REF::17",
      "url": "https://quickbooks.intuit.com/accounting/multiple-users/",
      "title": "Multiple Users - Collaborate Seamlessly",
      "publisher": "Intuit (QuickBooks)",
      "published": "undated",
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      "title": "Access & Security Manager: Approve Transactions",
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      "question_id": "CG-MCE-134",
      "slug": "bookkeeper-accountant-cpa-enrolled-agent-or-tax-preparer-which-you-need",
      "display_title": "What is the difference between a bookkeeper, an accountant, a CPA, an enrolled agent and a tax preparer, and which one does my business actually need?"
    },
    {
      "question_id": "CG-MCE-136",
      "slug": "whether-to-hire-an-in-house-bookkeeper-or-use-an-outside-firm",
      "display_title": "Should I hire an in-house bookkeeper as an employee or use an outside bookkeeping firm or service?"
    },
    {
      "question_id": "CG-MCE-138",
      "slug": "what-a-bookkeeping-engagement-letter-should-cover-and-who-answers-for-accuracy",
      "display_title": "What should a bookkeeping engagement letter or scope of work cover, and who is responsible for the accuracy of the books — the client or the bookkeeper?"
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    {
      "question_id": "CG-MCE-140",
      "slug": "how-to-tell-whether-your-books-are-being-kept-correctly",
      "display_title": "How do I tell whether my books are actually being kept correctly, and what are the warning signs that my bookkeeper is not doing the work properly?"
    },
    {
      "question_id": "CG-MCE-132",
      "slug": "what-data-security-a-bookkeeping-or-tax-practice-owes-its-clients-records",
      "display_title": "What data-security obligations does a bookkeeping or tax practice have for its clients' records, and what has to be written down?"
    }
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  "datePublished": "2026-09-30T21:19:08Z",
  "reviewed_at": "2026-09-30T21:19:08Z",
  "content_sha": "c11de9fec06a656386b0d26e07b94fc6481036333e5d5e2b04f458ab3d9c8287",
  "release": "2.13.0",
  "slug_provenance": "minted at first publication",
  "question_text": "How do I vet and choose a bookkeeper — what should I ask, what do the credentials and certifications mean, and what should I check before I hand over my books?",
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