Start With the Basics
Before your bookkeeper can do anything, they need to understand the structure of your business: your entity type (sole proprietorship or Sdn Bhd), your financial year end, the accounting software you use (if any), and the bank accounts the business holds.
If you are a Sdn Bhd, also share your company registration number (from your SSM documents) and your Tax Identification Number (TIN) issued by LHDN. These are needed for any correspondence with government agencies.
- Business name, entity type, and registration number
- LHDN Tax Identification Number (TIN)
- Financial year end date
- Current accounting software (if any) and login access
- List of all company bank accounts
Bank Statements and Access
Your bookkeeper will need access to your bank statements for the period they are taking over. If you have online banking, granting view-only access saves a significant amount of manual exporting.
At minimum, provide monthly bank statements in PDF or CSV format from the start of your current financial year (or further back if there is significant backlog to clear). Include statements for every company bank account — including any accounts used for petty cash, savings, or secondary operations.
Prior Period Records
Your new bookkeeper needs to understand where the books stand before they can move forward. The most important prior period documents are your last set of audited financial statements (for Sdn Bhd) or your last filed income tax return (for sole proprietors), and the most recent management accounts if they exist.
If you are handing over mid-year, also provide the year-to-date trial balance or management accounts from your previous bookkeeper. This gives your new bookkeeper the opening balances they need to continue from where the previous books left off.
- Last audited financial statements (Sdn Bhd) or Form B/Form C (sole prop/company)
- Most recent management accounts or trial balance
- Opening balances for the current financial year
- Prior year comparative figures
Source Documents
Source documents are the invoices, receipts, and payment records that support every transaction in your books. For the period being taken over, your bookkeeper needs access to these.
Sales invoices issued to customers, purchase invoices and receipts from suppliers, payroll summaries and CPB/contribution receipts, and any loan or financing agreements the company holds. If these are stored digitally, a shared folder (Google Drive, Dropbox) is usually the most efficient way to hand them over.
Do not worry if your records are incomplete or partially organised. Your bookkeeper has seen worse. Just be upfront about what you have and what may be missing — it helps them plan their work realistically.
- Sales invoices for the handover period
- Purchase invoices and expense receipts
- Monthly payroll summaries (if you have staff)
- EPF, SOCSO, EIS, PCB contribution receipts
- Loan statements and repayment schedules
- Any fixed asset purchase invoices
Accounts Receivable and Payable Lists
If you currently have outstanding invoices owed to you (accounts receivable) or bills owed to suppliers (accounts payable), provide a list at handover. This ensures your new bookkeeper's records reflect the actual position from day one, not just going forward.
If you do not have a formal list, go through your most recent month's invoices and identify any that have not been paid. The same for supplier bills.
Setting Expectations
A good bookkeeper will do an initial assessment of the records before committing to a timeline. If the books are significantly behind or disorganised, there is usually a catch-up phase with an associated fee, followed by ongoing monthly work once the records are current.
Be straightforward about the state of your records. A bookkeeper who understands what they are inheriting can plan properly and give you an accurate quote. One who discovers problems mid-engagement will need to revise their estimate, and that conversation is more awkward than the upfront one.