What does a Miami business need ready at year end?
Five things. Reconciled accounts help you check two of them, the contractor totals and the year's equipment purchases. Bank and card accounts reconciled through December. A list of what you paid each contractor over the year. An inventory count if your business keeps an inventory. An up-to-date list of the equipment you own on January 1. And a reminder for the state annual report if the business is a corporation or LLC.
None of it is hard on its own. It gets expensive when it all lands in January at once, with the statements still unreconciled and the contractor totals spread across three apps.
Which items apply to your business?
Find each row that describes you. The first row applies to any business with a bank or card account.
| If your business | Have this ready | When | Filed with |
|---|---|---|---|
| Has any bank or card account | Accounts reconciled through December | Before the year is closed | Your own books |
| Paid a non-employee $2,000 or more for business services in 2026 | Form 1099-NEC for each contractor, from your totals and their W-9 | February 1, 2027 | The IRS and each contractor |
| Keeps an inventory of goods it makes or buys to sell | An inventory count and value | Valued as of the last day of the tax year | Your own books |
| Owns equipment, furniture or tools on January 1, or leases, lends or rents property out | An equipment list with costs | April 1, 2027 | Miami-Dade Property Appraiser |
| Is a profit corporation or LLC | The annual report details | Check Sunbiz for the 2027 cutoff | Florida Division of Corporations |
Why reconcile December first?
Because two of the other items lean on it. Build the contractor totals from the full year's payment records, including cash payments and checks you handed over in December that hadn't cleared yet, then check those records against the bank statements. Add the equipment bought this year from your purchase records, including anything paid in cash or by a check that hadn't cleared by December 31, and use the statements as the check. The inventory count and the annual report details are separate records, so gather those on their own.
Keep the documents behind the totals while you're at it. The federal and state rules on which receipts to keep and for how long apply the same way in Miami. That post's city and county receipt sections are Orlando rules, so skip those.
What do you need for contractors?
A total for each person you paid, and their taxpayer ID. The IRS instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC say that for tax years beginning after 2025 the reporting threshold rose to $2,000. You file Form 1099-NEC for each non-employee paid at least that much for services in the course of your business. The IRS general instructions for information returns add that payments to corporations generally aren't reportable, though there are exceptions.
The form goes to the IRS and to the contractor by January 31. When that date falls on a weekend, the IRS moves it to the next business day, so the 2026 forms are due February 1, 2027. Payments made by card or through a third-party payment network are reported on Form 1099-K by the payment processor, not by you on a 1099-NEC.
If you're unsure whether someone counts as a contractor at all, settle that first. The tests are covered in contractor or employee for a Miami business.
Why does a Miami business need an equipment list in January?
Because the county asks for it in the spring. The Miami-Dade Property Appraiser says anyone who owns tangible personal property on January 1 must file a return by April 1 each year, and that the first $25,000 in value is exempt.
The Florida Department of Revenue tangible property page adds two details. The return is Form DR-405, and inventory and household goods are excluded from it, so it starts from the equipment list. Filing by April 1 makes you eligible for the exemption.
So a fixed asset list that's current on December 31 does two jobs. It supports depreciation in the books, and it's the starting point for the property return. The Miami bookkeeping page makes the same point about the September business tax receipt renewal: keep it on one calendar with everything else.
Want your books ready for the year-end close?
Call JE Ledger on (305) 748-1367, send an email or a WhatsApp, or use the contact form.
Do you need to count inventory?
Only if your business keeps an inventory. IRS Publication 334 says that, generally, if you make, buy or sell merchandise you must keep an inventory and value it at the beginning and end of each tax year to work out cost of goods sold. It also says a small business taxpayer can choose not to keep an inventory, as long as its method of accounting for inventory still clearly reflects income. Which applies to you is a question for whoever prepares your return. A business that only sells services, and doesn't charge customers for materials or supplies, doesn't keep an inventory.
Count on the last day of the year, or as close as you can, and write down the date you counted. A count taken a week into January needs the January sales and purchases backed out.
When is the Florida annual report due?
By the May 1 cutoff if you want to avoid the late fee, and by the third Friday in September at the latest to avoid administrative dissolution. The Division of Corporations annual report page says a profit corporation or LLC that files after May 1 pays a $400 late fee. Non-profit corporations aren't charged it. For 2026 the cutoff was 11:59 PM EST on Friday, May 1. Check the same page for the 2027 date before you plan around it.
The late fee is a cost on a fixed date, so the report belongs on the same calendar as everything above.
What if the books are behind in December?
Then the checklist starts with a catch-up. Work oldest month first, and reconcile each one before moving on, the way catch-up bookkeeping works. Once the last month reconciles, monthly business bookkeeping keeps the books current from then on. To talk it through, get in touch.
