Does this replace an accountant?

No. Cash Workspace organizes your records; it does not replace an accountant or give accounting advice. It makes the handoff faster by giving your accountant a complete, labelled set instead of a stream of forwarded files.

Does it give accounting advice?

No. Cash Workspace does not provide accounting, bookkeeping, or tax advice. It keeps your records organized so the people who do give that advice can work from a complete, labelled set.

Which records should I include for my accountant?

Include income records (invoices and payments received), expense records with their receipts attached, and any statements for the period. A short note on anything unusual saves a billed question later.

How do I hand it over without emailing files around?

Keep the packet in one organized set of folders so you share a single, complete reference rather than a stream of forwarded emails, and so nothing is missed or duplicated in the back-and-forth.

accountant & bookkeeper handoff packet

An accountant-ready handoff folder for indexers

At handoff time the accountant asks for records that are half in email, half on paper, and the back-and-forth wastes days and often costs more in billed hours. For indexers, the fix is a consistent place to keep the records rather than a smarter tool. Cash Workspace gives you one place to record each item, attach its file, and keep it where you can find it. It is free.

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The problem

Why indexers lose track

At handoff time the accountant asks for records that are half in email, half on paper, and the back-and-forth wastes days and often costs more in billed hours.

Quoting per page but recording only the final lump-sum fee, so the invoice cannot be checked against the page count later
Filing publisher agreements by client but invoices by month, so a title's paperwork and billing sit apart
Renewing indexing software, a style-guide subscription, and a directory listing and logging them as one subscriptions line

The workflow

How indexers keep it organized

A simple, repeatable way to accountant handoff records without special software.

1
Collect the records your accountant asks for
Gather the documents an accountant typically wants from indexers — Publisher and author service agreements, Per-project work orders with page count and deadline, and Indexing briefs and style specifications — into one labelled place.
2
Organise them the way they will be reviewed
Group income records, expense records with receipts, and statements so each set is complete and self-explanatory.
3
Note what is missing or unusual
Flag anything you could not find or that needs a one-line explanation, so questions are answered before they are asked.
4
Share a clean, read-only packet
Hand over one organised folder instead of a stream of forwarded emails, so the review starts from a complete set.

Record structure

What each record holds

The fields that make a accountant handoff record complete and findable.

Record type: Income, expense, statement, or supporting document — how the accountant slices the packet.
Period: The month, quarter, or year the record belongs to.
Amount: The figure on the record, matching its attachment.
Attachment: The underlying invoice, receipt, or statement kept with the entry.
Note: A short explanation for anything unusual, so it does not become a billed question.
Book title / project: The title the record belongs to, so a book's estimate, invoice, and any costs group together.
Indexed page count: The page count a job is billed on, kept with the record so the fee matches up to the basis quoted.
Rate basis: Whether the job was priced per indexable page, per entry, or per hour, since that drives the amount.

Example setup

An example structure

One way indexers can lay this out in Cash Workspace.

Income

Invoices sent and payments received for the period.

Expenses

Each expense — Indexing software license, Professional association membership, and Style-guide & reference subscriptions — with its receipt attached.

Statements

Bank and card statements for the period.

Notes

A one-line explanation for anything unusual, so it never becomes a billed question.

Common mistakes

Common mistakes to avoid

Quoting per page but recording only the final lump-sum fee, so the invoice cannot be checked against the page count later
Filing publisher agreements by client but invoices by month, so a title's paperwork and billing sit apart
Renewing indexing software, a style-guide subscription, and a directory listing and logging them as one subscriptions line
Not tagging the book title on an invoice, so multiple jobs for one publisher cannot be told apart
Leaving small annual dues and directory-listing renewals unrecorded until the year-end handoff, then guessing the amounts
Handing over a stream of forwarded emails instead of one organized set.

How it helps

How Cash Workspace helps

Record it, don’t re-key it

Enter each item once — date, vendor, amount, category — and attach the file to that record. No bank sync, no receipt-reading; the record is deliberate and yours.

One consistent structure

The same categories and folders every month, so indexers always know where a record goes and where to find it later.

One clean packet

Hand over a single organized set — income, expenses with receipts, statements, notes — instead of forwarded emails, so the review starts complete.

Expense & receipt organizer

The expense and receipt guide for indexers.

Invoice & payment tracker

The invoice tracking guide for indexers.

Accountant ready finance folder

A related organization guide.

Accountant document checklist

A related organization guide.

Finance organization library

Browse organization guides across every workflow.

FAQ

Questions people ask

Does this replace an accountant?: No. Cash Workspace organizes your records; it does not replace an accountant or give accounting advice. It makes the handoff faster by giving your accountant a complete, labelled set instead of a stream of forwarded files.
Does it give accounting advice?: No. Cash Workspace does not provide accounting, bookkeeping, or tax advice. It keeps your records organized so the people who do give that advice can work from a complete, labelled set.
Which records should I include for my accountant?: Include income records (invoices and payments received), expense records with their receipts attached, and any statements for the period. A short note on anything unusual saves a billed question later.
How do I hand it over without emailing files around?: Keep the packet in one organized set of folders so you share a single, complete reference rather than a stream of forwarded emails, and so nothing is missed or duplicated in the back-and-forth.

This organizes, it does not advise

Cash Workspace organizes the records you hand to an accountant or bookkeeper; it is not accounting software and does not provide accounting advice. Your accountant remains the source of professional guidance — a clean, complete packet just means fewer billed hours spent chasing documents.

Organize your accountant handoff records

Cash Workspace is a free place for indexers to keep records and their files organized. Start a workspace and set it up your way.