What is in the accountant package

At the end of a month (or a quarter, or a year) you send your accountant one file: the accountant package. It’s a ZIP that holds everything they need to check your books, with every figure traceable back to its document.

Prepare the package

Choose the period at the top of the page, for example last month.
Open Closing. Under Before you send, Billfetch checks that your sources are up to date, how many tasks are still open and whether your accounting details (such as VAT status) are set.
Under Accountant package, choose a Profile (see below).
Select Prepare package. Billfetch shows its progress as documents are added.
When it says Ready, select Download zip.

You don’t have to finish every task first. Anything still open goes into the package as the missing list, so your accountant can see exactly what’s outstanding.

What’s inside

README.txt — when the package was made, the period, the exchange rate source, record counts and a fingerprint of the contents.
summary.csv — the category-by-month summary in your base currency, with income split into gross sales, fees, refunds and net.
ledger.csv — every record, line by line. Each one has its date, source, supplier, category, original amount and currency, the exchange rate used and where it came from, the converted amount, tax and the file name of its document.
missing.csv — everything still open, such as payments without an invoice and invoices without a payment.
paid_outside_company.csv — invoices you marked as paid outside the company account (for example with a personal card), listed separately.
manifest.csv — links each document file to its record, supplier, date and amount.
documents/ — the original invoices and receipts, organised by year and month, exactly as they arrived.

If your business is linked to Companies House, the package also includes a company information file.

Import files for your accountant’s software

The Profile setting decides whether an extra import folder is added:

Generic CSV — just the files above.
Xero (bills import) — adds a xero folder with a bills file in Xero’s import format.
QuickBooks Online (bills import) — adds a qbo folder with bills files for QuickBooks.
FreeAgent (bank statement) — adds a freeagent folder with a bank statement file in FreeAgent’s format.

Each folder has its own README. For the best import, enter your accountant’s account code for each category under Settings › Businesses, in the Accounting software tab. Categories without a code are still exported, just without one. The Closing page tells you how many are missing.

Documents only

Turn on Documents only if your accountant just wants the paperwork. The ZIP then contains the documents and the manifest.

Sending it

Copy email text gives you a ready-written message to paste into your email. Attach the ZIP and send.
If you’ve invited your accountant to Billfetch, Copy accountant link gives them a permanent link to this and every earlier package. They can also be emailed when a package is ready.

Every package you prepare is kept under Export history, where you can Re-download it.

Tip: For a tax quarter, Billfetch doesn’t send anything to HMRC. Import the package into your Making Tax Digital software instead.