May 24, 2025 · 6 min read
Home Office Records: What to Keep in Your Books and What to Hand Your CPA
By 909 Bookkeeping
What home office costs belong in your books, what proof to keep, and what to hand your CPA at year end. We keep the lines separate from the first month so the handoff is already sorted. Plain English from 909 Bookkeeping.
What home office records belong in your books
A home office is a real cost, and it needs real lines in your books. Rent, utilities, internet, repairs and supplies all count when the office is used for the business. Each one gets its own line so the total is clear.
The rule is simple. If a cost belongs to the business, it goes in the business books. If it is personal, it does not. When you work from home, the two can mix fast, so the split has to happen on purpose. We set up the lines once, then every cost lands in the right place each month. We work in QuickBooks Online and Xero, so the lines live where the rest of your books do.
Here is what sits in a clean home office set of books.
| Line | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Office rent or mortgage interest | The housing cost tied to the office space |
| Utilities | The business share of power, water and internet |
| Repairs and maintenance | Fixes to the office space or its equipment |
| Office supplies | Paper, ink and small tools used in the office |
| Equipment | Desk, chair and computer bought for the work |
Each line stays on its own row. When the month closes, the totals are already in the right spots.
What to keep for the home office itself
Good records start with proof. A receipt, a bill or a statement shows the cost was real and that it belonged to the business. We ask for that proof when a line is unclear, and we keep it tied to the transaction in your books.
For a home office, the useful proof is often a share. The power bill covers the whole house, not just the office. The internet is the same. What you keep is the full bill, plus a note on how the share was figured. We do not pick the share for you. Your CPA decides the share. We make sure the bill and the cost are in the books so your CPA has something to work from.
Here is what to keep on hand.
- **The full bill for each shared cost: ** power, water, internet and the rest.
- - **A note on how the office share was figured: ** square feet, hours used or the method your CPA prefers.
- - **Receipts for office supplies and small equipment: ** each one tied to the transaction.
- - **Receipts or invoices for bigger items: ** desk, chair, computer or monitor.
- - **The rent statement or mortgage interest line: ** the housing cost that covers the office space.
- - **A record of any repair: ** what was fixed, when and the amount.
Keep the proof in one place. We tie it to the books as we go, so nothing is missing at year end.
What to hand your CPA
At year end, your CPA needs clean books, not a pile of receipts. The work we do each month builds that handoff. When the year closes, the totals are already in order, and your CPA can start from numbers that match.
What we hand over is a summary, not advice. We send your profit and loss report, your balance sheet and your cash summary. The home office lines sit inside those reports. If your CPA asks how a number was figured, we answer. We do not prepare taxes, so the choice of what to claim is your CPA's, not ours.
Here is what a clean handoff looks like.
| What we send | What your CPA does with it |
|---|---|
| Profit and loss report | Reads the home office lines and other costs |
| Balance sheet | Checks what the business owns and owes |
| Cash summary | Follows where the cash came in and went out |
| The tied receipts and bills | Confirms the proof behind the numbers |
We hand the books to you or straight to your CPA if you ask. Your CPA takes it from there. You can read more about how we close the month on our bookkeeping page.
What we do not do
We keep books and run payroll. We do not prepare taxes. We do not give tax advice. We do not tell you what share of your home to claim or what counts for your return. Those are calls for your CPA or tax preparer.
When the tax questions come up, we point you to your CPA. We keep the lines clean so they have good numbers to start from. You can read more about how we keep the books on our bookkeeping page, and about payroll on our payroll page.
A situation we clean up
The home office costs that all sat in one pile
A small business owner works from home. Rent, internet, power and supplies all go to one general expense line. There are no receipts tied to the bills. No note on how the office share was figured. At year end, the CPA asks what was business and what was personal, and the owner can not tell from the books.
Here is how we handle it. We set up separate lines for rent, utilities, repairs and supplies. We pull the bills for the open months and tie each one to its transaction. We keep the full bill on file and add a note that the share is your CPA's call. We sort the past costs and close each open month one at a time, from the oldest forward. Then the routine runs every month, so the next year end starts with clean books.
Common questions
What home office costs go in my books? Any cost that belongs to the business goes in. Rent, utilities, internet, repairs, supplies and equipment each get their own line. Personal costs do not go in the business books.
Do you tell me what share of my home to claim? No. We do not prepare taxes or give tax advice. We keep the bills and the costs in the books, and your CPA decides the share.
What do you send my CPA? We send a clean profit and loss report, a balance sheet and a cash summary. The home office lines sit inside those reports. We answer your CPA's questions about the books.
Do you keep the receipts? We tie each receipt and bill to its transaction in QuickBooks Online or Xero. When the month closes, the proof is already in place.