How to Find Missing Financial Documents or Information

Many of us know the feeling; you get a paper financial document early on in your business’s journey, but by the time you need it, it’s nowhere to be found. 

Maybe you didn’t know you needed it. Maybe you lost it while reorganizing your office. Maybe you never even opened it and it ended up in the trash. We’ve seen it all before.

What do you do then? It mostly depends on the issuer of each item. Did it come from the federal or state government, and which department?

At CSI Accounting & Payroll, we’ve worked with small business financials for over 50 years. Even though most of our clients are pretty organized, stuff happens! Here are some questions we’ve gotten about missing information:

• How can I recover federal-level documents and information?
• How can I recover state-level documents and information?
• How much can my accountant help me if I lose these things?

Recovering Federal Documents & Information

When we talk about federal or IRS documents and information, we’re mostly referring to four things:

• Business tax return

• You can usually get another copy of this from the person who prepared your return at no extra cost. 
• Otherwise, if the preparer doesn’t have it, you can call the IRS and request a copy of the Form 4506, but it will cost you $43.

• S-Corp election

• This will only apply to S-Corps, of course. We’re mentioning it because most of our clients are S-Corps. If you’re missing this, you can call the IRS for a mailed or faxed copy of Form 2553.

• Federal ID

• You need to call the IRS business tax line for this. They will mail or fax you a copy of your federal ID.

• EFTPS PIN or login

• If you are missing your PIN, go to eftps.gov and complete another enrollment to have a new PIN mailed out.
• If you are missing your password, go to eftps.gov  and use your EIN and PIN to create a new password.

Recovering State Documents & Information

When we talk about state documents and information, we’re mostly referring to the following things:

• State tax ID number

• Since this is different for every state, you will need to call your state’s Department of Revenue.

• Withholding ID number

• To find this, simply call your state’s Department of Revenue.

• Secretary of State licensing and standing

• There should be an online resource for you to look yourself up and see if you’re still registered and in good standing. Otherwise, you can call your state’s Secretary of State or business registration office.

• Unemployment tax ID number

• To find this, simply call your state’s unemployment department.

How Much an Accountant Can Help Recover Financials

There are other things you may need, too – such as copies of:

• Employee insurance policies from your benefits provider
• Operating agreements from the lawyer who helped set them up
• Loan documents from the bank or institution that issued them
• Other documents needed to file taxes

It should all be at your fingertips, but if you need more help than what’s listed above, can your accountant (or payroll specialist) get the information for you? In some cases, yes – but in most, no. 

To keep things secure, the government and other issuers will only disclose certain information to the person or business that it belongs to. Usually, your financial professionals can just give you the contact information of who you need to talk to.

However, they may be able to help in other ways. At CSI Accounting & Payroll, we can prepare your IRS paperwork, but you have to sign it and mail it in. We can obtain your state ID number, unemployment tax ID number, and help you enroll to get an EFTPS PIN if you don’t already have one.

Mostly, we recommend knowing what information to look out for (such as what’s listed in this article) and scanning it to a computer, creating a physical folder for important corporate documents, and keeping copies in a safe spot. 

That way, you’ll never have to chase down information again!

Get Help With One Direct Phone Call

Now that you know about retrieving missing federal and state information, are you ready to learn more about how we offer our clients fast, direct customer service for when things like this (and beyond) occur?

If so, please consider CSI Accounting & Payroll! To see if we can be a good fit for your business, click the button below for a free consultation:

Not ready to talk? That’s okay! First, learn more about what it’s like to work with CSI by clicking the image below: