Run the tax chain. Books first, then tax materials. The dependency is not optional — an estimate calculated on unreconciled books is a number the owner will send to the IRS.

Parse arguments:

--mode (default: infer from the date — Oct through Jan defaults to both, otherwise quarterly) — quarterly, 1099, or both
--year (default: current year)

Framing: open every deliverable with "Prepared for review by your accountant — not tax advice."

A ledger is required — MYOB, NetSuite, QuickBooks, Xero, or Zoho Books, whichever is connected (../../shared/connector-neutrality.md). Without one, ask for a P&L export and a payee-level payment export before starting.

Check the country before Step 1. Read Country from the ## Business context block (../../shared/currency-and-locale.md). The tax math in Step 2 is US federal. If the business is not in the US, say so in one line, run Step 1 so the books are closed, and hand the owner the closed-books packet for their accountant in place of a US estimate or 1099 list. Do not run the US calculation.

Expensify, when connected, is read-only and adds one thing worth having: the expenses with no receipt attached. Surface that total and count alongside the estimate — an unsubstantiated deduction is the item the accountant will ask about first, and it is cheaper to find now than in April.

tax-prep

Step 0 — Confirm the mode