MorningSheet MorningSheet
Get startedJoin
Bookkeeping and accounting · Washington

New business leads for bookkeepers and accountants

A new owner hires a bookkeeper once the register is running and the first excise return is on the calendar. Leads reach you at the license and keep coming through the first quarter, each with the address and the filing behind it.

See this week's top leads Already a subscriber? Sign in
Sample lead · SeattleExample
Business name hiddenUnlocks in app
Full-Service Restaurant · Seattle · King
Two signals confirmedLiquor license filedKitchen build-out permit
Business’s verified direct lineDetected October 2026
  • 3Counties live · King, Pierce, and Snohomish
  • 33Food businesses close to opening now
  • 7 daysExclusive in your territory
  • FreeFirst month, no card
Public-record filings

The window

The first return sets the chart of accounts

Bookkeeping is the rare sale that gets easier after opening day. For the first weeks the owner runs on a card statement and a shoebox, and that works until the Department of Revenue wants a combined excise return with sales tax and B&O on it. That deadline is usually when the owner starts looking for help.

The window is the first quarter. Inside it, you set up the chart of accounts, connect the POS and the bank, and file the first return clean. Past it, the job becomes a cleanup: months of uncategorized card transactions, tips booked as revenue, and a late B&O payment with penalties, billed at rates the owner resents.

  1. Lease and plansBefore any filing

    The owner
    Signing the lease and paying for drawings out of pocket. Startup costs pile up in a personal account.
    For you
    There is nothing to bill yet, but these costs will need to be found and booked later, which makes a good first conversation.

  2. Permit issued, build-out startsWeeks after the filing

    The owner
    Contractor draws, equipment deposits, and permit fees go out with no revenue coming in.
    For you
    The owner is talking to a banker and a contractor and has not thought about a return yet.

  3. Final inspectionThe last weeks of the build-out

    The owner
    Once inspections pass, opening inventory, uniforms, and training pay all land in one expensive month.
    For you
    The pile of pre-opening expenses is now large enough that the owner may welcome help sorting it.

  4. Business licenseWithin about five weeks of opening

    Your window
    The owner
    Registering with the Department of Revenue. Sales tax collection starts with the license, and the first return date is set.
    For you
    This is the week to call. Offer to set up the chart of accounts and the sales tax before the first sale.

  5. Opening dayDay one

    The owner
    Daily sales, card tips, payroll, and food invoices land at once. The spreadsheet starts falling behind.
    For you
    The owner has real numbers and a real deadline. Call about the first return and what it needs from the books.

  6. First quarter openThe first 90 days

    The owner
    The first excise return comes due, and a Seattle owner owes a city return too. The owner finds out what B&O means.
    For you
    Last stretch of the window. A clean first return wins the monthly engagement and the first annual filing.

Timings are typical for a Washington restaurant, from the openings we have measured. Several steps rest on fewer than 30 openings, so read them as a rough guide. Read more: The measured bookkeeping timeline.

See who is in this window now

Why it closes

The cost of calling late

  • Every month of delay is cleanup

    An owner who waits past the first quarter has months of card transactions nobody categorized, tips booked as sales, and owner draws mixed with expenses. You inherit the mess before you earn a fee.

  • Penalties arrive before you do

    A missed excise return brings a late payment penalty and interest from the Department of Revenue. The owner’s first conversation with a bookkeeper is then about damage, and your fee feels like part of the fine.

  • The first return goes to someone else

    An owner facing a deadline alone takes the first name they get, often the payroll provider’s add-on or a relative with QuickBooks. Once the first return is filed that way, the next opening is year end.

What you get

Getting ahead with a lead

  • Leads that arrive at the license

    Shops, clinics, and salons reach your feed at their new business license, and restaurants carry forward from their build-out, so each one shows up as the first return lands on the calendar.

  • Second Look fits a bookkeeper

    Second Look is the book: every opening in the county, shared with other reps. A bookkeeping sale closes over a quarter, so working the whole book suits it better than racing for the first call.

  • The address and the filing

    Each lead carries the street address, the filing behind it, and the business’s line where we have verified it, so your first call can be about their first return, by name and address.

  • New restaurants, cafes, and bars, plus new shops, clinics, salons, gyms, and child care centers.
  • The address, the expected opening when the filings give one, and the filing behind each lead.
  • The business’s line where we have verified it.
  • On First Look, exclusive in your territory for 7 days, then the lead moves to Second Look.

How it works

How MorningSheet gets you there first

  1. We read the public record

    Permits, licenses, liquor and health filings: the trail every business leaves before it opens.

  2. We verify and score it by hand

    We confirm it across two filings, verify the business’s direct line, and score it 0–100 on how soon it opens.

  3. You call before anyone else

    It lands in your inbox with the reason to call and the business’s direct line. You book the meeting first.

Right now

33 restaurants and food businesses close to opening now

Counted from the latest public record in King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties. New shops, salons, and clinics reach the feed on top of these.

Common questions

Bookkeeping and accounting leads, answered

When does a new business hire a bookkeeper?

Between the business license and the end of the first quarter open. Sales tax registration comes with the license, and the first excise return follows the first filing period, so the owner has a deadline for the first time. Before the license there is nothing to reconcile, and after the first quarter the job is cleanup.

What taxes does a new Washington business file?

The combined excise tax return to the Department of Revenue covers sales tax and B&O tax, and B&O is owed on gross receipts even in a losing month. A business with staff also reports to Employment Security and Labor and Industries. Seattle adds its own business license and its own B&O tax on top.

Do I need First Look for bookkeeping leads?

Not always. Second Look is the book of every opening in the county, shared with other reps rather than exclusive. Bookkeeping’s window runs through the first quarter, so a practice that works the whole book reaches owners well inside it.

What does a new owner usually need first?

A chart of accounts that fits the business, sales tax set up at the local rate, the POS and bank feeds connected, and the pre-opening costs pulled out of a personal account and booked. The first excise return comes after that, and it goes smoothly if those four are done.

Can a CPA use these leads for tax work, or only bookkeepers?

Both. The monthly bookkeeping engagement is the door, and the first annual return follows it a few months later. A CPA who sets up the books in the first quarter is the one who files the first return and gets asked about entity structure the year after.

Where do you have leads today?

King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties in Washington. We read the public record there every day and add new areas where reps ask for them.

How do I try it?

Your first month is free, and there is no card to enter. You can also unlock this week’s King County sample on this page before you sign up.

Other trades

Sell something else to new businesses?

Open the books before the first excise return.

New businesses in King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties, sent as they license and open. Drop your email below and a real sample week from our King County feed unlocks right here. No password, no card.

By continuing, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

Your unlock includes one live number to call.

Already have an account? Open your dashboard · See pricing

Founder-run and high-touch: we onboard you, answer feedback fast, and add new areas on request.