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The Bookkeeping Xpert

Cleanup & Catch-Up

Cleanup and catch-up bookkeeping

Falling behind is common when the business comes first. Cleanup brings prior months — or years — back into shape so your reports can be trusted again.

Do any of these sound familiar?

Signs a cleanup may be needed

  • Bank accounts have not been reconciled
  • QuickBooks doesn't match the bank
  • There are large uncategorized balances
  • Transactions have been duplicated
  • Old accounts still appear on reports
  • Income or expenses look incorrect
  • You can't trust the reports
  • You're preparing for tax filing, financing, bonding, or a CPA review

If you checked even one of these, a cleanup is worth a conversation. Months — or years — behind is workable. It happens more often than you’d think.

The cleanup process

Clear scope, fixed estimate

  1. 01

    Review the current QuickBooks file

    A look at where things stand today — reconciliations, uncategorized transactions, and problem areas.

  2. 02

    Identify the condition and scope of work

    You'll know exactly what needs to be fixed and how far back the cleanup should go.

  3. 03

    Provide an estimate

    A written, fixed estimate before any work begins. No open-ended hourly surprises.

  4. 04

    Collect statements and supporting documents

    Bank and credit card statements for the periods being cleaned up, plus anything else needed.

  5. 05

    Complete reconciliations and corrections

    Miscategorized, duplicated, and missing transactions get fixed, and every account gets reconciled.

  6. 06

    Deliver updated reports

    Clean profit and loss and balance sheet reports you and your CPA can actually rely on.

  7. 07

    Recommend an ongoing bookkeeping process

    A simple plan to keep the books current so the backlog never builds up again.

After the cleanup: stay caught up

Most cleanup clients move into a simple monthly bookkeeping plan so the books never fall behind again. It’s far less expensive to stay current than to clean up a backlog twice.

See how monthly bookkeeping works →

Schedule a consultation

Tell me roughly how far behind the books are, and I’ll walk you through what a cleanup would involve and what it would cost.

Schedule a Consultation

Or call 940.600.0230 · blake@thebookkeepingxpert.com