Catch-up bookkeeping for US small businesses
Months behind, or years. I bring your books current in QuickBooks, reconcile every account to the statement, and hand you figures your CPA can file from. One fixed price, quoted before I start — never by the hour.
Signs your books need catching up
Nobody calls a bookkeeper because their books are tidy. Catch-up bookkeeping and cleanup is most of what I do, so there's nothing to be embarrassed about — it usually starts with one busy month and snowballs from there.
- A tax deadline is coming and the books aren't ready for your CPA
- Your CPA sent them back asking for reconciled statements
- QuickBooks doesn't match the bank and nobody knows where it went wrong
- A lender or investor wants a P&L and you can't produce one you trust
- Your bookkeeper left mid-year and the file stopped where they did
- Transactions are sitting uncategorised — hundreds of them, in "Ask my accountant"
One month first, then a fixed price for the rest.
You never agree to a number I haven't earned the right to give you.
Send the oldest month
Bank and card statements, plus your QuickBooks file if you have one. Email or a shared folder.
Day 1I reconcile it and quote
That month worked properly, what I found, and one fixed figure for the rest — with a completion date.
2–3 business daysI work forward
Month by month, every bank and card account reconciled to the statement, opening balances checked.
To the agreed dateClean handover
Reconciled books, a P&L and balance sheet for every period, and a short list of anything only you can answer.
Then you're currentHow much does catch-up bookkeeping cost?
It's priced per month behind, as a one-off, separate from any monthly fee. For ordinary books that's usually $250–$400 for each month brought up to date — more if transaction volume is high or the existing file is in a bad state. The published US range for the same work is roughly $300–$600 a month behind, and $600–$1,200 where it's genuinely messy.
| Typical situation | Estimate |
|---|---|
| 3 months behind, one business, straightforward books | $750 – $1,200 |
| 12 months behind, straightforward books | $3,000 – $4,800 |
| 12 months behind, multi-location with payroll and inventory | $4,800 – $7,680 |
Ranges, not quotes — the calculator on the pricing section gives you yours in a minute. You get one fixed figure in writing once I've seen a statement, and it never becomes an hourly bill. It can be spread over two or three months if that suits you better. Once you're current, monthly bookkeeping starts from $275 a month.
Behind is one problem. Wrong is another.
Some books aren't behind at all — they're current, but wrong. Expenses in the wrong accounts, transfers booked twice as income and expense, an opening balance nobody ever checked, a reconciliation "fixed" with an adjusting entry that just moved the difference into next year.
Bookkeeping cleanup uses the same method as catch-up: I find where each difference actually started and correct it at the source. I don't force a reconciliation with a plug entry to make it disappear — that's how a small problem ends up inside a tax return.
Two examples of the shape this work takes: a mortgage brokerage taken through a full-year consolidation — twelve months of statements, every transaction categorised, vendors normalised, the whole year reconciled to the penny against the client's existing chart of accounts. And a multi-location fuel and convenience business with card activity across two cards and four sites, where the real work was deciding the right treatment for shared and intercompany charges.
What to send for a catch-up quote
- Bank statements for every business account, for the months you're behind
- Credit card statements for every business card
- QuickBooks access — an accountant user you control and can remove
- Payroll reports if you run payroll
- Loan statements for any business loans or lines of credit
- Nothing else to start — one month is enough for a quote
I never ask for your banking logins. I work from statements and from access you grant inside your own accounting software, which you control and can revoke without asking me first.
Tell me how far behind you are
Send one month of statements and you'll have a fixed price and a completion date in writing within two or three business days. No call needed, no obligation.
Questions about catch-up bookkeeping
How long does catch-up bookkeeping take?
It depends on how many months, how many accounts and how the file has been kept — so rather than guess, you get a completion date in writing with the quote, after I've worked your first month. We agree the date up front and I work to it; if anything is going to slip, you hear it from me beforehand.
Can you catch up my books before my tax deadline?
Often, yes — tell me the deadline when you send the first month and I'll say honestly whether it can be met. I prepare the books; your CPA, EA or tax preparer prepares and files the return. I'm not a CPA and I don't file taxes, so the books reach them reconciled and ready to work from.
Do you work in QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop?
Both — that's where I'm strongest after twenty years, and I'm Intuit-certified in QuickBooks (Levels 1 and 2) and QuickBooks Desktop. If you're on Xero or something else, ask and I'll tell you honestly whether I'm the right fit.
What if I don't use QuickBooks at all?
That's fine. I can work from your bank and card statements and any spreadsheets you've kept, and set the books up properly so they stay current afterwards.
Is catch-up billed by the hour?
Never. It's a fixed price for the whole backlog, agreed in writing before I start. It doesn't grow because a month turned out messier than expected — that risk is mine, which is why I work a month first before quoting.
Will you just force the numbers to reconcile?
No. A difference that won't clear is nearly always a duplicate, a transposed figure, a transfer booked twice as income and expense, or an unchecked opening balance. Finding which one is the job. A plug entry makes the difference disappear this year and reappear next year, usually in a tax return.