QuickBooks Cleanup & Catch-up

Books behind? Out of structure? We get them clean.

A controller-guided reset of your QuickBooks Online — reconciliations, structural cleanup, and a CPA-ready handoff. Scoped as a fixed-price project after a brief diagnostic call. Most ongoing engagements begin here.

Most cleanups $1,500–$9,000 Fixed-price after diagnostic
Written quote 3–5 business days From the diagnostic call
Diagnostic Stand-alone deliverable No obligation past it
Signs you need a cleanup

If two or three of these sound familiar, it's time.

a.

Bank or credit card accounts that haven't been reconciled in months — or ever.

b.

A chart of accounts that has grown to hundreds of categories nobody can navigate.

c.

Negative balances, duplicate transactions, or numbers that don't match your bank statements.

d.

Reports that don't tie out to what you can see in your own accounts.

e.

A previous bookkeeper who left mid-year — or never quite caught up.

f.

Your CPA is asking for the same workpapers every quarter and you can't produce them quickly.

The process

From diagnostic to clean handoff.

Every cleanup is scoped after a diagnostic call. You'll know up front what's broken, what it'll take to fix, and what it'll cost — in writing, before any work begins.

i.

Diagnostic & written quote

A 30-minute call and short read-only access to your QuickBooks file. You receive a written diagnostic — what's clean, what's broken, what's structural, what's a one-time fix — and a fixed-price quote with a defined timeline.

ii.

Reconcile & restructure

Bank and credit-card reconciliations brought current. Duplicates and miscategorized transactions resolved. Chart of accounts redesigned for clarity and reporting. Payroll, sales tax, and inter-company entries mapped correctly.

iii.

CPA-ready package

A clean trial balance, reconciled accounts, and workpapers organized for your CPA or tax preparer. Documentation of decisions made and adjusting entries. A first clean month of reports to confirm the foundation holds.

What's included

A complete reset, not a patch.

Reconciliations

  • All bank accounts
  • All credit card accounts
  • Merchant processor accounts
  • Loan & line-of-credit balances

Structural cleanup

  • Chart of accounts redesign
  • Duplicate & miscategorized transactions
  • Opening balance corrections
  • Negative balance investigations

Payroll & tax

  • Payroll provider mapping
  • Sales tax liability reconciliation
  • Payroll tax liability reconciliation
  • Owner draws & distributions

Handoff

  • Reconciled trial balance
  • CPA-ready workpaper package
  • Adjusting entry documentation
  • First clean month of reports
Before / after

What changes when the cleanup is done.

Before
After
Bank reconciliations

Unreconciled or partially reconciled for months. Balances drift from statements.

Bank reconciliations

All accounts reconciled through the most recent month-end. Statements tie out to the penny.

Chart of accounts

Grown to hundreds of categories, mislabeled, with duplicates. No reporting structure.

Chart of accounts

Restructured for clarity and reporting. Mapped to your industry, your CPA, and your tax structure.

Monthly reports

Don't tie out. Numbers move when you re-run the report. Can't be sent to a lender or board.

Monthly reports

Reliable P&L, balance sheet, and cash flow. Repeatable, defensible, lender-ready.

CPA handoff

Tax season scramble. Repeated back-and-forth. Surprises at filing.

CPA handoff

Organized workpaper package. Adjusting entries documented. Your CPA's job gets easier.

Your visibility

You manage cash from the bank balance. Decisions made on instinct.

Your visibility

You know what the business made, what it spent, and what's coming — on a standing rhythm.

Pricing

Fixed price, quoted in writing, after the diagnostic.

Most cleanups land in the $1,500 – $9,000 range depending on scope, the number of entities, and how far behind the books are. You'll have a written quote before any work starts.

Most clients roll into an ongoing engagement once cleanup completes — but you're never obligated to. The diagnostic is a stand-alone deliverable.

Request a diagnostic
Timeline

How long does a cleanup take?

Most cleanups run 4–8 weeks from kickoff. Single-entity, single-year cleanups can wrap in three. Multi-entity or multi-year catch-ups stretch longer — the diagnostic gives you a real timeline before you commit.

Diagnostic3–5 business days
Single-entity3–5 weeks
Multi-entity5–10 weeks
Catch-up (2+ years behind)8–14 weeks
Good fit / not a fit

Is this the right next step?

Good fit
  • QuickBooks Online (or Desktop migrating to QBO)
  • Revenue between $500K and $20M
  • Books are 3+ months behind or structurally messy
  • You want to keep working with your existing CPA
  • Multi-entity or regulated-industry operations welcome
Not a fit
  • You need tax preparation or a CPA opinion
  • You're looking for a $400/mo bookkeeping-only solution
  • Your business is pre-revenue or under $250K
  • You're not using QuickBooks (Xero, Wave, NetSuite)
Common questions

A few things people ask first.

How much does a cleanup cost?
Most cleanups land in the $2,500 – $9,000 range, scoped after a diagnostic. Single-entity work tends to come in low end; multi-entity or multi-year catch-up sits higher. You'll have a written, fixed-price quote before any work starts. No hourly surprises.
What does the diagnostic involve?
A 30-minute call, plus short-term read-only access to your QuickBooks file. You receive a written summary — what's clean, what's broken, what's structural, what's a one-time fix — along with a fixed-price quote and a defined timeline. The diagnostic is a stand-alone deliverable; you can take it elsewhere if you decide not to proceed.
How far back can you go?
As far back as the records allow. Most engagements clean up the current year and the prior year. If you need a multi-year catch-up, we'll scope it phase by phase and prioritize the periods your CPA needs most.
Will my existing CPA need to be involved?
No — but they're welcome to be. Cleanup is designed to deliver a CPA-ready package, so your tax preparer can pick up clean books at the end. If they have specific workpaper or schedule preferences, we'll coordinate.
Do I have to sign on for ongoing work after?
Not at all. Cleanup is a stand-alone project. Most clients do roll into an ongoing engagement because they like the clean books and want to keep them that way — but you're never obligated to.
Can you do this in QuickBooks Desktop or other systems?
Cleanup work is QuickBooks Online. If you're currently in QuickBooks Desktop, the cleanup includes a migration to QBO as part of the project. Other systems (Xero, Wave, NetSuite) aren't supported.
What do you need from me to get started?
A short scoping call, read-only access to QuickBooks, and a few months of bank/credit card statements to spot-check reconciliations. That's enough to produce the diagnostic and quote.

Ready to get the books back in shape?

Start with a diagnostic. Written quote, defined timeline, no obligation past that.

Request a diagnostic