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Bookkeeping cleanup and catch up
Get the records back under control so a real close is possible.
Cleanup is a fixed price project. Our team reconciles prior periods, supports the balances, fixes what can be fixed, and tells you plainly what cannot be reconstructed.
The problem
Behind books are rarely one problem.
Bank feeds pulled transactions in but nobody reviewed them, so the accounts have never truly been reconciled. Duplicates and missing activity sit side by side.
The balance sheet carries numbers nobody can support: an undeposited funds pile, a loan balance that never moved, inventory that was guessed at, an owner draw account used as a catch all.
Payroll does not tie. What the payroll provider reported and what the books say are two different numbers, and tax liabilities were expensed to whatever account looked close.
The chart of accounts grew a new line every time someone was unsure, so reporting cannot be trusted even where the entries are right.
Underneath all of it is the same cost: you cannot file with confidence, borrow, sell, or price work from records like these.
Evidence
Owner managed records are where reporting error actually lives.
$539B
of the $696B federal tax gap for 2022 came from underreporting, not from people refusing to file
89.8%
of small employers use a paid tax professional, and 88.1% of those say the rules are too complex to handle alone
What our team does
A cleanup runs in a fixed order.
Diagnostic before any price
Read only access to the accounting file, bank and card statements, payroll reports, and loan documents. Our team documents what is reconciled, what is supportable, and how many periods are affected.
Written scope and fixed price
You get the number of periods, the entities, the work included, the exclusions, and the fixed price before anything begins. No hourly surprise.
Reconstruct period by period
Oldest period forward. Accounts reconciled, duplicates removed, missing activity entered, transfers and loans corrected, payroll tied to the provider reports, sales tax and merchant deposits traced to their true gross.
Rebuild the chart of accounts
One consistent structure for revenue and cost so job, service, or department reporting is possible after the cleanup, not just tidy history.
Support every balance
Each balance sheet line gets a schedule behind it. Where a balance cannot be supported, our team documents the reason and the adjustment, in writing.
Hand off and decide what happens next
A closing summary, the corrected statements, the open items, and a recommendation for the ongoing process. Your tax professional receives what they need.
Included
What a cleanup covers.
Scope is written before the work starts. A typical project includes the following.
- All bank, credit card, and loan accounts reconciled for each period in scope
- Duplicate, missing, and misclassified activity corrected
- Payroll reconciled to the payroll provider reports, with liabilities separated from expense
- Merchant deposits traced to gross sales, fees, and refunds
- Sales tax activity reviewed against filings you provide
- Loans, lines of credit, and equipment finance split between principal and interest
- Owner activity separated from business activity, with a documented draw or reimbursement path
- A supporting schedule behind every balance sheet line
- Corrected financial statements for each period, plus a written summary of what changed
What a cleanup is not:
- Not a tax return, tax opinion, or amended filing
- Not an audit, review, compilation, or fraud examination
- Not a substitute for records that no longer exist. Where source documents are gone, we document the limit rather than invent a number
No shame. No accounting theater.
Books fall behind for ordinary reasons. Our team has seen worse than yours, does not moralize about it, and starts with the condition of the records rather than a lecture about them.
What you receive
At the end of the project you hold this.
01
Reconciled periods
Every account in scope reconciled, with the reconciliation reports saved in your portal.
02
Supported balance sheet
A schedule behind each line, and a written note on anything that cannot be supported.
03
Corrected statements
Profit and loss and balance sheet for each period, plus a plain summary of what moved and why.
04
A clean opening balance
The starting point for monthly bookkeeping, so the same mess does not rebuild itself.
05
An open items list
What is still unresolved, what it depends on, and who owns the next step.
06
A process recommendation
The specific habits, systems, or ownership changes that caused the drift, and what to change.
Questions
What owners ask about this work.
How far behind is too far?
There is no limit that stops the work. Multiple years is normal. What matters is whether the source records exist. Bank and card statements can be re obtained, and payroll reports are usually recoverable. Cash spending with no documentation is where reconstruction ends.
How long does a cleanup take?
Most cleanups run two to eight weeks depending on the number of periods, entities, and transaction volume. The written scope includes a target completion date.
Will you tell my accountant what was wrong?
We will give your tax professional the corrected statements, the supporting schedules, and a summary of the adjustments. That is usually all they need.
What if we cannot support a balance?
We document it, quantify it, propose the adjustment, and get your approval. You will never find a silent plug in your books.
Do we have to sign up for monthly service?
No. Cleanup is a standalone project. Most clients continue because the same conditions that caused the drift are still there, but that is your call.
Next step
Find out what the cleanup actually involves before you commit.
Take the assessment for a score and a short list of priorities, or book a call and talk through the records with our team.
Free. About 6 minutes. 25 questions. No contact details required.