Bookkeeping Cleanup & Catch-Up
Bring overdue, unreliable, or incomplete books current and prepare organized financial records you and your tax professional can actually use.
When bookkeeping problems begin to pile up
Books can fall behind for many reasons. Transactions may have been entered inconsistently, accounts may never have been reconciled, prior bookkeeping may contain errors, or important records may be missing altogether. Over time, those problems make the financial statements less reliable and tax preparation more difficult.
Cleanup work is designed to identify what went wrong, correct the underlying issues, and bring the records to a point where they can be trusted again.
Common signs you need cleanup
- Accounts have not been reconciled
- Transactions are missing or duplicated
- Financial reports do not match the bank
- Prior-year balances appear incorrect
- Several months or years are behind
- Records are incomplete or disorganized
What cleanup may include
- Reconciling bank and credit-card accounts
- Correcting duplicated or misclassified transactions
- Reconstructing missing activity from available records
- Reviewing opening balances and historical entries
- Organizing the chart of accounts
- Preparing usable financial reports for tax preparation
How the cleanup process works
Every cleanup project is different, but the work generally follows the same basic sequence: assess the condition of the books, gather the available records, rebuild what is missing or incorrect, and deliver organized financial reports with a clear explanation of what was completed.
1. Initial assessment
We review the current condition of the books, identify the major issues, and determine what records will be needed to complete the cleanup reliably.
2. Record gathering
We gather bank statements, credit-card statements, prior reports, tax returns, receipts, and any other available records needed to reconstruct the bookkeeping.
3. Reconciliation and reconstruction
We reconcile the accounts, correct inaccurate or duplicated entries, reconstruct missing activity, and organize the records into reliable financial statements.
4. Final delivery and handoff
We provide organized reports, explain the work completed, note any remaining limitations, and prepare a clear handoff for you or your tax professional.
What we may need from you
The exact records needed will depend on the condition of the books, but cleanup projects commonly require bank and credit-card statements, prior financial reports, tax returns, access to the bookkeeping software, and any available supporting records for major transactions.
Do not worry if the records are incomplete. Part of the assessment is determining what can be reconstructed from the information that is still available.
- Bank statements
- Credit-card statements
- Prior financial reports
- Prior tax returns
- Access to the bookkeeping software
- Supporting records for major transactions
Ready to begin cleaning up your books?
Tell us what is happening with your books, how far behind they are, and what you need them prepared for. We will review the situation and let you know the best next step.