When the Books Technically Exist but Cannot Be Trusted
Bank reconciliations that do not agree. Balance sheet accounts that have been wrong for years. Financial statements that change every time someone opens the file. These are the projects BooksCaughtUp is built for.
Signs a file needs a cleanup, not just catch-up
- Bank or credit card reconciliations show large, old, or unexplained differences
- Undeposited Funds, clearing, or suspense accounts carry balances nobody can explain
- Opening balances do not match the prior-year tax return
- Accounts receivable or payable aging includes items years old that were paid long ago
- Loan balances in the books do not match lender statements
- Payroll liabilities are negative, growing, or never cleared
- Personal and business transactions are commingled
- Duplicate transactions from bank feed and manual entry inflate income or expenses
What a cleanup engagement includes
- Diagnostic review of every balance sheet account with a written findings list
- Reconciliation of bank, credit card, loan, and payroll liability accounts to source documents
- Investigation and clearing of Undeposited Funds, clearing, and suspense balances
- Removal of duplicates and correction of misclassified transactions
- Cleanup of AR and AP aging, including write-offs your firm approves
- Reconciliation of opening balances to the last filed return, with documented adjustments
- Separation of commingled personal activity to owner equity or loan accounts
- A journal entry log of every prior-period adjustment for your tax team
How the engagement runs
Diagnose first
Before touching anything, we review every balance sheet account and send you a findings list: what is wrong, how far back it goes, and what it will take to fix. The quote is based on that list.
Fix from the balance sheet down
Cleanups start with balance sheet accounts because the P&L cannot be right until they are. Each account is reconciled to an outside source before we move on.
Document every change
Every adjustment is logged with the reason and the support. Prior-period changes are flagged separately so your tax team knows what moved.
Hand back a file you can rely on
You receive the cleaned file, reconciliation reports, the adjustment log, and an open-items list for the client. Then your reviewer signs off.
Common questions
How do you price a cleanup when you do not know how bad it is?
The diagnostic review comes first and is fast. Once we have seen every balance sheet account we can quote the cleanup as a fixed fee. If something material surfaces later, we tell you before doing extra work.
Will the cleanup change prior-year numbers that were already filed?
Sometimes it has to. When it does, adjustments are booked in a way your tax team can evaluate: logged separately, dated appropriately, and never mixed into current-year activity.
Can you clean up a file that has payroll problems?
Yes. Payroll liability accounts are one of the most common cleanup areas. We reconcile them to the payroll provider reports and tax filings.
What if the client's data is in a mess of spreadsheets, not software?
We can rebuild in QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop, or Xero from bank statements and whatever records exist. That is scoped as a rebuild rather than a cleanup.
Have a File Like This?
Send us the details. We review the scope and reply with a clear quote within one business day. No obligation, no end-client contact.