BOOKKEEPING CLEANUP FOR CONTRACTORS
Behind on your Books? Let’s Get Them Cleaned Up.
Unreconciled accounts, incorrect balances, duplicate or misclassified transactions and years of accumulated bookkeeping issues can make it difficult to know where your business really stands. Excel Consulting can review and clean up your accounting records so you and your CPA have reliable financial information again.
BOOKKEEPING CLEANUP SERVICES
What does a Bookkeeping Cleanup Actually Fix?
Bookkeeping problems tend to build on one another. An unreconciled bank account leads to incorrect balances. Transactions get duplicated or posted to the wrong accounts. Old items remain outstanding and throw off your Accounts Payable. Before long, the financial statements no longer give you a reliable picture of the business.
Excel Consulting reviews the accounting records, identifies where the problems are coming from and works through the cleanup needed to bring the books back to a reliable starting point.
Cleanup Services May Include:
- Bank and credit card reconciliations
- Review of unreconciled transactions
- Correcting inaccurate account balances
- Identifying duplicate or missing transactions
- Reclassifying incorrectly recorded income and expenses
- Cleaning up the chart of accounts
- Reviewing old accounts receivable and accounts payable balances
- Correcting prior-period bookkeeping issues
- Reviewing payroll and subcontractor-related entries
- Preparing cleaner, more reliable financial statements
Signs Your Books May Need a Cleanup
- QuickBooks doesn’t match the bank
- Accounts haven’t been reconciled in months or years
- Your balance sheet contains balances you can’t explain
- Transactions are sitting in Uncategorized or Ask My Accountant
- Your P&L doesn’t seem to reflect what is happening in the business
- You’ve had turnover in whoever handled the bookkeeping
- Tax season is approaching and you don’t trust the numbers
TAX-READY BOOKKEEPING
Get Your Books Ready for Tax Season
When tax season arrives, your CPA or tax professional needs more than a QuickBooks file filled with transactions. They need reconciled accounts, reliable balances and financial statements that accurately reflect what happened during the year.
Bookkeeping cleanup can help resolve old accounting issues before your records are handed off for tax preparation. That may include reconciling accounts, reviewing unusual balances, correcting transaction classifications and addressing prior bookkeeping problems that could otherwise slow down the tax-preparation process.
What Excel Consulting Does — and Doesn’t Do
Excel Consulting does not prepare or file income tax returns. Instead, we help organize and clean up your accounting records so your CPA or tax professional has more reliable information to work with.
Cleaner books can mean fewer questions, fewer surprises and a smoother tax season.
HOW BOOKKEEPING CLEANUP WORKS
A Clear Process for Getting your Books Back in Shape
1. Review the Current Books
We start by looking at your accounting records; reconciliations, outstanding balances, your financial reports and the issues you already know are causing problems.
2. Clean Up the Accounting
Accounts are reconciled, inaccurate balances are reviewed, transactions are entered, corrected or reclassified and older bookkeeping issues are worked through systematically.
3. Establish a Reliable Starting Point
Once the cleanup is complete, you have cleaner financial records that are easier to understand, easier to maintain and more useful to your CPA or tax professional.
What Happens After the Cleanup?
Once the immediate bookkeeping problems are corrected, the goal is to keep your books from drifting right back into the same condition.
Some contractors move into ongoing monthly bookkeeping. Others may only need quarterly reconciliations, periodic financial review or occasional help when something in the accounting starts to look off.
Excel Consulting can help you establish a bookkeeping schedule that fits your transaction volume, accounting systems and the way your construction business operates.
Cleanup gets the books back on track. Ongoing bookkeeping helps keep them there.
Frequently Asked Questions
How far back can you clean up my books?
Bookkeeping cleanup can go back multiple years when necessary. The scope depends on how many periods need to be reviewed, the number of bank and credit card accounts involved, and the condition of the existing accounting records.
How long does bookkeeping cleanup take?
The timeline depends on the number of accounts, months or years that need to be reviewed, transaction volume and the condition of the books. A typical cleanup may take one to two weeks, while more complex projects can take longer.
Can you clean up QuickBooks before tax season?
In many cases, yes. The timeline depends on the number of months that need to be cleaned up, transaction volume and the complexity of the accounting issues. And timing matters — it’s much easier if you call us March 1 than March 14!
What do you need from me to clean up my books?
We generally need access to QuickBooks or your accounting system, along with bank and credit card statements and other relevant financial records. Depending on the cleanup, we may also need payroll information, loan statements or documentation to help clarify certain transactions.
How much does bookkeeping cleanup cost?
Bookkeeping cleanup is generally billed hourly because the amount of work varies depending on the condition of the books, number of accounts, unreconciled periods, transaction volume and complexity. We’ll discuss the scope of the cleanup before work begins.
Can you handle my ongoing bookkeeping after the clean up is finished?
Absolutely. Once the books are cleaned up, Excel Consulting can provide monthly or quarterly bookkeeping support based on your transaction volume, accounting systems and business needs. Ongoing services may be billed hourly or, once the workload is established, at a predictable monthly amount.
READY TO GET CAUGHT UP?
Stop Carrying Old Bookkeeping Problems Into Another Month
Whether your books are a few months behind or you’ve been dealing with accounting problems for years, the first step is figuring out what needs to be cleaned up. Excel Consulting can help you get your records organized, reconciled and back to a reliable starting point.