If you've ever searched for a bookkeeping cleanup service because your books are a disaster and tax season is approaching — you're not alone. Most business owners don't know what a cleanup actually involves.
Phase 1: Assessment
Before touching anything, we conduct a thorough assessment: how many months need to be addressed, whether bank accounts are connected, the state of the chart of accounts, and whether prior periods have been reconciled. The assessment tells us the scope, timeline, and what source documents we need.
Phase 2: Chart of Accounts Restructuring
In many cleanups, the chart of accounts itself is the first problem. A generic chart doesn't reflect how your business actually operates. We rebuild it to match your industry, revenue streams, and the specific reporting you need.
Phase 3: Transaction Categorization
Every uncategorized, miscategorized, or missing transaction is reviewed, matched to source documentation, and correctly recorded. We work chronologically — each month's work builds on a clean foundation.
Phase 4: Bank and Account Reconciliation
Reconciliation confirms that every transaction in your accounting software matches your actual bank and credit card statements. Every account needs to be reconciled for every period in the cleanup. Unreconciled books are not clean books.
Phase 5: Deliverable and Handoff
At the conclusion, we deliver a complete set of financial statements — P&L, balance sheet, and cash flow statement — for each period cleaned, plus a summary of what was found and recommendations to prevent recurrence.
What It Costs vs. What You Get Back
A professional cleanup typically runs $1,500–$8,000 depending on scope and complexity. It almost always recovers more than its cost in previously unclaimed deductions, identified tax overpayments, and avoided penalties.