Messy books help
Messy Books? Hand Them Over.
Years behind, a dozen accounts, personal and business mixed, returns unfiled. We take it as it is, rebuild it in the right order, and get you current. You do not have to tidy anything first.
What we take on
Most owners with messy books think theirs are the worst anyone has seen. They are not. Books fall behind for ordinary reasons, and putting them right is a job with a known method. These are all situations we work on:
- Four or five years with nothing entered
- Several bank accounts and cards, none reconciled
- Personal and business money in the same accounts
- Business returns unfiled because the numbers were never there
- A QuickBooks file nobody trusts
- Payroll, sales tax or 1099 filings behind as well
- More than one business sharing accounts
- A lender, a buyer or the IRS waiting on figures
Not sure where yours fits?
Answer eight questions and get a plan: what to deal with first, the order of work, and the documents to gather. Nothing you enter is sent to us.
Open the Cleanup PlannerWould you prefer to just hand it over?
Tell us what is behind and whether anything is due. We take it from there.
How we work through it
Tell us what is on fire
A payroll deposit, a response date, a lender’s deadline. Anything with a clock on it is handled first, before the tidying.
Send it as it is
Statements, logins, the box. You do not sort anything. We list what is missing and request it while work starts on the rest.
We rebuild and reconcile
Oldest period first, every account matched to its statement. Your questions arrive in one batch per period, not one at a time.
File, then keep it current
Outstanding returns and filings are prepared from the finished books, and the file is kept up monthly so the gap does not reopen.
The full sequence is in how a cleanup works, step by step.
Find your situation
Most businesses have more than one of these at once. Each page explains what is going on, why it matters, how we untangle it and what to send.
You are behind
Months or years with nothing entered, and sometimes returns unfiled alongside.
Books that are years behind
Two to five years or more with nothing entered. How a multi-year rebuild is ordered and what it needs.
Read moreUnfiled returns and no books
Returns went unfiled because the numbers were never there. Books first, then every open return.
Read moreNever had real books
A spreadsheet, a shoebox or the bank balance. Building a first set of books, including past years.
Read moreThe money is tangled
Too many accounts, personal and business mixed, cash, processors, loans and more than one company.
Too many bank accounts
Several accounts and cards with money moving between them. Mapping, matching transfers and reconciling each one.
Read morePersonal and business mixed
One pot for everything. Separating business activity from personal, in both directions.
Read moreA business that runs on cash
Cash sales and cash paid out, with deposits that tell only part of the story.
Read morePayment apps and processors
Square, Stripe, PayPal, Venmo, Cash App, Shopify. Tying net deposits back to gross sales and the 1099-K.
Read moreLoans and owner money booked wrong
Loan deposits as income, repayments as expenses, draws as wages. The balance sheet items that distort profit.
Read moreSeveral businesses, one tangle
Two or more companies paying each other’s bills. Separate books for each and clean entries between them.
Read moreThe records are broken or missing
A file nobody trusts, a bookkeeper who left, lost records, or an S corporation kept like a sole proprietorship.
A QuickBooks file nobody trusts
Unreconciled accounts, duplicates, Undeposited Funds, bank-feed guesses. What gets repaired and in what order.
Read moreThe bookkeeper left
They quit, were let go or stopped answering. Securing access and finding out what was really done.
Read moreMissing receipts and records
Lost statements and no receipts. What can be replaced, from where, and which deductions need more.
Read moreS corporation books in a mess
The election was made but the books never changed. Owner pay, distributions, basis and the balance sheet.
Read moreFilings are behind as well
Payroll, sales tax, 1099s, or a letter that has already arrived.
Behind on payroll taxes
Missed deposits, unfiled quarterly returns, W-2s never issued. The most urgent kind of behind.
Read moreBehind on sales tax
Returns missed, tax collected and not sent in, or no retail license. Rebuilding and filing back periods.
Read more1099s that were never issued
Contractors paid for years with no forms sent. Who needed one, and filing late.
Read moreAn IRS letter and no books
A letter asks how a number was arrived at and nobody can say. What to do before the response date.
Read moreThere is a deadline
A return due, a lender waiting, or a sale in progress.
A tax deadline and no books
The return is due and there are no numbers. What gets done first and what an extension really covers.
Read moreA lender wants financials
The bank wants a P&L, a balance sheet and returns, soon. What underwriters check.
Read moreSelling or buying a business
Books that have to survive a buyer’s review, or a seller’s mess you just inherited.
Read moreHow cleanup works
The process, the documents, the order, the time, the cost, and how to stop it happening again.
Cleanup Planner
Eight questions, then a plan: what comes first, what to gather, and which guides apply.
Open the plannerHow a cleanup works, step by step
The seven stages from first call to current books, and what each needs from you.
Read the guideWhat to gather, and how to get it
The full document list, ranked by how much each item helps, and how to replace what is lost.
Read the guideWhich year to start with
Why oldest first is the default, and the four deadlines that change the order.
Read the guideHow long a cleanup takes
The six things that decide the timeline, and the two you control.
Read the guideWhat a cleanup costs
What a quote is based on, what waiting adds, and how to keep the figure down.
Read the guideFix the file or start over
When a file is worth repairing, when a clean one is better, and what carries over.
Read the guideThe errors we find most often
Twenty-one errors that turn up in almost every cleanup, and what each does to the numbers.
Read the guideDo it yourself or hire it out
Which cleanups an owner can do, which cost more to attempt, and what to ask anyone you hire.
Read the guideStaying caught up afterwards
The setup and monthly routine that stop the gap reopening, and five early warning signs.
Read the guideCleanup glossary
The terms you will hear during a cleanup, in plain words.
Read the guideWho does what
Elite Pro-Tax & Financial Services rebuilds and reconciles the books, prepares the business and personal returns, and prepares payroll and sales tax filings. We are an independent tax and accounting firm and not a CPA firm. Where a matter requires professional representation before the IRS or the South Carolina Department of Revenue, it is handled by the independent licensed CPA we work with, with our office coordinating the records.
The guides in this hub describe general rules and how we work. They are not advice on your specific situation, and they deliberately print no prices, deadlines or dollar thresholds. See catch-up bookkeeping, back tax filing and tax resolution for the services themselves.
Messy books questions
My books are four or five years behind. Can you really fix that?
Yes. Multi-year backlogs are work we take on. Each year is rebuilt from bank and card statements, oldest first, and reconciled before the next begins. See books that are years behind.
Do I have to organize everything before I contact you?
No. Send it in whatever state it is in. Sorting it, working out what is missing and requesting replacements is part of the job. What to gather shows what helps most.
How quickly can you start, and how long will it take?
Tell us about any deadline first and we work back from it. How long the whole cleanup takes depends on the months involved, the number of accounts and how quickly statements arrive, so you get a timeline for your situation with the quote. See how long cleanup takes.
What does it cost?
It depends on the period, the number of accounts and how tangled things are, so there is no flat figure. You get a figure for your situation before any work begins. See what cleanup costs.
Will you also file the tax returns that are overdue?
Yes. The outstanding returns are prepared from the rebuilt books in the same engagement, business first and then personal. See unfiled business returns with no books.
Do you deal with the IRS for me?
We rebuild the books, prepare the returns and assemble the records a response needs. Where a matter requires professional representation, it is handled by the independent licensed CPA we work with, with our office coordinating. See tax resolution.
I am not in South Carolina. Can you still help?
Yes. The work is done from statements and reports that are exchanged electronically, and we work with clients in the Easley office and virtually.
Not the question you had? The full tax FAQ covers more ground, and our client reviews say what the work is actually like.
The services behind the cleanup
Bookkeeping
Clean monthly books, reconciled accounts and reports you can actually use.
Learn moreTax Preparation
Federal and South Carolina returns for individuals, families and business owners.
Learn moreTax Resolution
IRS notices, back taxes, unfiled returns, audits and payment arrangements.
Learn morePayroll Services
Full-service payroll with tax filings, direct deposit and year-end forms.
Learn moreS-Corp Setup
S-Corp elections, reasonable salary and the payroll that has to follow.
Learn moreSelf-Employed & Freelancer Taxes
Schedule C, quarterly estimates and 1099 income for freelancers and gig workers.
Learn more
Send us the mess. We will send back a plan.
Call (864) 781-4035 or book a consultation, in the Easley office or virtually.