Cleanup guide
Clean Up the Books Yourself or Hire It Out
Some cleanups are well within an owner’s reach. Others cost more to attempt than to hand over. Here is how to tell which you have, and what to ask anyone you hire.
When doing it yourself is reasonable
- A few months behind, not years
- One or two accounts
- No payroll, no inventory, no loans beyond a card
- A sole proprietorship or single-owner LLC
- Returns filed and nothing in dispute
- You know how to reconcile, and will do it
If that is you, work month by month, oldest first, reconcile each account before moving on, and resist accepting the software’s suggestions without reading them. Staying caught up has the routine.
When it costs more than it saves
- A year or more behind
- Several accounts with transfers between them
- Personal and business money mixed
- Loans, advances or financed equipment
- Payroll or sales tax filings behind as well
- An S corporation or partnership, which needs a balance sheet
- More than one business
- A letter from the IRS or the state
- A lender or buyer waiting
In these cases the risk is not the hours. It is that a part-finished cleanup makes things harder to check, and that errors on the balance sheet go straight onto a tax return.
What to ask anyone you hire
- Will every account be reconciled for every month, and will I receive the reconciliation reports?
- Do you build a balance sheet, or only a profit and loss statement?
- How do you handle transfers, loans and owner money?
- Will the books agree with my filed returns, and what happens if they do not?
- Who prepares the tax returns from these books?
- Do I own the file and the subscription?
- What do you need from me, and how are questions sent?
- Will I get a figure before the work starts?
- What happens after the cleanup?
The answers we give: yes, with the reports; both; on the balance sheet; they are made to agree or the difference is explained; we do, in the same firm; you do; statements and one batch of answers per period; yes; monthly bookkeeping, by us or by you.
Automated cleanup tools
Software that categorizes from bank feeds is good at the routine majority of transactions and poor at exactly the ones that cause trouble: transfers, loans, owner money and anything split between business and personal. It is a useful way to speed up entry. It is not a substitute for reconciliation and review. See DIY vs professional bookkeeping.
Frequently asked questions
Can I clean up my own books?
If you are a few months behind with one or two accounts, no payroll and no loans, yes. Work oldest month first and reconcile every account before moving on. With a year or more behind, several accounts, or mixed personal and business money, it usually costs more to attempt than to hand over.
What should I ask a bookkeeper before hiring them for a cleanup?
Ask whether every account will be reconciled monthly, whether they produce a balance sheet, how they treat transfers and loans, whether the books will agree with your filed returns, who prepares the tax returns, and whether you own the file.
Should the same firm do the cleanup and the tax return?
It helps. A preparer working from books they did not build has to ask how every unusual figure was arrived at. When one firm does both, those answers are already known. See tax preparation.
Not the question you had? The full tax FAQ covers more ground, and our client reviews say what the work is actually like.
Related situations and guides
What a cleanup costs
What a quote is based on, what waiting adds, and how to keep the figure down.
Learn moreHow a cleanup works, step by step
The seven stages from first call to current books, and what each needs from you.
Learn moreStaying caught up afterwards
The setup and monthly routine that stop the gap reopening, and five early warning signs.
Learn moreThe bookkeeper left
They quit, were let go or stopped answering. Securing access and finding out what was really done.
Learn moreCleanup Planner
Eight questions, then a plan: what comes first, what to gather, and which guides apply.
Part of Messy Books Help, alongside our catch-up bookkeeping service.
Tell us what you need
Send a short note about your situation and we’ll come back to you with a straight answer — whether that’s a quote, a next step, or a referral if it isn’t something we handle.
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Send us the mess. We will send back a plan.
Call (864) 781-4035 or book a consultation, in the Easley office or virtually.