Bookkeeping that leaves your return ready to prepare
Monthly bookkeeping for sole proprietors and small businesses. Transactions categorized, accounts reconciled, and each month closed, ready for the return.
When the books are not kept through the year, the return cannot start until they are rebuilt. Rebuilding twelve months of transactions in March takes longer, is less accurate than closing each month as it ends, and pushes the return toward the deadline.
What is included
- Transactions categorized and the accounts reconciled every month
- A month end close, with the month locked once you have agreed it
- A profit and loss and a balance sheet each month
- Books handed to the return in a form it can be prepared from directly
What is not included
Stated plainly, because an unclear scope is what turns a fixed fee into an argument. Anything below can usually still be done, and is quoted separately before it starts.
- Payroll processing and the payroll filings that go with it
- Sales tax registration, collection, or returns
- Invoicing, chasing payment, or paying bills on your behalf
- Preparing the tax return itself, which is quoted separately
- Audited, reviewed, or compiled financial statements, which are separate attest engagements
Who this is for
Your books are a bank feed that nobody has categorized.
You want the year closed as it goes rather than reconstructed the following March.
Your last return could not start until the books had been rebuilt.
You have months or years that were never kept and need them brought current.
If your situation is close to one of these but not quite the same, describe it and you will get a straight answer about whether it is a good fit.
How it works
Describe the books
The software you use, if any, how many bank and card accounts there are, and how far behind the books are.
A reply within one business day
Get a fixed fee
A monthly fee for ongoing work, and a separate fee for any months that need catching up first.
Usually the same conversation
Share statements or access
Bank and card statements, or access to the bookkeeping software where you already use one.
Once the fee is agreed
Each month closed
Each month is categorized, reconciled, and closed once you have agreed it, with a profit and loss and a balance sheet.
Every month
What it costs
Starting fees for this service, confirmed in writing before any work begins.
| Service | Forms | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Bookkeeping, monthlyUp to 100 transactions a month, across one bank account and one card. | Not form based | from $250 a month |
| Bookkeeping, catching upMonths or years never kept, brought current before the return is started. | Not form based | from $250 a month of records |
See the full table for every service and for what changes a price.
Who does the work
- Washington State licensed CPAVerifiable through the Washington State Board of Accountancy. The CPA who prepares your return signs it.
- Five years of tax work before this practicePreparing United States returns in employment, before the practice opened.
- A fixed fee, in writingAgreed before any work starts. A change in scope is agreed before it is worked on.
Common questions
What does the monthly fee cover?
Up to 100 transactions a month, across one bank account and one card. Above that the fee is quoted before the work starts rather than adjusted afterwards. The figure is a starting fee like every other on this site, and what moves it is volume and the number of accounts, not how long the work takes.
My books have never been kept. Can you still help?
Yes, and that is quoted as catching up rather than as the monthly fee. Catch up is priced per month of records, because a year never kept is twelve months of work rather than one. The records are looked at before any figure is given.
Do you have to prepare my return for you to do the bookkeeping?
No. Bookkeeping is available on its own. Where the same practice does both, the books are closed in a form the return can be prepared from directly, which is the main reason to put them together.
Is this the same as a financial statement?
No. Bookkeeping produces a profit and loss and a balance sheet for your own use and for the return. An audit, a review, and a compilation are separate attest engagements with their own standards, and none of them is offered here.
What happens at the end of the year?
The books are closed and the return is prepared from them, quoted separately at the published fee for your entity. Nothing about the year end is charged on top of the monthly fee for the bookkeeping itself.
Start here
Describe your situation and you will have a fixed fee in writing within one business day. Do not send documents or identifying numbers until that fee is agreed.