You get the findings in plain English, in writing, followed by a fixed price. The findings say what is wrong, what it will take to fix, and roughly how long — and the quote turns that into one number for the whole job, not open-ended hours that grow with the mess. Pricing starts from a published floor of $1,500 that the review makes real for your file. If the review finds you do not actually need us, we say so; a short, honest "you're fine" is a valid outcome.
How it works
How working with us actually goes.
How long it takes, and what we need from you
Six plain steps: a free review, written findings with a fixed quote, your approval, the work itself, a verification pass, then a documented handback you keep. Nothing is charged or changed until you have seen the plan and said yes.
Last reviewed October 2026 by a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor
How long it takes, and what we need from you
- Planned timelines:
- a written reply within one business day of your request; a standard cleanup of up to 12 months, usually planned at two to four weeks; a catch-up, the date your written scope sets (the catch-up calculator gives a planning estimate); a Desktop-to-Online move, usually planned at one to three weeks; a new setup, about one to two weeks; and monthly bookkeeping delivers each month's package on the delivery day your written scope sets. The free review sets the dates for your file before you commit.
- What to have ready:
- bank, card and loan statements for the period; receipts above your own threshold; payroll reports; the last year-end reports and tax return your preparer filed; and QuickBooks access — view-only for the review, the accountant user for the work.
- Free, no-obligation start
- Fixed quote before any work
- A written record you keep
How the engagement works, start to finish
Hiring someone to work inside your books should not feel like handing over the keys and hoping. Here is the whole engagement in plain terms — what happens, in what order, and where you stay in control.
The six steps
Read this as text
Six ordered steps: a free review, written findings with a fixed quote, your approval, the work, a verification pass where the reports are re-run and checked, and a documented handback. Everything before your approval is free and reversible; nothing after it happens without your sign-off, and you keep a written record at the end.
Working with us runs in six steps: a free review, written findings with a fixed quote, your approval, the work itself, a verification pass on your reports, and a documented handback. The first three cost nothing and commit you to nothing — you only ever pay after you have approved a written plan and a fixed fee.
The shape is the point. The three steps on the left cost nothing, and you can stop at any of them. The three on the right only begin once you have decided the work is worth it, and each one leaves a record. Below is what actually happens at each step.
Step 1: A free review of your file
We start with a free review request — not a sales call. The written reply, within one business day, sets up a view-only look at your actual QuickBooks. The free review is view-only: we look at your books with you on a screen-share you control, or through a reports-only user if your QuickBooks Online plan has one. It never gives us edit access. If you approve paid work, your QuickBooks admin invites our accountant user and can remove it at any time. On QuickBooks Desktop, the review is a screen-share you control or a copy of the file. In the review we open the books to find what is genuinely wrong: accounts that never reconciled, transactions filed under the wrong type, a chart of accounts that has bloated, balances that never cleared. You grant the least access the job needs, and you can remove it at any time. The free review exists so nobody is quoting your work blind — including us.
Step 2: Written findings and a fixed quote
Step 3: You approve — nothing starts first
Nothing in your file is changed until you have approved both the plan and the price. This is the gate the whole process is built around. Everything up to this point is reversible and free; the moment you say yes is the moment the work is authorized, and not a second before. If the number or the scope is not right for you, you walk away having spent nothing but the time it took to read the findings.
Step 4: The work, done in the open
Once you approve, we do the work — one visible change at a time, in the order that keeps your reports honest. Reconciliation comes first, because every downstream number depends on the cash being right, and then we correct what reconciliation exposes. You can watch through the access you control, and every change is recorded as it is made. This is the same fixed-scope work behind our QuickBooks services, from a one-time cleanup to catching a badly behind file back up.
Step 5: We verify the reports still tie
The verification pass
Read this as text
Three stages: your key reports are snapshotted before the work starts; the approved work is done; and the same reports are re-run after it ends. The two snapshots are compared line by line so a prior period you have already filed a return on does not quietly shift — if a filed total would move, it is raised with you first, never left as a surprise.
The verification pass proves that fixing the present did not break the past: we save a snapshot of your key reports before the work starts, re-run the same reports after it ends, and compare the two.
The comparison matters most for a prior period you have already filed a return on, which must not quietly shift. If a filed total would move, we catch it in that comparison and raise it with you rather than let it become a surprise. A cleanup that ties the current books but breaks last year's is not a fix, and this step is how we prove it did not happen.
Step 6: Handback, and what you keep
The handback closes the engagement: you get your QuickBooks file back current, with a written record of everything that changed and why — and that record is yours to keep after the work ends.
That record is the artifact that makes the work auditable long after we are gone: it lists what moved, what happened to it, and where its history went, so you — or your CPA, or a lender doing diligence — can trace any figure back to the decision behind it. A cleanup or catch-up job ends here. We only continue into ongoing monthly work if that is what you actually want; you are never rolled onto a recurring engagement by default. To see what that finished state looks like in practice — reconciled books, a documented change log, reports that tie — read what results look like.
How this differs from our full methodology
This how-it-works page is the plain-terms map of the engagement; our methodology page is the deep version, spelling out exactly how the work is done and checked, step by step.
The methodology covers the detail behind each check — the reconciliation-first ordering, the change-mapping loop where every correction is written, approved, executed, and re-checked, the before-and-after report snapshots, and how we handle access and least-privilege security. The steps on this page are the same engagement, told at the altitude of "what happens when I hire you." When you are ready, the honest first move is the same either way: a free review of the real file. Not sure it is the right fit? A short call sorts it out — or, if you would rather start with a question in writing, contact us for a written reply within one business day.
Questions about how it works
How does working with QBSpecialist work?
In six plain steps: a free review of your file, written findings with a fixed quote, your approval, the work itself, a verification pass on your reports, and a documented handback. Nothing is charged or changed until you have seen the plan and the price and said yes.
Do I pay anything to get started?
No. The first step is a free, view-only review with no obligation. You only ever pay after you have approved a written scope and a fixed fee, so there is no way for the cost to surprise you later.
When do you actually change my file?
Only after you approve. Everything before your sign-off — the review and the written findings — is reversible and commits you to nothing. The first correction to your books happens once you have said yes to the plan and the quote.
How long does the process take?
It depends on how far the file has drifted, and we put a realistic timeline in the written findings before you approve. A small cleanup is planned shorter and a badly behind file longer; your written scope sets the finish date. You get the estimate up front, not as a moving target.
How is this different from your methodology page?
This page is the plain-terms walkthrough of the engagement. The methodology is the deep version — reconciliation-first ordering, the change-mapping loop, before-and-after report snapshots, access and security. Read it if you want to see exactly how the work is done and checked.
What do I get at the end?
A file whose reports tie, plus a written record of what changed and why. That record is yours to keep, so you, your CPA, or a lender can trace any figure back to the decision behind it long after the engagement closes.