QuickBooks catch-up bookkeeping
QuickBooks catch-up bookkeeping
Back to current, month by month.
QuickBooks catch-up bookkeeping enters and reconciles the months your file never recorded — bank and card feeds, categorization, and statement reconciliation — until the books are current and you can file. How long it takes depends on the missing months and the volume, and your written scope sets the finish date — a fixed scope and fee, remote, with the same specialist start to finish.
Last reviewed October 2026 by a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor
What this page is based on: our reconciliation-first methodology and our published pricing floor, with Intuit’s own lock-your-books and bank-connection help (checked October 2026)
The four states of a catch-up
Read this as text
Four states of a catch-up, left to right: months not recorded, then keyed in from bank and card feeds, then reconciled to each statement out by 0.00, then current and ready to file. The final state carries the reconciled tick. An illustrative diagram.
- Every month reconciled
- Fixed scope, fixed fee
- One specialist — never a rotating pool
The short answer
What QuickBooks catch-up bookkeeping is
Catch-up bookkeeping records the months your QuickBooks file never captured: transactions entered from your bank and card activity, categorized, and each month reconciled to its statement until the file is current. It is a defined, one-time project that runs from the last month your books were reliable to today, or to the year-end you need to file.
- Timeline
- Set in your written scope — set by volume and account count, not the calendar; the calculator gives a planning estimate
- Starts at
- From $1,500 for a standard catch-up; larger or multi-year files are custom quoted.
- Access
- View-only for the review; accountant access, or Desktop by screen-share or a hosted copy, for the work
- You receive
- Current books, a month-by-month reconciliation package and a written summary of every month closed
- Works in
- QuickBooks Online and Desktop, on the cash or accrual basis you already use
- Not included
- Preparing or filing tax returns — your preparer works from the numbers
Symptoms
Who needs catch-up bookkeeping — and who needs cleanup
You need catch-up bookkeeping when whole months are missing from QuickBooks. You need cleanup when the months are there but recorded wrong. The honest test is whether the months exist at all.
- Whole months are missing — the file stops partway through the year.
- Bank and card transactions are sitting unentered, and the accounts have not been reconciled since.
- A return is due, or already late, and the filing year is not finished in the file.
- A lender wants current, reconciled statements — and wants them soon.
- You have been behind for a while, and the months before the gap were rushed or half-done — usually a catch-up with some QuickBooks cleanup folded in, scoped as one fixed fee.
Not sure how far off you are? The free bookkeeping health score tells you in a few minutes.
What we do
How catch-up bookkeeping works
Catch-up bookkeeping runs the same way every time: a view-only review scopes the missing months and fixes the fee, then every gap is entered from your bank and card activity, reconciled to its statement, reviewed, and handed back as current books with a written summary.
We work the months oldest first, so opening balances carry forward correctly. Transactions come from your bank and card feeds and statements — and for a long gap, mostly the statements, because a bank connection only reaches back a limited window: Intuit's bank-connection help (checked October 2026) says transactions older than 90 days can't be downloaded when you reconnect an account, and a reconnect can arrive as a brand-new account with its own opening balance, which we merge back rather than leave doubled. Once the activity is in, we categorize it to your chart of accounts and clear the common traps — payments stranded in undeposited funds, transfers double-counted as income, deposits that never matched a sale.
Reconciling each month and locking the books
Then each month is reconciled. We tie every bank, card, and loan account to its statement until the difference is zero — the same reconciliation method a clean month-end uses. A month that won't reconcile gets flagged in writing, with the specific discrepancy named, rather than closed on a guess. The reconciliation step is what separates a catch-up from simply typing transactions in: entering activity puts numbers on the page, and tying each month to its statement proves those numbers are complete and real.
The last step locks the work in. When the final month ties, we set QuickBooks' closing date to the last caught-up month-end, so nothing on or before it can change without a deliberate override. In QuickBooks Online, Intuit's lock-your-books steps (updated September 2026, checked October 2026) are: Settings → Account and settings → Advanced, edit the Accounting section, turn on Close the books, enter the closing date, and choose whether a change needs only a warning or a warning and a password. We recommend the password option, with the password held by you, not us. QuickBooks Desktop has the same control as its closing date and closing-date password.
Deliverables
What you get when the catch-up is done
You get current QuickBooks books with every month reconciled to its statement, a month-by-month reconciliation package, a written summary of what was entered and closed.
Current books
Every missing month entered from your bank and card activity and categorized to your chart of accounts, from the last reliable month to today.
Every month reconciled
Each bank, card and loan account tied to its statement until the difference is zero. A month that will not reconcile is flagged in writing, with the discrepancy named.
A month-by-month reconciliation package
The reconciliation report and statement pack for each month closed — a file your tax preparer can work from.
A written summary
Every month closed and account reconciled, with any judgment call or opening balance noted — so "caught up" is specific and checkable, not a status we assert.
Upkeep, if you want it
A monthly close so the books never fall behind again. There is no obligation to continue.
Catch-up log — months closed
| Month | Entered | Out by |
|---|---|---|
| January | 214 | 0.00 |
| February | 198 | 0.00 |
| March | 241 | 0.00 |
| April | 226 | 0.00 |
| May | 233 | 0.00 |
| June | 219 | 0.00 |
- #04Customer payments stranded in Undeposited Funds — matched to their deposits
- #11Transfer between accounts counted as income — recorded as a transfer
- #15March card statement missing — gap flagged in writing, not closed on a guess
Before and after
What changes in the file
The same file before and after a catch-up, read the same way, line by line.
| Before the catch-up | After | |
|---|---|---|
| Months recorded | Gaps partway through the year | Every month, from the last reliable one to today |
| Bank and card accounts | Unreconciled since the gap began | Reconciled to each statement, out by 0.00 |
| Undeposited Funds and transfers | Payments stranded, transfers counted as income | Matched to deposits and recorded as transfers |
| Judgment calls and opening balances | Undocumented | Noted in the written summary |
| Your tax preparer | Cannot work from the file | Works from numbers that reconcile |
| Verdict | Behind, and nobody can say how far | Current, and provably so |
Process
How long catch-up bookkeeping takes
How long a catch-up takes depends on the missing months, transaction volume, the number of accounts and how quickly statements arrive. The catch-up calculator gives a planning estimate; your written scope sets the finish date. How old the gap is on the calendar matters far less than its volume.
Free review
Before any quote
View-only look at the file; we scope the missing months and quote a fixed fee.
Enter the gaps
Usually the longest phase
Every missing month's transactions entered from bank and card feeds and statements.
Reconcile
Month by month
Each account tied back to the statement, month by month, until the difference is zero.
Hand back
When the last month ties
Current books, a written summary of every month closed, and a written note of how to keep it that way.
A single-account file twelve months behind can close faster than a busy three-account file six months behind. Entry is usually the longest phase and reconciliation the next; review and hand-back are short. Whatever the shape, your written scope sets the finish date before work begins. For a planning estimate before you talk to anyone, the catch-up timeline calculator turns your months behind and the file's complexity into a week range — a planning estimate, not a delivery commitment.
Where the time goes
Read this as text
An illustrative catch-up schedule as a timeline: a short review on day zero, entry of the missing months across days one to seven, reconciliation across days seven to twelve, and hand-back on day thirteen. Entry is the longest phase. An illustrative example, not a measured average.
Fit
When not to hire us for catch-up
If you're only a month or two behind and your accounts still reconcile, you probably don't need us — you can catch that up yourself in an afternoon. Paying a specialist for a small, clean gap isn't worth it.
A catch-up is for you if
- Whole months or years are missing, and the file has to be current before you can file.
- A deadline has arrived or passed — we reconcile the filing year first and finish the rest after.
- More than one account or entity needs bringing current; each entity is caught up and reconciled on its own.
- Some records are missing — statements reconcile most activity, and any gap is documented rather than papered over.
Skip us if
- You are a month or two behind and your accounts still reconcile. The catch-up bookkeeping guide walks the DIY route month by month, and the catch-up checklist is the same sequence as a printable list.
- The months are there but recorded wrong. That is QuickBooks cleanup, not a catch-up.
- What you really need is to never fall behind again. That is ongoing monthly bookkeeping, not a one-time catch-up.
Catch-up vs. cleanup vs. monthly bookkeeping
| Catch-up | Cleanup | Monthly | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Enters missing periods | It depends | ||
| Corrects existing errors | It depends | ||
| Reconciles each month to the statement | It depends | ||
| Gets a prior year ready to file | It depends | ||
| Keeps books current going forward | |||
| Planned timeline | Set in your written scope | 2–4 weeks | Ongoing |
| Best when | Months are missing | Books exist but wrong | You want it kept current |
| Verdict | Behind, not wrong | Wrong, not behind | Done, staying done |
Scope and acceptance
What a catch-up covers, and what done means
Catch-up bookkeeping: From $1,500. This is the written scope in short: what is in, what is not, what moves the quote, your part, and the test the work has to pass.
- Included
- Every missing month entered from bank and card activity, categorized, and reconciled to its statement; a month-by-month reconciliation package; a written summary of every month closed.
- Not included
- Preparing or filing tax returns (your preparer works from the numbers), running payroll, and correcting months already in the file, which is a cleanup.
- What changes the quote
- Missing months, transaction volume, the number of accounts, and how quickly statements arrive; 12–24 months, multi-entity or high volume is custom quoted.
- Your part
- Bank and card statements for every missing month, receipts above your own threshold, and answers on anything the statements can't explain.
- Done means
- Every missing month in the agreed scope entered and reconciled through the last statement in scope, with zero unexplained reconciliation difference; remaining timing items and unresolved exceptions documented, and the summary delivered.
What it costs
What catch-up bookkeeping costs
What a catch-up costs is set by how many months are missing, how many accounts are involved, and transaction volume — quoted as one fixed fee after a free review, with the ranges below as published starting floors until then.
| Engagement | Starting price | Planned timeline | What's included |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard catch-up | From $1,500 | Set in your written scope | Up to 12 missing months, all accounts entered and reconciled. |
| Extended catch-up | Custom fixed quote | Set in your written scope | 12–24 months, multi-entity, or high transaction volume. |
| Catch-up + monthly | From $400/mo | Ongoing | Catch up, then we keep the books current every month. |
What moves the price
- How many months are missing — and whether a year before the gap also needs some cleanup.
- How many bank, card and loan accounts have to be entered and reconciled.
- Transaction volume: a busy file six months behind can outweigh a quiet one a year behind.
- Whether more than one entity is involved, since each is caught up on its own.
There are no hourly surprises. After the free review we quote one fixed fee for the whole catch-up, and it doesn't move unless the scope does.
Edge cases
Catch-up edge cases: years behind, multiple entities, cash vs. accrual, a looming deadline
Catch-up bookkeeping's hard cases are routine for us: files several years behind, multiple entities to keep separate, cash-versus-accrual questions, a tax deadline already in the past, and months where the records themselves are incomplete.
Several years behind is a scope question, not a feasibility one. We work the oldest year first and carry its ending balances forward — so a three-year catch-up is three catch-ups in sequence, each reconciled before the next. The earliest year often pairs with some year-end cleanup, which we scope in up front. Wondering where the practical limit sits? We've answered how far back books can actually be caught up — your records, not the calendar, set the reach.
Multiple entities stay strictly separate. Each company file is caught up and reconciled on its own — we never commingle or net them. Where inter-company transfers exist, we record both sides, so each entity's books stand alone.
Cash versus accrual is settled before entry, not after. We match the basis your books and return already use, so the catch-up doesn't shift your reporting. Unsure which you're on? Our doc on cash vs. accrual accounting explains the difference in plain English, and we confirm your basis during the review.
A looming or already-passed tax deadline changes the order of work, not whether it's possible. Tell us the date and we reconcile the filing year first, hand your preparer numbers they can rely on, and finish the rest after.
Missing records get worked, not waved away. Statements reconcile most activity even when receipts are gone; where a figure genuinely can't be sourced, we set a documented opening balance or flag the item — so the gap is visible and defensible, not papered over.
How each caught-up month is documented
Who’s responsible for your file
A Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor handles your file from the review through the corrections to the hand-back — the same person throughout, never a rotating pool.
About QBSpecialist
Illustrative example — not a client file.See a sample month-end package
The format of the reconciliation report and statement pack you receive for each month closed.
Our methodology
Every account tied to the statement. Read exactly how.
Read the full methodResponse commitment
A written reply within one business day.
Questions about catch-up bookkeeping
Is catch-up bookkeeping the same as cleanup?
No. Catch-up enters periods your books never recorded; cleanup corrects periods that were recorded wrong. Many files need some of both, which we scope up front after a free review so nothing is double-counted.
How far back can catch-up bookkeeping go?
A few months or several years — how far behind is a scope question, not a feasibility one. Multi-year gaps run oldest year first, each year reconciled before the next. You get the scope and a fixed fee before any work starts.
How long does catch-up bookkeeping take?
How long a catch-up takes depends on the missing months, transaction volume, the number of accounts and how quickly statements arrive. The catch-up calculator gives a planning estimate; your written scope sets the finish date. A one-account file a year behind can close faster than a busy three-account file six months behind — volume drives the timeline, not the calendar.
How much does catch-up bookkeeping cost?
Standard catch-ups start from $1,500, quoted as one fixed fee after a free review. The price is set by how many months are missing, how many accounts are involved, and transaction volume — and it doesn't move unless the scope does. No hourly billing.
Will my prior year be ready for taxes?
That's the point. Every missing month is reconciled, so the year closes to numbers your preparer can rely on. If a return is already late, tell us the deadline — we reconcile the filing year first and finish the rest after.
Do you work in QuickBooks Online and Desktop?
Both. The free review runs on view-only access; the catch-up itself uses QuickBooks Online's accountant access, or Desktop by screen-share or a hosted copy of the file — fully remote either way.
What do you need from me to start?
View-only access to QuickBooks and the bank and card statements for the missing months. Granting access takes a few minutes, and we change nothing until you approve the scope and fee. The statements matter for older months: a bank connection only downloads a limited window of recent activity — Intuit's help says transactions older than 90 days can't be downloaded when you reconnect an account — so months beyond the feed are entered from the statement PDFs.
Do you need my online-banking login or passwords?
No. The free review runs on view-only access; if you hire us, the catch-up uses QuickBooks' accountant access to make and log every entry — never your online-banking logins or passwords. We work from the statements you provide, and the access you grant is revocable the moment the work is done.
What if some statements or receipts are missing?
Statements reconcile most activity even when receipts are gone. Where a figure genuinely can't be sourced, we document the assumption in writing and flag the item — the gap stays visible, not papered over.
Do you catch up on a cash or accrual basis?
Either. We match the basis your books and tax return already use, confirmed during the free review, so the catch-up doesn't shift your reporting.
Can I do catch-up bookkeeping myself?
If you're a month or two behind and your accounts still reconcile, yes — our free cleanup checklist and how-to guide close most gaps that size in an afternoon. Past that, volume decides it, and the free review will tell you honestly which side you're on — including when you don't need us.
Do you lock the months once they're caught up?
Yes. When the last month ties, we set QuickBooks' closing date so the caught-up months can't change by accident. In QuickBooks Online that is Settings, Account and settings, Advanced, then Close the books in the Accounting section: a closing date, plus a warning or a password for any change on or before it (Intuit, checked October 2026). Desktop has its own closing date and password.
What happens after you catch me up?
You get current books and a written summary of every month closed. From there you can keep them yourself, or we can run a monthly close so they never fall behind again. There's no obligation to continue.
- Chart of accounts cleanup— missing months post more cleanly into a chart of accounts that has been sorted first
Months behind?
Find out what it takes to get current.
A free, view-only review scopes the missing months and comes back with a fixed fee and a finish date — or tells you the gap is small enough to close yourself.