Sample workflow — not a specific client’s data
A real month-end package
The exact reconciliation report and statement pack you receive.
QuickBooks cleanup
Clean up QuickBooks once, correctly.
A QuickBooks cleanup reconciles every account to the statement, corrects miscategorized and duplicate transactions, and resolves the opening-balance and undeposited-funds messes that make reports wrong. You get books you can file — usually in two to four weeks, remote, at a fixed scope.
- Every account reconciled
- Fixed scope, fixed fee
- A senior specialist, not a pool
The work
What a QuickBooks cleanup is
A QuickBooks cleanup is the one-time work of fixing books that already exist but can't be trusted: reconciling every account to its statement, correcting miscategorized and duplicate transactions, and clearing the opening-balance and undeposited-funds errors that distort your reports.
It differs from two engagements people confuse it with: cleanup corrects entries already in the file, catch-up bookkeeping enters months never recorded, and a QuickBooks rescue repairs a broken file before bookkeeping can start. Many files need a mix, which the free review scopes. The end state is filable books — the balance sheet ties to statements, the P&L reads right, and nothing hides under equity or undeposited funds.
The cleanup pipeline
Every cleanup engagement
What a QuickBooks cleanup covers
Cleanup is the hub for every corrective engagement we run — below are the specific fixes it can include, each a fixed scope set after a free review.
Catch-up bookkeeping
Enter and reconcile missing months, back to current.
ExploreYear-end cleanup
Close the year to numbers you can file and defend.
ExploreBank reconciliation
Every bank and card account tied to the statement.
ExploreMonth-end close
A documented monthly close that doesn't re-open.
ExploreChart of accounts cleanup
Merge duplicates and fix account types, safely.
ExplorePayroll cleanup
Reconcile wage and tax liabilities to your returns.
ExploreOpening Balance Equity fix
Trace and clear a lingering OBE balance to zero.
ExploreA/R cleanup
Clear stale invoices and unapplied payments.
ExploreSales-tax cleanup
Tie the sales-tax liability to what you filed.
ExploreInventory cleanup
Correct quantities, cost, and the inventory asset.
ExploreNegative inventory fix
Re-sequence receipts and sales to correct COGS.
Explore1099 cleanup
Map vendors and reconcile totals before deadline.
ExploreAudit-ready books
A complete trail from statement to report.
ExploreJob costing setup
Report profit by job or project, set up right.
ExploreClass tracking setup
Split the P&L by location or department.
ExploreQuickBooks rescue
Repair a broken or corrupt company file first.
ExploreBehind on bookkeeping?
Find the fix when months have piled up.
ExploreStart here
Who needs a cleanup — and who doesn't
You need a cleanup when the books exist but the numbers are wrong — the bank balance won't match the statement, Opening Balance Equity still shows a figure, or undeposited funds keeps growing. If whole months are missing instead, that's catch-up.
Any one of these is enough to book a free review:
- The cash balance in QuickBooks doesn't match your latest bank statement.
- Opening Balance Equity still carries a balance instead of sitting at zero.
- Undeposited Funds has grown into deposits that never cleared.
- The P&L shows categories that make no sense, or expenses in the wrong accounts.
- A tax deadline looms and you no longer trust the file — the classic behind-on-bookkeeping corner.
You don't need one for everything — a file that already reconciles, a single tidy month, or a return that just needs filing. See when not to hire us below.
Start here
Your books need work. Which engagement is it?
BOOKS EXIST, BUT WRONG
Cleanup
Reconcile and correct the entries already there — the work on this page.
Start with a free review
MONTHS ARE MISSING
FILE IS BROKEN
Read this as text
- BOOKS EXIST, BUT WRONG: Cleanup — Reconcile and correct the entries already there — the work on this page.
- MONTHS ARE MISSING: Catch-up — Enter and reconcile the periods never recorded, back to current.
- FILE IS BROKEN: Rescue — Diagnose and repair the company file before any bookkeeping.
| Cleanup | Catch-up | Rescue | |
|---|---|---|---|
| The books exist, but the numbers are wrong | — | — | |
| Whole months were never recorded | — | — | |
| The company file won't open or is corrupt | — | — | |
| Core task | Reconcile & correct | Enter & reconcile missing months | Repair the file, then bookkeep |
| Typical timeline | 2–4 weeks | Scoped by months behind | Diagnose first |
| Start with | A free review | Catch-up bookkeeping | QuickBooks rescue |
Every cleanup ends the same way: each account reconciled to its statement, the corrections documented in a change log, and a walkthrough where you see exactly what moved and why.
Our method
How a cleanup works
Every cleanup follows the same method: a read-only review to scope the work, then reconcile every account to its statement, correct the categorization, and resolve the structural errors — before a final review and hand-back.
Reconciliation is the spine of the work: each account is tied to the statement, month by month, so cash is proven before anything is built on it — the full logic is in our bank reconciliation reference. Only then do we recategorize: fixing miscategorized transactions, removing duplicates, and emptying Undeposited Funds by matching deposits to the bank. Finally we trace Opening Balance Equity — where mis-set opening balances collect — back to zero.
How your access works. The engagement is remote and low-risk by design: read-only access to your QuickBooks file — never your banking logins — revocable at any time. Every change is recorded in a written change log, so nothing moves without a line explaining what and why.
Timeline
How long a cleanup takes
Most cleanups finish in two to four weeks — driven by the number of months in scope, the number of accounts to reconcile, and the state of your source statements. We commit to a date in the quote before you start.
-
Free review
Day 0
Read-only look at your file; we scope the work and quote a fixed fee.
-
Reconcile
Days 1–8
Every bank and card account tied back to the statement, month by month.
-
Recategorize
Days 9–14
Fix miscategorized, duplicated, and undeposited-funds transactions.
-
Hand back
Day 15
Clean books, a summary of every change, and a call to walk it through.
Where the time goes
Deliverables
What you get at the end
At hand-back you get three things: books reconciled to every statement, a written summary of every change we made and why, and a call to walk through it. If you continue with us, we keep them current monthly.
The change summary matters as much as the numbers — a documented trail your CPA can read. Cleanups don't stay clean on their own, so the natural next step is a documented month-end close or full monthly bookkeeping — a choice, not a requirement. The clean file is yours either way.
What it costs
What a QuickBooks cleanup costs
A cleanup is a fixed scope with a fixed fee, quoted after a free read-only review of your file. There's nothing hourly and nothing open-ended — the quote states exactly what's included, the timeline, and the price before you commit.
| Engagement | Typical range | Timeline | What's included |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard cleanup | From $1,500 | 2–4 weeks | Up to 12 months, all accounts reconciled, categorization corrected. |
| Extended cleanup | From $1,500 | 3–6 weeks | 12–24 months, multi-entity, or high transaction volume. |
| Cleanup + monthly | From $400/mo | Ongoing | Cleanup, then we keep the books current every month. |
| Get your exact quote | |||
Standard cleanup
- Typical range
- From $1,500
- Timeline
- 2–4 weeks
- Included
- Up to 12 months, all accounts reconciled, categorization corrected.
Extended cleanup
- Typical range
- From $1,500
- Timeline
- 3–6 weeks
- Included
- 12–24 months, multi-entity, or high transaction volume.
Cleanup + monthly
- Typical range
- From $400/mo
- Timeline
- Ongoing
- Included
- Cleanup, then we keep the books current every month.
The floors above are published starting points; your review sets the real number. Price follows scope: months, accounts, transaction volume, and complications like inventory or payroll. The cleanup cost calculator gives a rough range; the free review turns it into an exact, fixed quote.
Complications
Edge cases: multi-entity, multi-year, inventory, payroll
Some files carry complications a standard cleanup has to plan around: multiple entities, several years at once, foreign-currency accounts, inventory that's gone negative, or payroll that never tied to the tax returns. Each changes the scope, never the method.
- Multi-entity. Two or more companies, sometimes with transactions in the wrong file or intercompany transfers that never cleared — we reconcile each entity to its own statements.
- Multi-year. We reconcile forward one year at a time, proving each opening balance before the next — the same discipline as a year-end cleanup.
- Multi-currency. Foreign accounts bring exchange-rate gains and losses that must post correctly before base-currency balances reconcile.
- Inventory. Wrong quantities or drifted cost quietly warp COGS — see inventory cleanup and the negative inventory fix.
- Payroll. Wages and tax liabilities that don't agree with the returns you filed; payroll cleanup reconciles the two.
None of these change how we work — only the timeline and the quote. We flag every complication in the free review, before quoting.
Why us
How we're different
Three things set us apart: a senior specialist does your file start to finish — never a rotating pool; the scope and fee are fixed before we start; and every change is documented so you can see what moved and why.
How you can verify our work
Response commitment
A real specialist replies within one business day, in writing.
Remote-first, nationwide
Mon–Sat · 8am–6pm CT
We work entirely remote — secure read-only access to your file, screen-share whenever you want to watch, and every change documented in writing.
- Texas
- Florida
- California
- New York
The honest part
When NOT to hire us
Sometimes a cleanup isn't the right call. If you have one clean month to reconcile, a file that's already tied out, or you only need a tax return filed, hiring us would be overkill — here's the honest alternative in each case.
- A single, DIY-able month. If only the latest month drifted, you can likely fix it yourself — our how-to guide and cleanup checklist walk the steps, free.
- A file that already reconciles. If every account ties out and OBE sits at zero, you may not need a cleanup — the bookkeeping health score or a free review confirms it, and if it's clean we'll say so.
- You need taxes filed, not books fixed. We're bookkeeping specialists, not a tax firm. If the books are right and you just need a return, a CPA is the call — we hand over reconciled books, but we don't file.
We'd rather point you to a free tool than sell an engagement you don't need. An honest "you're fine" beats a wrong invoice.
Questions about QuickBooks cleanup
How long does a cleanup take?
Two to four weeks for most files. Months in scope, account count, and transaction volume set the length, and the quote commits to a date before work starts.
Is cleanup different from catch-up?
Yes. Cleanup corrects books that exist but are wrong — miscategorized, unreconciled, or duplicated. Catch-up enters periods that were never recorded. Many engagements need some of both, which we scope up front.
Do you work in QuickBooks Online and Desktop?
Both. We work in QuickBooks Online through secure read-only access, and in Desktop by screen-share or a hosted file — fully remote either way.
What do I get at the end?
Books that tie to every statement, a change log explaining what we corrected and why, and a walkthrough call. The clean file is yours whether or not you continue with monthly bookkeeping.
What does a cleanup cost?
From $1,500, as a fixed fee quoted after the free read-only review. Scope sets the price — months, accounts, transaction volume — and the number you approve is the number you pay.
Do you need access to my bank accounts?
No. We work from read-only access to your QuickBooks file and the bank and credit-card statements you provide. We never ask for banking logins, and every change we make is documented in writing.
Can you clean up more than one year at once?
Yes. We reconcile forward one year at a time, so each year's opening balance is proven before the next begins. More years means more scope, which the fixed quote reflects up front.
Do you file my taxes after the cleanup?
No. We are bookkeeping specialists, not a tax firm. We hand your CPA or tax preparer reconciled books and a summary of every change — if all you need is a return filed, a CPA is the right call, not us.
What if you find bigger problems partway through?
We tell you before doing the work, not after. If the file turns out to be broken or a period was never recorded, that's a rescue or a catch-up. We re-scope in writing and you decide — nothing outside the agreed scope is billed by surprise.