Sample workflow — not a specific client’s data
See a sample month-end package
The reconciliation summary and statement pack format every engagement hands back.
QuickBooks cleanup
QuickBooks Cleanup Services
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, for a fixed fee quoted before work starts.
- Every account reconciled
- Fixed scope, fixed fee
- One firm — never a rotating 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. And if you're wondering whether your file is even worth saving, the honest answer is that almost every QuickBooks file can be fixed without starting over.
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 most often includes.
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.
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.
ExploreA/P cleanup
Clear bills that were paid outside QuickBooks and never closed.
ExploreUncategorized expense cleanup
Empty the Ask My Accountant pile into real accounts.
ExploreTrust account cleanup
Bring bank, book and client ledgers back into agreement.
ExploreMulti-currency cleanup
Separate realized from unrealized and rebuild revaluation.
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.
ExploreRelated setup & problems that often ride along with a cleanup: 1099 cleanup, job costing setup, class tracking setup, and audit-ready books when the file has to stand up to outside review.
Start 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 |
Our method
How a cleanup works
Every cleanup follows the same method: a view-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 duplicate transactions, 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 free review runs on view-only access; if you hire us, the cleanup uses QuickBooks' accountant access to make and log every correction — never your bank logins. Access is yours to revoke at any time, and 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.
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Free review
Day 0
View-only look at your file; we scope the work and quote a fixed fee.
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Reconcile
Days 1–8
Every bank and card account tied back to the statement, month by month.
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Recategorize
Days 9–14
Fix miscategorized, duplicated, and undeposited-funds transactions.
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Hand back
Day 15
Clean books, a summary of every change, and a call to walk it through.
Where the time goes
If your mess is lighter or heavier than the two-to-four-week norm, we've written up how fast QuickBooks can be cleaned up at each scope, from a few drifted months to years of backlog.
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. If you want to see the hand-back before committing, what results look like walks through each deliverable.
What it costs
What a QuickBooks cleanup costs
A cleanup is a fixed scope with a fixed fee, quoted after a free view-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 | Custom fixed quote | 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
- Custom fixed quote
- 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 — each driver is broken down on our cleanup cost page. 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: the same hands stay on your file start to finish — one firm, 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. The same three commitments hold across everything we do in QuickBooks, not just cleanup.
How we document the work
Sample workflow — not a specific client’s data
Response commitment
A written reply within one business day.
Remote-first, nationwide
Mon–Sat · 8am–6pm CT
We work entirely remote — view-only access for the free review, QuickBooks' accountant access for the cleanup itself, 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
What's the difference between cleanup and catch-up bookkeeping?
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. The free review runs on view-only access; the cleanup itself uses QuickBooks Online's accountant access, or Desktop by screen-share or a hosted file — fully remote either way.
Do you need access to my bank accounts?
No. The free review runs on view-only access; if you hire us, the cleanup uses QuickBooks' accountant access to make and log every correction — never your bank logins. We work from the bank and credit-card statements you provide.
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.
Can I clean up QuickBooks myself?
Sometimes. If only the latest month drifted, our free how-to guide and cleanup checklist walk you through it step by step. Books that haven't reconciled for months — with Opening Balance Equity or Undeposited Funds errors underneath — are where a specialist earns the fee. The free review tells you honestly which case you're in.