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QuickBooks second opinion

QuickBooks Second Opinion

Numbers feel off? Get an independent read.

A QuickBooks second opinion is an independent review of books you suspect are wrong — when the numbers feel off, or you're not sure your bookkeeper has them right. We read the file cold and tell you what's solid and what isn't. Start with the free health score; if it's clean, you may not need us.

Last reviewed July 2026

  • Free, view-only review first
  • Findings in plain English
  • One firm — never a rotating pool

Which do you need?

Start with whether you need one

Start here

Do you actually need one?

RECON TIED, REPORTS LOOK RIGHT

You may not need us

If your last three reconciliations tied and the statements agree, run the health score to confirm — a do-it-yourself check.

Run the health score
SOMETHING FEELS OFF

Independent review

A cold read of the file tells you what's solid and what needs work, with no obligation.

Get your free review
BOOKS MAY BE WRONG FOR MONTHS

Review, then cleanup

If the review confirms real errors, cleanup corrects them and gets the file back to reliable.

See QuickBooks cleanup
Read this as text
  • RECON TIED, REPORTS LOOK RIGHT: You may not need us — If your last three reconciliations tied and the statements agree, run the health score to confirm — a do-it-yourself check.
  • SOMETHING FEELS OFF: Independent review — A cold read of the file tells you what's solid and what needs work, with no obligation.
  • BOOKS MAY BE WRONG FOR MONTHS: Review, then cleanup — If the review confirms real errors, cleanup corrects them and gets the file back to reliable.

Honest answer

Who this affects

Plenty of people who ask for an independent review don't need one, and we'll tell you so. If your bank and credit-card accounts reconcile every month, your balance sheet balances, and your profit-and-loss matches what you know about the business, your books are probably fine — a nagging feeling isn't the same as an error. In that case the honest answer is to run a quick self-check and get on with your day.

An independent review earns its keep when something concrete is off: reports that don't match your bank, a balance sheet that won't balance, numbers that jumped without explanation, or a handover from a bookkeeper you're no longer sure about. It's also worth it before a big decision — a loan application, a sale, a tax filing you'll sign — where being wrong is expensive. The point of an independent read is to replace the feeling with a fact, either way.

Do-it-yourself

Check it yourself first

Before you pay anyone, you can get most of the way to an answer yourself, and we'd rather you did. Start with our free bookkeeping health score — it walks through the checks that matter and flags the ones your file fails. Then look at three things: does each bank and credit-card account reconcile to the latest statement with a zero difference, does the balance sheet actually balance, and does Undeposited Funds or Opening Balance Equity carry a balance it shouldn't.

The three checks

The three self-checks that tell you whether an independent review is worth paying for Three checks run in a row: each bank and credit-card account reconciles to the latest statement with a zero difference; the balance sheet actually balances; and suspense accounts such as Undeposited Funds and Opening Balance Equity hold no balance they shouldn't. If all three pass, you probably don't need an independent review. If any one fails, that failure is the concrete fact that makes one worth it. A decision aid, not a guarantee about any particular file. RUN ALL THREE — TEN MINUTES, NO SPECIALIST NEEDED 1 · Reconciliations every account ties, difference $0.00 2 · Balance sheet assets equal liabilities plus equity 3 · Suspense accounts Undeposited Funds, OBE holding nothing odd All pass — you likely don't need us Any fail — worth an independent read
The self-test behind a QuickBooks second opinion: if reconciliations tie, the balance sheet balances, and the suspense accounts are clean, passing is your answer — and any single failure is the concrete fact that makes an independent review worth paying for. A decision aid, not a guarantee.

If all three come back clean, you likely don't need an independent review — this is a do-it-yourself check, and passing it is the answer. If they don't — a reconciliation won't tie, the balance sheet is off, or a suspense account is holding money — that's your fact, and it's worth an independent read. Either way you'll know more than you did, and you won't be paying to confirm a hunch.

How we document the work

Sample diagnostic summary — an illustrative document format with generic findings for Sample Company LLC. Watermarked example, not a real client document. Sample workflow — not a specific client’s data

A real findings report

The plain-English read you receive — what's reliable in your file, what isn't, and what it would take to fix.

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 review itself, QuickBooks' accountant access only if you hire us to fix what it finds, screen-share whenever you want to watch, and every finding documented in writing.

  • Texas
  • Florida
  • California
  • New York

Questions about a second opinion

Will you criticize my current bookkeeper?

No. The review is about the file, not the person. We tell you what's reliable and what needs work in plain terms, with the evidence behind each finding. If the books are in good shape, we say that too — the goal is an honest read, not a sales pitch.

How is a second opinion different from a cleanup?

A second opinion diagnoses; a cleanup fixes. The review tells you what's wrong and what it would take to correct — no obligation. If you decide to fix it, cleanup is the separate engagement that does the work, scoped from what the review found.

What will you actually look at?

The checks that reveal whether books can be trusted: bank and credit-card reconciliations, whether the balance sheet balances, suspense accounts like Undeposited Funds and Opening Balance Equity, and whether the reports agree with the statements. It's a read of the file, not a full audit.

What does a second opinion cost?

The initial read is our free QuickBooks review — we look at the file, view-only, and tell you what it needs. If a deeper independent review or a cleanup is warranted, we scope and quote that up front, so you decide with the findings in hand.

Do I have to switch bookkeepers if the review finds problems?

No. The findings are yours, not a hook. Many owners hand the list to their current bookkeeper to fix, and that's a fine outcome — the review's job is to tell you the truth about the file. If you'd rather have the errors corrected independently, cleanup is a separate engagement, never a condition.

How do I know if I even need one?

Run the free bookkeeping health score first. If your reconciliations tie, the balance sheet balances, and nothing looks off, you probably don't need one. If something fails, that's your signal that an independent review is worth it.