For accountants
Overflow bookkeeping for CPA firms
For the client whose books are too far gone to be worth your staff's hours. I do not prepare returns, do not do tax planning and do not want your client. I hand back books that reconcile.
The problem this solves
Every firm has them. The client whose records arrive in a state that makes the return three times the job it should be. The one whose QuickBooks file has been quietly wrong for two years. The one you would rather not lose, but who is not worth what it costs to serve properly at your rates.
Doing that work in-house means staff hours at professional rates on something that is not professional work. Writing it off means eating the difference. Sending the client away means losing a return you would otherwise keep.
What I am
A bookkeeper in East Providence and a QuickBooks Certified ProAdvisor. Monthly books, catch-up work and cleanups, for small businesses across Rhode Island. That is the whole business.
I do not prepare or file tax returns. No 1040s, no 1120s, no 1065s, no 1099s, no representation, no tax planning. I hand back books that reconcile, so the return is all that is left to do.
That boundary is the point. A bookkeeper who also files returns is a competitor you are handing a client to. I am not one, and I cannot quietly become one, because I would have to be a different business.
What you get back
- Every bank, card and loan account reconciled, with the reconciliation reports to show it
- A chart of accounts that matches what the business actually does, not a template
- Balance sheet accounts that tie out, including the ones that usually do not: Undeposited Funds, Opening Balance Equity, accounts receivable and payable
- Loans split correctly between principal and interest
- Owner draws and contributions separated from business activity
- A written list of anything I found but could not resolve without a decision from you or the client
- 1099 vendor list and totals, current and ready for you to file
The last item on that list matters more than it looks. Most cleanups end with three or four judgement calls that are genuinely yours to make, not mine. You get those flagged in writing rather than guessed at.
How it usually works
- You send the client to me, or send me the file. Either way round works
- I look before I quote. A read-only review of the file first, so the number is based on what is actually there
- Flat fee, agreed up front. Cleanups are quoted as a project; ongoing work is a flat monthly fee. Never hourly
- You hear from me if the scope changes. Before the work, not after
- Ongoing, or one-off. Some clients need the mess fixed once. Others need somebody keeping it clean so this does not recur
What I will not do
Beyond returns: I do not run payroll, and I will not make a call on whether someone is an employee or a subcontractor. That is a legal question and it stays with you or with the client's attorney. My job is making sure the records support whatever answer you reach.
I also will not back-date anything or make a set of books say something the underlying records do not support. If that is what a situation needs, I am the wrong person and I will say so early.
The first one
I would rather you judged this on work than on a website. Send me the one you least want to do yourself and I will take it at a reduced rate, so the only thing you are risking is the introduction.
Common questions
Will you try to take my client?
No, and the structure of what I do is the reason you can rely on that. I do not prepare returns, I do not do tax planning and I do not do representation. There is no version of this where I grow into your work, because I would have to become a different business to do it.
Do you sign the return or file anything?
No. I do not file returns and I do not file 1099s. For 1099s I keep the vendor records current through the year and hand you the list and the totals, ready to file.
What does the client think is happening?
Whatever you want them to think. Some firms introduce me directly, some prefer the work simply gets done. I have no interest in being visible if you would rather I were not.
What if the books are worse than they looked?
You hear that from me before I do the work, not in an invoice afterwards. If the scope changes materially, the number gets re-quoted first.
Do you carry insurance?
Ask me directly and I will give you the current position in writing.
Where to next
Send me the one you least want to do.
Reduced rate on the first file so you can judge the work rather than the pitch. Tell me roughly what state it is in.
Book a call