Additional On-Time Services
Choose bookkeeping software (QuickBooks Online, Xero, or Wave are common). Below are step-by-step setup instructions you can follow for any of them, plus decision points and examples. Pick the product you’ll use and follow the relevant steps.
Initial decisions (before you start)
Choose software based on business size and needs:
QuickBooks Online: best for growing small–medium businesses, strong payroll & app ecosystem.
Xero: good for accountants/bookkeepers, multi-currency and bank reconciliation.
Wave: free core features, suitable for sole proprietors and very small businesses.
Determine fiscal year start, accounting method (cash vs. accrual), and business structure (sole proprietorship, LLC, S-Corp) — these affect tax settings and payroll.
Gather documents: Employer Identification Number (EIN), bank account info, past year’s financials (P&L, balance sheet), payroll tax account numbers, vendor/customer lists, and recent statements.
Account Settings — essential configuration
Company profile
Company name, legal name, EIN/tax ID, business address, phone, email.
Fiscal year start and reporting currency.
Industry/north american industry classification (if requested).
Accounting preferences
Accounting method: select cash or accrual.
First month of fiscal year and closing period settings.
Default starting balances date (choose day before you begin entering opening balances).
Numbers and formats
Default invoice numbering, receipt and bill numbering formats.
Sales tax reporting frequency and default tax agency.
Default bank deposit and payment terms (net 30, net 15) and default invoice email templates.
Users, roles & access
Create admin account(s), accountant/bookkeeper access, payroll admin, and limited users.
Apply role-based permissions: who can view payroll, who can edit chart of accounts, who can invite new users.
Connected apps & integrations
Connect bank(s) and credit card accounts (enable daily import).
Connect payment processor (Stripe, PayPal) to record receipts.
Add receipt-scanning app (native or third-party) for expense capture.
Chart of Accounts — setup and best practices
Start with a clean template
Use the software’s standard template for your industry, then customize.
Core account types (examples and numbering)
Assets (1000–1999): Cash on hand, Checking (1010), Savings (1020), Accounts Receivable (1200), Inventory (1300), Prepaid Expenses (1400), Fixed Assets (1500).
Liabilities (2000–2999): Accounts Payable (2000), Credit Card (2100), Sales Tax Payable (2200), Payroll Liabilities (2300), Loans Payable (2400).
Equity (3000–3999): Owner’s Capital (3100), Retained Earnings (3200), Owner’s Draw (3300).
Income (4000–4999): Sales - Products (4100), Sales - Services (4200), Discounts & Returns (4250).
Cost of Goods Sold (5000–5999): COGS - Materials (5100), COGS - Labor (5200).
Expenses (6000–7999): Rent (6100), Payroll Expense (6200), Utilities (6300), Advertising (6400), Office Supplies (6500), Depreciation (6600), Bank Fees (6700).
Keep accounts specific but not too granular
Group small recurring items under a single expense account until you need more detail.
Numbering system
Use a consistent numbering system so accounts sort logically and are easy to expand.
Closing and retained earnings
Confirm how retained earnings are handled at setup. Set beginning balances to move into retained earnings if needed.
Opening balances and beginning-of-period tasks
Set a start date (often first day of your fiscal year or the date you begin using the software).
Enter opening balances:
Bank and credit card balances as of start date.
Accounts receivable and payable (open invoices and bills) if you want aging reports to be accurate.
Fixed assets with cost, accumulated depreciation, and acquisition dates.
Equity: opening retained earnings/owner’s equity balances.
If migrating from prior accounting, consider doing a trial balance import or reconciled closing balance import.
Everything you need to maintain clean, accurate books and gain insight into your financial position — without the overhead. Our business advisory services offer flexible pricing through tiered packages to suit your needs. Choose from flexible pricing options with tiered packages to suit your needs.
Three Bookkeeping Cleanup & Catch-up Tiers
Minimal (0–3 months)
Scope: Small, well-defined cleanup with clear requirements and limited stakeholders — suitable for tidy-ups like reconciling recent months, correcting class/location mispostings, cleaning a single account or vendor, or preparing immediate tax-period reports.
Examples: Reconcile last quarter’s bank and credit card transactions; fix payroll posting errors for a small number of pay periods; clean up a single customer or vendor subledger; apply missing invoices and payments for a brief period.
Deliverables: Reconciled accounts, corrected journal entries, brief explanatory notes, and a concise user-facing summary of changes and remaining recommendations.
Team & Roles: Small team (1–2 people) — bookkeeper/accounting specialist and an owner or PM for approvals; optional tax advisor or payroll specialist as needed.
Process: Rapid micro-sprints (weekly checkpoints), focused data intake, sample testing, and low-overhead reviews.
Risk & Dependencies: Low complexity; few external dependencies (bank feeds, a payroll provider). Contingency: 10–15% time buffer.
Budget & Costing: Fixed-price or small time-and-materials engagement. Cost drivers: labor and any required subscription access or data retrieval fees.
Success Metrics: Accounts reconciled for the target period, no material errors remaining, client acceptance, and readiness for immediate reporting or filing.
Moderate (3–12 months)
Scope: Mid-sized cleanup and catch-up spanning multiple months and possibly multiple systems or integrations — suitable for complex reconciliations, historical corrections across modules, restoring integrity after a migration, or preparing books for audit or financing.
Examples: Rebuilding and reconciling 6–12 months of transactions across banking, credit cards, and merchant processors; resolving revenue recognition issues across several products; correcting cost-of-goods and inventory postings; integrating accounting data with payroll and CRM systems.
Deliverables: Multiple phased reconciliations and releases (e.g., month-by-month or grouped), intermediate documentation (requirements, remediation plan, design of corrected mappings), testing suites or checklists, and deployment/go-live plans for corrected processes.
Team & Roles: Cross-functional team (4–8 people) — senior bookkeeper/accounting lead, controller or finance manager, systems/integration specialist, QA or data analyst, PM, and stakeholder representatives (operations, payroll, or sales).
Process: Agile with 2–4 week sprints, formal backlog grooming, sprint reviews and retrospectives, and structured stakeholder communications. Introduce change control for journal entry standards and mapping rules.
Risk & Dependencies: Moderate complexity with multiple external dependencies (bank/processor data, legacy system exports). Contingency: 15–25% time buffer.
Budget & Costing: Time-and-materials with milestone billing or a blended fixed-fee per phase. Cost drivers: depth of historical work, number of ledgers/systems, complexity of corrections, and integration effort.
Success Metrics: Cleaned and reconcilable books for the agreed periods, documented remediation steps, improvements in month-end close time, and stakeholder sign-off for audit-readiness or financing purposes.
Complex (1+ years)
Scope: Large, complex remediation covering one year or more, multiple entities, multi-currency, consolidated reporting, or recovery after poor migrations/fraud — suitable for restatements, audit remediation, multi-entity consolidations, or preparing for M&A or investment.
Examples: Full-year or multi-year restatements; consolidating multiple subsidiaries and intercompany eliminations; reconstructing books after data loss or fraudulent activity; migrating and remapping multiple legacy systems into a single general ledger with accurate historical balances.
Deliverables: Phased remediation roadmap, comprehensive documentation (requirements, mappings, control frameworks, journal-entry ledger of changes), testing and validation suites, reconciliation packs for each period and entity, governance and approval workflows, and training materials for the client’s finance team.
Team & Roles: Larger, multi-disciplinary team (8+ people) — senior accounting leads (controller/CFO advisory), forensic or audit specialists as needed, systems/integration architects, data engineers, payroll/tax specialists, project manager, QA and change management lead, and executive stakeholder sponsors.
Process: Formal program management with phased releases, rigorous change control, formal testing (UAT, regression), stakeholder steering committee, weekly status and escalation procedures, and formal sign-offs at milestones.
Risk & Dependencies: High complexity with many external dependencies (third-party processors, legacy vendors, tax authorities). Contingency: 25–40% time buffer and explicit risk mitigation plans.
Budget & Costing: Typically time-and-materials with project governance rates, or large fixed-fee engagements with staged payments. Cost drivers: duration, data recovery/migration