Cleanup and catch-up
Bookkeeping Cleanup in Dallas: Catch-Up and QuickBooks Cleanup Services
Months behind, or left with a mess by a previous bookkeeper? Get back to accurate, tax-ready books on a fixed fee.
Short answer: LUCI Financial Solutions provides bookkeeping cleanup in Dallas and rebuilds books for Dallas-Fort Worth businesses that are months or even a year behind, or whose QuickBooks file was left in poor shape. The team reconciles past bank and credit card statements, corrects categorization, and delivers tax-ready financials for your preparer. Cleanup is quoted as a one-time fixed fee based on scope, and most clients continue with monthly bookkeeping afterward so the books stay current.
Signs your books need a cleanup, not just a catch-up
Catch-up means the records are fine but stopped. Cleanup means what exists cannot be trusted. Many Dallas businesses need both. You likely need cleanup if any of these sound familiar:
- QuickBooks balances do not match your bank or credit card statements
- Accounts have not been reconciled in months, or were marked reconciled when they did not balance
- Your previous bookkeeper left, and nobody can explain entries they made
- Your tax preparer sent the books back with questions or adjustments
- Owner personal expenses and business expenses are mixed together
- You have a loan, sale or investor conversation coming up and cannot produce reliable statements
Catch-up versus cleanup at a glance
| Catch-up bookkeeping | Cleanup bookkeeping | |
|---|---|---|
| The situation | Records stopped being entered for a period | Records exist but contain errors |
| Main work | Entering and categorizing the missing months, then reconciling | Finding and correcting errors, re-reconciling, fixing structure |
| Typical cause | A busy season, a departed employee, an owner who ran out of time | Auto-accepted bank feeds, inexperienced help, a bookkeeper who kept making mistakes |
| End result | Current, reconciled books | Accurate, reconciled books you can rely on |
What a bookkeeping cleanup in Dallas covers
Past reconciliations
Each bank, credit card and loan account is reconciled month by month against statements for the period in scope.
Categorization fixes
Uncategorized items and miscoded expenses are researched and moved to the right accounts.
Receivables and payables
Open invoices and unpaid bills are cleared or corrected so the Balance Sheet is accurate.
Chart of accounts
Duplicate or confusing accounts are consolidated so future reports are readable.
Opening balances
Balances are tied out so the next year starts from numbers your tax preparer can accept.
A clean handoff
You receive corrected, reviewed financial statements for the period in scope.
How the cleanup process runs
- Diagnose. A discovery call, and often the $597 Financial Review & Assessment, shows how far back the problems go and how deep they run.
- Fixed-fee proposal. You receive a separate cleanup proposal with a set price for the defined scope, before any monthly service.
- Collect statements. You provide bank, credit card and loan statements and QuickBooks access through encrypted file sharing.
- Rebuild and reconcile. The team works through each month, reconciling and correcting as it goes.
- Senior review. A senior accountant reviews the corrected financials before they are delivered.
- Move to monthly. If you choose, monthly bookkeeping starts from the clean balances so the problem does not come back.
Getting tax-ready before a filing deadline
The most common reason Dallas owners call is a filing deadline getting close with books that are not ready. Cleanup produces a year-end financial package your tax preparer can work from, instead of a stack of statements they have to sort through at their hourly rate. The IRS notes that good records help you prepare your financial statements and support items reported on your tax returns, which is exactly what a cleanup restores.
Timing depends on how many months are involved and how quickly statements can be gathered, so start as early as you can. The year-end preparation checklist for small businesses lists what to pull together.
After the cleanup: better reporting going forward
Fixing the past is only worth it if the books stay fixed. Clients who continue with LUCI move onto monthly service where a bookkeeper keeps the file current and a senior accountant reviews each month before you receive your Executive Summary, Profit & Loss, Balance Sheet and Statement of Cash Flows. If you are replacing someone who kept making errors, this is where the team review makes the difference. Read more about signs you have outgrown your bookkeeper.
Frequently asked questions
Can a Dallas bookkeeper catch up a full year of books before tax season?
Yes, if you start early enough. LUCI Financial Solutions scopes catch-up work as a fixed-fee project, reconciles each month in the period, and delivers a year-end package for your tax preparer. The timeline depends on volume and how quickly statements are gathered.
How much does bookkeeping cleanup cost in Dallas?
LUCI prices cleanup as a one-time fixed fee based on how many months and accounts are involved and how much correction is needed. You see the full price in a written proposal before work begins, so there is no open-ended hourly bill.
My previous bookkeeper left the books a mess. Can you take over?
Yes. The team reviews what was done, corrects errors and brings unreconciled accounts back into balance. After that, monthly bookkeeping with senior review keeps the file accurate.
Do you offer one-time QuickBooks cleanup without ongoing service?
Cleanup is quoted as its own project, separate from monthly service. Most clients continue with monthly bookkeeping afterward so the file stays clean, and the proposal will spell out the scope either way.
What do I need to provide for a cleanup project?
Bank, credit card and loan statements for the months in scope, access to QuickBooks, and answers to questions about unclear transactions. Files are shared through encrypted file sharing.
Can you do tax preparation after the cleanup?
Tax preparation is available as an add-on for ongoing LUCI clients, prepared by the firm’s CPA tax strategist. LUCI does not prepare returns for businesses that are not ongoing bookkeeping clients.
Find out how far behind you really are
Schedule a consultation for a fixed-fee cleanup proposal. If you want a diagnosis first, the $597 Financial Review looks at your QuickBooks file for 60 minutes and gives you a prioritized action plan.
214-233-5454 · [email protected]