Skip to main content

AB The Tax Expert

Catch-up bookkeeping

Catch-up bookkeeping services for books that fell behind.

Months or years behind? We bring everything current — recorded, reconciled and ready for tax filing — with the scope and a one-time price agreed before any work begins. We work with businesses in Los Angeles and across the country — statements and questions move online, so location never slows the cleanup.

What it is

Catch-up bookkeeping, explained.

A one-time rebuild

Catch-up bookkeeping records, categorizes and reconciles every transaction for the months or years that were never done, so the books match the bank and can be relied on. What it costs and how long it takes →

Cleanup where needed

If books exist but can’t be trusted — duplicates, uncategorized entries, balances that don’t match the statement — we clean them up rather than start over. Cleanup vs catch-up, explained →

QuickBooks, Xero or spreadsheets

We work in the software you already use, including QuickBooks Online cleanup, or set up a clean file if you have nothing yet.

Reconciled to the statement

Every account is tied out month by month, so the numbers hold up if the IRS or the Franchise Tax Board asks.

Financials you can file from

A profit & loss and balance sheet for each period, ready for your business tax return.

A clean handoff

Once current, the books move into monthly bookkeeping or back to you — your choice.

Who it’s for

Who needs catch-up bookkeeping.

Unfiled or late tax returns

An accurate business tax return needs books for the year. Catch-up comes first; the return follows. Unfiled returns help →

Books that stopped mid-year

A bookkeeper left, the software subscription lapsed, or the year simply got away from you.

An IRS or FTB notice

A notice about a missing return or mismatched income needs numbers you can stand behind. We handle the books and the IRS response together.

Switching bookkeepers or software

Moving to a new bookkeeper, or from spreadsheets to QuickBooks, is the moment to get the history right.

A loan, investor or sale

Lenders and buyers ask for clean financials for prior years, not estimates.

The cost of waiting

What happens when books stay behind.

Penalties and interest stack up

Late-filing and late-payment penalties, plus interest, grow every month a return stays unfiled.

Deductions get lost

Without records, expenses are missed or can’t be supported, and the return overstates what you owe.

Decisions run on guesswork

Cash, margins and estimated taxes are unknown, so problems surface late.

It gets harder to reconstruct

Statement access, receipts and memory all fade. Each extra year adds work.

Notices arrive anyway

The IRS and the FTB match income reported to them; silence doesn’t stop a notice.

Financing stalls

Banks and investors won’t move on numbers that aren’t there.

How it works

The cleanup process.

1. Scope

We look at how far behind the books are, how many accounts are involved and what the books will be used for, then agree the scope and a one-time price.

2. Gather

You send bank and card statements and the other items on our list. We confirm when everything has arrived.

3. Rebuild and categorize

Every transaction is recorded and categorized. Open questions are collected and asked in batches, not one at a time.

4. Reconcile

Each account is reconciled to its statements, period by period, until the books match the bank.

5. Review

You get the financials and a walkthrough of what we found, so nothing in the return is a surprise.

6. Hand off

The books go to the team preparing your return, then into a monthly plan or back to you.

What we’ll need

Documents for catch-up bookkeeping.

Bank and credit card statements

Every account the business uses, for every month in the catch-up period.

Loan, merchant and payroll reports

Loan schedules, payment processor reports (Stripe, Square, PayPal) and payroll summaries.

Sales and expense records

Invoices, receipts for larger purchases, and any spreadsheets or software files you already keep.

Prior returns and existing books

The last return filed, plus access to your current QuickBooks, Xero or spreadsheet file if there is one.

Entity and ownership details

How the business is taxed and who the owners are, which shapes how the books are set up.

Pricing and timeline

What affects the price, and how long it takes.

Priced as a one-time project

Catch-up bookkeeping is scoped individually and quoted before work begins. There is no fixed list price because no two backlogs are alike. See how it sits alongside monthly plans on the pricing page.

What moves the price

How many months or years are behind, how many accounts and transactions are involved, whether existing books need cleanup, and what condition the records are in.

Timeline

Most engagements take a few weeks once documents are in, but it depends on the length of the period and how quickly statements arrive. You get a realistic estimate at scoping and updates as we go. We don’t guarantee a turnaround.

Staying current afterwards

Once caught up, monthly bookkeeping starts at $399/month so the backlog never comes back.

After the cleanup

From caught up to tax ready.

Business tax returns

Clean books feed straight into Schedule C, partnership, S corporation or C corporation returns prepared by the same team. Business tax preparation →

Unfiled years and notices

If unfiled years or an IRS letter started this, we handle the bookkeeping and the response together. IRS resolution →

Stay current

Move into a monthly plan so the books never fall behind again. Monthly bookkeeping →

Or take the books back

You get a clean, reconciled file you can keep in-house.

Common questions

How far back can you go?

As far back as you have statements. Most catch-up work covers one to three years; longer periods are scoped the same way, just with more months.

Do I have to use QuickBooks?

No. We work with QuickBooks Online, Xero and spreadsheet-based books, and we can set up a clean QuickBooks file if you don’t have one.

Can you file my taxes once the books are done?

Yes. Catch-up bookkeeping is usually the first step before a business return, and the same team prepares the return once the books are current.

What if some statements are missing?

Most banks provide several years of statements online or on request. We’ll tell you exactly which months are missing and how to get them.

Is catch-up bookkeeping included in a monthly plan?

No. It’s a separate one-time project. Once your books are current, a monthly plan keeps them that way.

Behind on your books? Start here.

Answer a few questions and we’ll scope the catch-up work and give you a clear price.

Get Started