Behind on Your Bookkeeping? Please Don't Wait Until Tax Time!

The longer your books sit, the harder it feels to deal with them. But being behind doesn't mean you're doomed, and you don't have to clean everything up before asking for help.

I talk to a lot of business owners who start the conversation with some version of:

"I'm embarrassed to tell you how far behind I am."

Maybe it's been three months.

Maybe it's been a year.

Maybe QuickBooks hasn't been opened in so long that you're hoping it somehow fixed itself while you weren't looking. 😂

Here's what I want you to know.

I've seen messy books.

You aren't going to shock me, and I'm not interested in judging how you got there.

I'm interested in figuring out where things stand today and what we need to do next.

How Do Business Owners Get So Far Behind?

Usually, it isn't because they don't care.

You're running a business.

Customers need you. Employees need to be paid. Jobs need to get finished. Estimates need to go out. Phones are ringing. Equipment breaks. Someone needs a W-9. There's always something more urgent.

Bookkeeping is very easy to put off because nothing necessarily happens the first week you ignore it.

Or the second.

Then a couple of months go by and suddenly catching up feels like a huge project.

So you avoid it a little longer.

That's when the snowball starts.

Waiting Usually Doesn't Make It Easier

When bookkeeping falls behind, you aren't just missing a few categorized transactions.

Bank and credit card accounts may not be reconciled.

Receipts get harder to find.

You may forget what certain purchases were for.

Customer payments can be recorded incorrectly.

Duplicate transactions can pile up.

Personal and business expenses may get mixed together.

Payroll or contractor payments may not be recorded properly.

And eventually your financial reports may stop telling you anything useful about your business.

Then tax time arrives and somebody needs accurate numbers.

Now we're trying to solve twelve months of questions all at once.

That's why I would much rather have you call me in August and say, "Jes, I'm behind," than wait until your tax preparer needs everything tomorrow.

Please Don't Start Deleting Things in QuickBooks

This deserves its own section. 😂

When business owners realize they're behind, sometimes the first instinct is to start clicking around QuickBooks trying to make everything look better before calling me.

Please don't.

If you're not sure why something is there, leave it there.

Deleting transactions, changing reconciled transactions, merging accounts, creating journal entries, or trying to force balances to match can turn a bookkeeping cleanup into a bookkeeping archaeological dig.

Let me look first.

I can usually learn quite a bit from seeing how the books got where they are.

The First Thing I Do Is Figure Out What We're Working With

Cleanup work isn't one-size-fits-all.

Being six months behind with one checking account is very different from being six months behind with three bank accounts, five credit cards, payroll, loans, equipment purchases, employees and dozens of active jobs.

That's why I don't automatically quote cleanup work based only on how many months you're behind.

We'll talk about your business first.

If you use QuickBooks Online, I'll usually have you invite me through Accountant Access so I can take a look.

I'll see what's been reconciled, what hasn't, what accounts we're dealing with and whether there are other issues that need attention.

Then I can give you a much better idea of what it's going to take to get things cleaned up.

Sometimes It's Better Than You Think

This happens more often than you'd expect.

A business owner tells me:

"My books are a disaster."

I open QuickBooks expecting the worst and think:

Okay. We can work with this.

Maybe the bank feed has been bringing everything in correctly and we mostly need to reconcile and clean up some categories.

Maybe only one account is causing the problem.

Maybe you're not nearly as far behind as you thought.

That's why I want to see the books before we panic.

And Sometimes We Find More

The opposite can happen too.

I may start looking and discover an issue neither of us knew about.

That's why my project estimates are soft estimates.

Sometimes you simply cannot see everything until you start digging.

If I find something that changes the amount of work involved, I'm going to stop and talk to you about it.

I'll explain what I found, why it matters, and what I recommend we do.

I don't believe in quietly doing a bunch of extra work and surprising you with a giant bill afterward.

Cleanup Isn't Just About Making QuickBooks Look Pretty

The goal isn't to make all the little warning signs disappear.

We want your books to reflect what actually happened in your business.

That means getting accounts reconciled, fixing obvious errors, properly recording transactions, cleaning up old items when appropriate, and getting your financial reports to a place where they actually mean something again.

And ultimately, we want your books ready when your tax professional needs them.

Clean books give everybody better information to work with.

Including you.

What If There Are Tax or Payroll Problems Too?

Tell me.

If you know there are past-due tax returns, payroll problems, sales tax issues, notices, 1099 problems, workers' comp issues or something else hanging over your head, I want to know about it from the beginning.

That doesn't necessarily mean I can personally handle every part of it.

I'm a bookkeeper. I'm not going to pretend to be your CPA, tax preparer or attorney.

But I can help identify what information we have, organize the bookkeeping side and let you know when we need to involve another professional.

Ignoring the problem because you don't know who handles it isn't going to make it disappear.

Ask me. We'll figure out where it needs to go.

Getting Caught Up Is Only Half the Goal

Once we've cleaned everything up, I don't want to see you right back in the same position next year.

Maybe ongoing monthly bookkeeping makes sense.

Maybe you only need periodic check-ins.

Maybe you can handle most of the bookkeeping yourself once everything is organized.

We'll figure out what actually fits your business.

The goal isn't to make you dependent on me.

The goal is to keep your bookkeeping from becoming an emergency again.

So, How Far Behind Is Too Far Behind?

There isn't a magic number.

Three months?

Call me.

Six months?

Call me.

Two years?

Yep. Still call me.

The longer you wait, the more work there may be to sort through, but waiting another month because you're embarrassed certainly isn't going to make the books more current.

You don't need to clean them up before you contact me.

That's literally why you're contacting me.

Ready to Get This Off Your List?

If you've been telling yourself "I really need to deal with my books" every time you look at your computer, consider this your sign.

We'll start with a conversation.

Tell me what's going on, how far behind you think you are and what you're using now.

If you have QuickBooks Online, I'll take a look.

Then we'll figure out what needs to be done and what makes sense for your business.

No judgment. No pretending the problem isn't there. Let's just get it handled.

Behind on your books? Don't stress. Call Jes.

Bookkeeping by Jes
Small Businesses • Contractors • Trades

Call or Text: (916) 730-7054
Book a FREE Call: CallJes.com/Get-Started

Bookkeeping by Jes provides bookkeeping and business support services. Tax, legal and other professional matters may require assistance from your CPA, tax professional, attorney or other qualified professional.