What cleanup usually includes
- Bank and credit card reconciliations for every account, month by month, with unreconciled items listed
- Uncategorised and suspense transactions coded to the chart of accounts using your firm's rules, with unclear items queued as client questions
- Catch-up bookkeeping for months or quarters the client never recorded
- Loan and payroll clearing accounts reconciled to statements and payroll reports
- Owner draws, contributions and personal expenses flagged for your preparer to decide on, not reclassified on guesswork
- A trial balance and a cleanup memo listing adjustments made, open questions and items needing professional judgement
Your rules, not ours
Cleanup goes fastest when your firm writes down its conventions once: the chart of accounts structure you prefer, capitalisation thresholds, how to treat recurring ambiguous items, and what should always be left for a preparer. Support staff apply the rules and flag exceptions. Judgement calls with tax consequences stay with your team.
The handoff to your preparer
| Item | What your preparer receives |
|---|---|
| Reconciliation reports | One per account per period, tied to statements, with outstanding items explained |
| Adjustment log | Every reclassification and entry made, with reason and date |
| Open questions | A client question list, ready to send or already sent through your portal |
| Judgement items | Transactions left for your decision: capital versus expense, owner items, unusual receipts |
| Trial balance | Exported in your firm's format, ready for workpapers |
What your firm provides
- Access to the client's accounting file, ideally as an accountant user your firm controls
- Bank and card statements, or access to the client portal where they're stored
- Your chart-of-accounts conventions and a short list of judgement items to leave alone
- A named reviewer for questions during the first batch
When to schedule it
The best time is before the season starts: late fall for year-round clients, January for clients who only appear at tax time. Cleanup done in March competes with return preparation for the same review hours. The season table on the home page shows where it usually fits.
Questions to ask
How is turnaround estimated?
By number of accounts and months, transaction volume, and how far behind the books are. Ask for an estimate per client after a quick look at the file, rather than a flat promise.
Can support staff contact our clients directly?
Only if your firm wants that. Many firms prefer that client questions go through their own portal or staff, so the client relationship stays with the firm.
Does this continue after the season?
It can. Monthly bookkeeping keeps next year's cleanup small, and the same rules carry over.
Planning support for the next season? Describe your firm's volume, software and review process, and a service partner will reply with a proposed scope.
Request a scope