Monthly bookkeeping, and a month that actually closes
What "the close" means here
A month is closed when everything in it has been categorized, every receipt that belongs to it has been matched, every bank and card account agrees with the statement, and nobody has to reopen it later. That is the whole definition, and it is the one we work to. Entered is a different thing, and it is what a set of books often turns out to be: the transactions are in QuickBooks Online, the balance in the corner looks plausible, and nobody has checked it against the bank since the spring.
The gap between entered and closed is where a year-end turns into an excavation.
The rhythm, week by week
Transactions are categorized every week rather than in one pass at the end. A week's worth of activity is still recognisable to whoever spent it; a quarter's worth is a memory test. Where a transaction cannot be identified from the description, it goes on a short question list and is asked about once, in a batch, rather than one message at a time.
Receipts are matched while the month is open. A receipt attached in week two costs a minute. The same receipt found in March costs a search.
At month end every bank account, every card, and every line of credit is reconciled to the statement, not to a feed. A bank feed can miss a transaction, duplicate one, or import it under a different date, and a reconciliation against the statement is the step that catches it.
What you get, and when
The close happens monthly rather than annually, which is the difference this service exists to make. On the plan that includes it, a one-page Monthly Money Snapshot follows: cash in, cash out, profit, what changed since last month, and what to watch. It is written to be read by the person who owns the business, in a few minutes, without an accounting vocabulary.
Every quarter the package your accountant works from is assembled rather than requested: the reconciled statements, the general ledger, the sales-tax figures, and the supporting detail behind anything unusual. Your accountant files from it, and the package is built in the language they read.
Who does the work
One operator, with over 20 years of experience in bookkeeping, accounting and financial analysis, for-profit and non-profit, across a wide range of sectors. The same person works in English and in French, which means the books can be kept in one language and handed over in the other without a translation step in between.
Questions we are asked
Do we have to move our books somewhere else?
The work is done in QuickBooks Online, so a file has to exist there. If your books are somewhere else today, the move is part of the clean-up and is quoted with it, after a read-only look at what is there now.
What happens if a month has already been closed and something turns up?
It is recorded in the current month with a note saying which month it belongs to, and your accountant sees the note in the quarterly package. Reopening a closed month changes numbers somebody has already read, so it is a decision rather than a reflex.
Who talks to our accountant?
We do, about the package and the detail behind it. Anything that is a tax question, a filing position, or an assurance matter goes to your accountant or, if you have none, to the licensed CPA partner we work with, through us. We prepare; they sign.
One next step
A fifteen-minute call about your month, at no cost. Ask for a call.