Catch-Up Bookkeeping Services
Behind on Bookkeeping? We Catch You Up, Fixed Price.
Falling behind on the books happens to good founders: a fundraise takes over, taxes sneak up, the bank starts asking for statements you do not have. We clean up the past months as a fixed-price project, CPA-reviewed, and hand you financials you can actually stand behind.
Catch-up bookkeeping is a one-time project, not a subscription. We scope it up front, quote a fixed price, and rebuild your books month by month until they are current. There is no penalty attitude and no hourly meter running while we untangle things, just a defined project with a defined finish line. Once you are caught up, staying current costs a fraction of what falling behind does.
Who Needs Bookkeeping Cleanup
Four situations bring nearly every catch-up client to us.
A raise is approaching
Investors will ask for historical financials in diligence. Messy or missing months stall the round at the worst possible moment.
A tax deadline is looming
Your tax preparer needs a clean year of books to file. Catch-up work done now is far cheaper than an extension scramble or an amended return later.
You switched providers
A previous bookkeeper left gaps, or you inherited books you do not trust. We reconcile what exists and rebuild what does not.
DIY fell behind
You started in QuickBooks or a spreadsheet, then the business got busy. No judgment: this is the single most common way books fall behind.
What a Cleanup Includes
Every engagement covers the full stack of catch-up work, not just data entry.
- Bank, credit card, and payment processor reconciliations for every catch-up month
- Transaction categorization review and correction, including personal expenses mixed into business accounts
- Cash-to-accrual conversion where your stage or investors require accrual books
- Chart of accounts cleanup so your categories match how a startup actually reports
- Duplicate, stale, and miscoded entry correction with a documented change log
- Catch-up financial statements: P&L, balance sheet, and cash flow for the cleaned period
- CPA review of every cleanup before we call it done
What Catch-Up Bookkeeping Costs
Across the market, catch-up and cleanup work is typically quoted per month of books fixed. These are the ranges startups commonly see:
1 to 3 months behind
$300 to $500
Typical total for a few quiet months that mostly need reconciliation and categorization.
About 6 months behind
$500 to $1,500
Half a year of catch-up, more if accounts were never reconciled or errors accumulated.
More than a year behind
$3,500 to $8,000+
A year or more of neglected or error-filled books, and complex accrual books with payroll or inventory can run higher.
How StartupCFO prices it
We quote every cleanup as a fixed price after a free scope call where we look at your actual books, the same fixed-scope, milestone-priced model as our custom projects. No hourly billing, no long-term retainer required. Afterward, ongoing bookkeeping plans start at $179/mo, and go-forward service is live within 2 business days of the scope call.
How the Process Works
Scope call
A free call where we look at your actual books and records, count the months, and gauge complexity. Come as you are; messy is expected.
Fixed quote
You get a fixed price for the full cleanup before any work starts. No hourly meter, no scope creep surprises.
Cleanup
We reconcile, categorize, convert, and rebuild. Most cleanups complete in 2 to 6 weeks depending on months behind and complexity, and every one is CPA-reviewed.
Handoff
You get clean, current financials plus a summary of what we fixed. Stay current with an ongoing plan from $179/mo, live within 2 business days of the scope call, or take your books wherever you like.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does catch-up bookkeeping take?
Most cleanups complete in 2 to 6 weeks depending on how many months are behind and how complex the books are. A few quiet cash-basis months move fast; a year of accrual books with payroll, multiple accounts, and prior errors takes longer. We give you a timeline estimate along with the fixed quote after the scope call, and if you have a hard deadline like a fundraise or a tax filing, tell us up front so we can sequence the work around it.
How much does catch-up bookkeeping cost?
Market rates are typically quoted per month of books fixed. Being 1 to 3 months behind commonly runs $300 to $500 total, around six months runs $500 to $1,500, seven to twelve months runs $1,500 to $3,500, and more than a year of neglected or error-filled books can cost $3,500 to $8,000 or more. Complexity moves those numbers: a simple cash-basis month might be $150 to $300 to fix, while a messy accrual month with payroll and inventory can run $600 to $1,200 or more. We price every cleanup as a fixed quote after a free scope call where we actually look at your books, so there are no hourly surprises.
Can you fix books I did myself in QuickBooks or a spreadsheet?
Yes, and it is one of the most common cleanups we do. DIY books usually have a mix of miscategorized transactions, unreconciled accounts, duplicate entries, and personal expenses mixed in. We keep whatever is correct, fix what is wrong, and document the changes so you can see exactly what moved. If your records live in spreadsheets or a shoebox of statements, we can rebuild the months from bank and credit card data.
What is the difference between catch-up and cleanup?
Catch-up means transactions were never recorded and the months need to be built. Cleanup means books exist but contain errors that have to be found and corrected. Cleanup is often the more expensive of the two because diagnosing mistakes takes longer than recording from scratch. Most real engagements are a blend, which is exactly what the scope call sorts out before we quote.
Do we have to switch to your ongoing bookkeeping afterward?
No. The cleanup is a standalone fixed-price project, and you own the finished books either way. Most clients do continue with us because our ongoing plans start at $179/mo and go-forward service is live within 2 business days of the cleanup scope call, but if you want to hand clean books to another provider or take them back in-house, that is a fine outcome and we will do the handoff properly.
Ready to Get Caught Up?
Book a free scope call. We will look at where your books stand, tell you what the cleanup involves, and give you a fixed quote, with zero judgment about how they got that way.
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