What a QuickBooks Cleanup Includes (and What Drives the Price)
"Cleanup" sounds vague. Some bookkeepers use the word for a quick recategorization. Others mean a full rebuild of the file. If you're about to pay someone to fix your books, you should know what you're buying.
Here is how I run a QuickBooks Online cleanup, step by step, and what you get when I'm done.
Step 1: Review the file before quoting
I start with a look at your file, with your permission, or a short list of questions. I want to know:
How many months are behind
How many bank accounts, credit cards, and loans are connected
Roughly how many transactions hit your accounts each month
Whether payroll, sales tax, or a payment app like Stripe or Square is involved
When the books were last reconciled
The answers set the scope. You get a fixed quote in writing before any work starts. No hourly meter running in the background.
Step 2: Collect statements
I need bank and credit card statements for every month in the cleanup period. Statements are the source of truth. QuickBooks only shows what the bank feed sent or what someone typed in. The statement shows what happened.
The easiest way is to give me accountant or view-only access to your bank and credit card accounts. Most business banks offer this. I log in with my own credentials, download every statement myself, and never see your password. View-only users can't move money, and you can remove my access at any time.
If your bank doesn't offer view-only access, you can download PDF statements from online banking instead. That takes about 15 minutes on your end.
Step 3: Fix the chart of accounts
The chart of accounts is the list of categories every transaction lands in. Messy files often have three versions of the same account ("Software," "Software Subscriptions," "Subscriptions") or accounts nobody uses anymore.
I merge duplicates, mark old accounts inactive, and set up categories that match how your business earns and spends money. Your reports get shorter and easier to read.
Step 4: Categorize every transaction
This is the biggest part of most cleanups. I work through the For Review tab and the Uncategorized accounts, one month at a time. When I don't know what a charge was for, I put it on a short list for you instead of guessing.
I also set up bank rules for recurring charges. Your phone bill, your software subscriptions, and your rent will categorize themselves going forward.
Step 5: Remove duplicates and fix errors
Duplicate expenses, deposits recorded twice, transfers recorded as income, owner contributions recorded as sales. I find and fix each one. Each fix changes your reports, sometimes by thousands of dollars.
Step 6: Reconcile every account
Reconciliation is the proof. I match QuickBooks to every bank and credit card statement, month by month, until the balances agree to the penny. A cleanup without reconciliation is a guess with a nice report on top.
Step 7: Review the reports with you
When the file is clean, I walk you through your profit and loss and balance sheet. You see what changed and why. You also get a summary of open questions, if any, and notes your CPA will find useful.
What you get at the end
Every bank and credit card account reconciled through the end of the cleanup period
A chart of accounts that fits your business
Bank rules for your recurring transactions
A profit and loss and balance sheet you trust
A file ready to hand to your CPA
What a cleanup does not include
I focus on QuickBooks Online bookkeeping. I don't prepare tax returns or do CPA work. I also don't work in QuickBooks Desktop. If you're on Desktop, I'll point you to someone who does.
The 5 things that set the price
Every cleanup gets a fixed quote, and these five factors drive the number:
Months behind. Six months of catch-up takes less time than three years.
Number of accounts. Each bank account, credit card, and loan needs its own reconciliation.
Transaction volume. A business with 40 transactions a month is a different job from one with 400.
Condition of the file. Uncategorized transactions are faster to fix than transactions categorized wrong for two years.
Extra pieces. Payroll, sales tax, payment apps, and loans add steps.
The fastest way to know your number is to ask. Fill out the short quote form. I'll reply within one business day to set up a review of your books, and you get a fixed quote after the review.
How long a cleanup takes
Most cleanups take a few weeks from the day I have your statements. Larger files with years of history take longer. You'll get a timeline with your quote so you can plan around tax deadlines or a loan application.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to be involved during the cleanup?
Very little. You set up statement access at the start and answer one short question list near the end. Most owners spend less than an hour total on their side of the cleanup.
What if I'm missing some statements?
Most banks keep several years of statements in online banking. If you can't find them there, your bank can send copies. If a gap still remains, I'll tell you what's missing and we'll decide together how to handle those months.
Do you need my bank password?
No. I never ask for your password. I ask for accountant or view-only access to your bank accounts so I can download statements myself. If your bank doesn't offer that, PDF statements work too. In QuickBooks, you invite me as an accountant user, and you can remove that access at any time.
What happens after the cleanup is done?
You have two choices. Keep the books current yourself with a weekly routine, or hand them off to monthly bookkeeping. Either way, you start from a clean, reconciled file.
Will my CPA work with the cleaned-up file?
Yes. Clean, reconciled books are what CPAs ask for. I can also send your CPA a short summary of the changes I made, so nothing comes as a surprise at tax time.
Ready for clean books?
If your QuickBooks Online file has fallen behind, a cleanup puts you back on solid ground. Tell me where things stand. I'll reply within one business day to set up a review of your books, then send a fixed quote.
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