What to include in a fixed-price bookkeeping cleanup

A fixed cleanup price should cover a defined set of accounts and reporting periods. List the legal entities, bank accounts, cards, processors, loans, and currencies involved. Record the last month that was reconciled and whether its closing balances can be supported.

The starting point matters because correcting six months of activity does not fix an unexplained opening balance. Ask the provider to identify which earlier balances it will verify, which it will carry forward, and what evidence would trigger a separate investigation. A broad promise to clean everything up leaves both sides guessing.

Provide statements rather than relying only on an active bank connection. Include sales exports, payroll reports, outstanding invoices and bills, loan agreements, and prior tax returns where relevant. The IRS recordkeeping guidance explains why transaction records and supporting documents need to be retained; a live feed is not a substitute for an organized archive.

Create a missing-record list with an owner and expected date for each item. If an account was closed, find out whether historical statements remain accessible. Agree how the engagement handles records that cannot be recovered, including any limitation on calling the affected period final.

Routine duplicate removal and categorization differ from changing prior-year opening equity, revising revenue recognition, or adjusting a filed tax period. Set an approval rule for material entries and have the tax preparer assess corrections that could affect submitted returns.

Ask for a before-and-after trial balance and an adjustment log. Each significant correction should identify the amount, affected period, evidence, and reason. The log makes it possible to understand the cleanup after the person who performed it has moved on.

A finished cleanup should produce more than an improved profit figure. Ask for reconciled statements, an accounts receivable and payable review, explanations of remaining balance sheet accounts, and a list of unresolved questions. The exact deliverables depend on the accounting basis and agreed scope.

Consider a cleanup covering January through June. If June's bank balance agrees but January's processor reserve remains unexplained, the provider should identify that limitation explicitly. Agree whether the unresolved amount prevents acceptance or can be handed off with a documented treatment and follow-up owner.

Specify which discoveries can change the fixed price: an undisclosed entity, extra historical years, unavailable statements, or a requested method conversion, for example. Require written approval of the additional work and fee before it starts. Corrections to the provider's own mistakes should be addressed separately from genuine scope expansion.

At handoff, save the completed schedules and confirm who owns the next monthly close. Cleanup often uncovers a recurring problem, such as duplicate connector imports. Assign its repair before the next period recreates the same backlog.