A QuickBooks cleanup involves reviewing, correcting, and organizing your QuickBooks file to ensure your financial records are accurate, up to date, and ready for reporting or tax preparation. It’s often needed if your books haven’t been regularly maintained or contain errors.
🔧 What a QuickBooks Cleanup Typically Includes:
✅ 1. Review of Chart of Accounts
Removing duplicates or unnecessary accounts
Reorganizing for proper classification
Making sure income, expense, asset, and liability accounts are set up correctly
✅ 2. Reconciliation of Bank & Credit Card Accounts
Matching transactions to statements
Identifying and fixing unreconciled or missing transactions
Correcting duplicate entries
✅ 3. Fixing Categorization Errors
Reclassifying income or expense transactions recorded to the wrong accounts
Ensuring consistent use of categories
Separating personal from business expenses (if applicable)
✅ 4. Handling Undeposited Funds
Clearing out undeposited funds balance
Properly recording bank deposits that were never matched
✅ 5. Review of Accounts Receivable (A/R) & Accounts Payable (A/P)
Cleaning up old or incorrect invoices and bills
Matching payments to invoices/bills
Removing open items that are no longer valid
✅ 6. Sales Tax Review (if applicable)
Verifying that tax was recorded and reported correctly
Adjusting liabilities or clearing incorrect balances
✅ 7. Payroll Corrections (if payroll is used)
Ensuring payroll entries match payroll reports
Fixing misclassified wages or taxes
✅ 8. Review & Adjustment of Opening Balances
Making sure beginning balances match actual financials
Adjusting retained earnings or correcting carryover errors
✅ 9. Report Accuracy Check
Verifying that Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet are correct
Ensuring no negative balances or mis-statements
Preparing accurate reports for tax or business decisions
📌 Who Needs a QuickBooks Cleanup?
New clients switching bookkeepers or CPAs
Businesses that fell behind on bookkeeping
DIY users who made setup or data entry mistakes
Before tax season or applying for loans
🕒 Typical Time Ranges:
✅ Light Cleanup (1–3 days)
1–2 months behind
Mostly organized books with minor categorization or reconciliation issues
No major A/R, A/P, or payroll corrections
✅ Moderate Cleanup (5–10 days)
3–6 months of missing or incorrect data
Several uncategorized or misclassified transactions
Accounts not reconciled regularly
Some issues with undeposited funds, A/R, or A/P balances
✅ Full-Year or Heavily Disorganized Books (15–30+ days)
6–12 months (or more) behind
No bank or credit card reconciliations
Lots of uncategorized or personal transactions mixed in
Duplicate or unused accounts
Payroll or sales tax errors
File may need prior-year adjustments
📌 Factors That Affect Time:
Number of months or years needing cleanup
Number of accounts and volume of transactions
Whether personal expenses are mixed in
Prior bookkeeping errors
If the client is using QuickBooks Online or Desktop
Level of organization (receipts, notes, access to bank statements, etc.)
A QuickBooks cleanup involves reviewing, correcting, and organizing your QuickBooks file to ensure your financial records are accurate, up to date, and ready for reporting or tax preparation. It’s often needed if your books haven’t been regularly maintained or contain errors.
🔧 What a QuickBooks Cleanup Typically Includes:
✅ 1. Review of Chart of Accounts
Removing duplicates or unnecessary accounts
Reorganizing for proper classification
Making sure income, expense, asset, and liability accounts are set up correctly
✅ 2. Reconciliation of Bank & Credit Card Accounts
Matching transactions to statements
Identifying and fixing unreconciled or missing transactions
Correcting duplicate entries
✅ 3. Fixing Categorization Errors
Reclassifying income or expense transactions recorded to the wrong accounts
Ensuring consistent use of categories
Separating personal from business expenses (if applicable)
✅ 4. Handling Undeposited Funds
Clearing out undeposited funds balance
Properly recording bank deposits that were never matched
✅ 5. Review of Accounts Receivable (A/R) & Accounts Payable (A/P)
Cleaning up old or incorrect invoices and bills
Matching payments to invoices/bills
Removing open items that are no longer valid
✅ 6. Sales Tax Review (if applicable)
Verifying that tax was recorded and reported correctly
Adjusting liabilities or clearing incorrect balances
✅ 7. Payroll Corrections (if payroll is used)
Ensuring payroll entries match payroll reports
Fixing misclassified wages or taxes
✅ 8. Review & Adjustment of Opening Balances
Making sure beginning balances match actual financials
Adjusting retained earnings or correcting carryover errors
✅ 9. Report Accuracy Check
Verifying that Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet are correct
Ensuring no negative balances or mis-statements
Preparing accurate reports for tax or business decisions
📌 Who Needs a QuickBooks Cleanup?
New clients switching bookkeepers or CPAs
Businesses that fell behind on bookkeeping
DIY users who made setup or data entry mistakes
Before tax season or applying for loans
🕒 Typical Time Ranges:
✅ Light Cleanup (1–3 days)
1–2 months behind
Mostly organized books with minor categorization or reconciliation issues
No major A/R, A/P, or payroll corrections
✅ Moderate Cleanup (5–10 days)
3–6 months of missing or incorrect data
Several uncategorized or misclassified transactions
Accounts not reconciled regularly
Some issues with undeposited funds, A/R, or A/P balances
✅ Full-Year or Heavily Disorganized Books (15–30+ days)
6–12 months (or more) behind
No bank or credit card reconciliations
Lots of uncategorized or personal transactions mixed in
Duplicate or unused accounts
Payroll or sales tax errors
File may need prior-year adjustments
📌 Factors That Affect Time:
Number of months or years needing cleanup
Number of accounts and volume of transactions
Whether personal expenses are mixed in
Prior bookkeeping errors
If the client is using QuickBooks Online or Desktop
Level of organization (receipts, notes, access to bank statements, etc.)
🧮 Example Estimate:
A small business with 12 months of moderately messy books might take 15–20 days for a thorough cleanup, especially if A/R, A/P, and payroll need review.
💰 Light Cleanup (1–3 days)
Starting at $249/day
💰 Moderate Cleanup (5–10 days)
Starting at $330/day
💰 Full-Year or Heavily Disorganized Books (15–30+ days)
Starting at $450/day
