Behind on Your Bookkeeping? Here's What to Do

You meant to keep up with it. Then you got busy, which is a good problem, and now it's been six months, or eighteen, and the thought of opening your bank app makes your stomach drop. Tax season is somewhere out there getting closer.

First: this is normal. We've never met a stylist or barber who fell behind because they were lazy. They fell behind because they were working. Here's how to get out of it without blowing a weekend or a paycheck.

Step 1: Figure out exactly how far behind you are

Not “a while.” A number of months. Open your bank account and find the last month that was fully categorized and reconciled. If the answer is “never,” the number is the month you started taking payments, or January of the oldest year you still need to file.

Then ask what's at stake. Is a tax deadline coming? Has your CPA asked for numbers? Are you trying to get a loan, a lease on a suite, or a mortgage? Those set your timeline. If nothing's due, you have room to do this calmly.

Step 2: Gather what already exists

You probably have more than you think. For every month you're behind, you need:

• Bank and credit card statements. Downloadable as PDFs from your bank, usually going back years.
• Payment app reports. Square, Vagaro, GlossGenius and Fresha all let you export sales, tips and fees by month.
• Rent records. Your booth or suite agreement and how you paid.
• Receipts for big purchases. Equipment, a class, a bulk supply order. Don't chase every $12 receipt.
• Your cash tip log, if you kept one. If you didn't, an honest monthly estimate. See how to track tips so this is the last time you have to estimate.

Put it all in one folder, by month. That alone takes most of the fear out of it.

Step 3: Pick your path

There are three. None of them is wrong.

Do it yourself over a few weekends

If you're a few months behind, your setup is simple, and you have QuickBooks or a spreadsheet you understand, you can grind through it. Do one month at a time, start to finish: categorize, record the payment app, reconcile. Don't jump around. Read our QuickBooks guide first so you don't double count your deposits.

Hire a catch-up

A bookkeeper rebuilds the months you're missing from your statements and reports. You answer questions about the handful of transactions they can't place. You get a P&L for every month and a clean file your CPA can work from. This is the right call when you're more than a few months behind, when a deadline is near, or when the thought of doing it yourself means it won't get done.

Our catch-up and cleanup is a fixed, one-time price starting at $200 per month of backlog, with a two-month minimum. You know the number before we start. No hourly surprises.

Start fresh

Sometimes the right answer is to leave the past alone. Your CPA may be able to file prior years from your bank statements and payment app totals, and you start clean books from today forward. This works best when the old months are simple and nobody needs monthly detail on them. Ask your CPA before you choose this one.

What a catch-up actually looks like

If you go the catch-up route with us, here's the whole process:

1. We talk for 30 minutes. You tell us how far behind you are and what accounts you have. You get a fixed quote.
2. You give us view-only access to your bank and cards, or upload the statements for each month, in your client portal.
3. We pull your payment app history and rebuild each month: deposits matched, fees and tips separated, rent and supplies categorized, every account reconciled.
4. You get a short list of “what was this?” questions. Answer from your phone.
5. You receive a P&L for every month, a balance sheet, and a QuickBooks file your CPA can file from.

Most of the work is ours. Your part is the statements and a few answers.

Then stay current

Catching up is only worth it if you don't have to do it again. Whatever path you choose, set up the thing that stops the slide: a monthly hour you protect, or monthly bookkeeping someone else does. Roll from catch-up straight into monthly bookkeeping and the backlog doesn't come back. Your CPA gets clean books every spring without anyone scrambling.

One more thing

Being behind on your books doesn't mean you're bad with money. It means you've been busy doing the thing that makes the money. Fix the books, set up the habit, and get back to it.

We provide bookkeeping and financial reporting services only. We do not provide tax filing or tax advisory services. We work alongside your CPA or tax professional. Nothing here is tax or legal advice. Talk to your CPA about your situation.