Our books have not been touched properly in over a year. How bad is the fix?

A year behind feels worse than it usually is. Most businesses in this situation assume the fix is going to be painful, expensive, and embarrassing. In practice, it is almost always manageable once someone actually looks at what needs to happen.

What determines the scope is not just how long the books have been neglected. It is the number of bank and credit card accounts that need reconciliation, how many transactions ran through those accounts, and the condition of your records. A single-entity business with one bank account and one credit card that simply stopped reconciling is a lighter project than a business with five accounts, inventory, and records scattered across folders and inboxes.

We scope cleanup and catch-up work in three honest levels based on these factors. A light cleanup might be appropriate when the books just need a few months of reconciliation and minor corrections. A moderate cleanup handles more months behind, more accounts, and some work untangling misclassified transactions. A heavy cleanup applies to situations with significant reconstruction needed, missing documentation, or multiple entities.

Before work starts, you get a clear understanding of which level your situation falls into, what the price will be, and the timeline. No surprises.

The process itself follows a logical sequence. First, we reconstruct and reconcile every account so the numbers reflect what actually happened. Then we correct the errors and misclassifications that accumulated. The result is a set of reliable financial statements you can actually use for decisions, taxes, and financing.

The last step matters as much as the first. Once the books are clean, we transition into a monthly accounting and advisory rhythm so the problem does not repeat. Cleanup work has limited value if the books drift back into the same condition six months later. The goal is a foundation that stays solid.

If you have been avoiding this because you do not know how bad it will be, the honest answer is that the only way to know is to look. Schedule a consultation and we will give you a straight assessment of what the cleanup involves and what it will take to get your books to a place you can trust.