QuickBooks Cleanup and Catch‑Up Bookkeeping for Contractors.
Behind on your books with tax season coming? We catch up your QuickBooks Online file, month by month, for trades and home-service contractors. Fixed price, quoted up front, by an IRS Enrolled Agent. 100% virtual.
If One of These Sounds Familiar
- Busy season won. You had jobs to run, and the books waited. Now it’s been a few months, or a year, and you need them current before you file.
- You’ve been doing them yourself. You kept up as best you could. Now you want them checked and done right before your return goes in.
- You’re switching bookkeepers. Someone else kept your file, and you want to know it’s right before anyone builds on it.
What a Catch-Up Covers
Cleanup means fixing what’s already in QuickBooks. Catch-up means filling in the months that aren’t. Most files need some of both. Either way, every month we touch gets the same work:
- Every account matched. Each bank and card statement tied out to the penny, so QuickBooks matches the bank.
- Every charge in the right place. Sorted for a contractor: truck, tools, materials, subs. Not a generic list.
- Your money kept apart from the business’s. What you took out for yourself is recorded as a draw, not buried in expenses.
- Your 1099 subs flagged. So you know who needs a 1099 and how much you paid them.
- Sales tax you collected kept out of your income. We book it in the right place. We don’t file that return, and we’ll tell you who should.
- Year-end numbers you can file from. A profit and loss and a balance sheet for each year we cover, in plain English.
Priced Per Month Behind
You pay for each month we catch up. The price per month depends on the size of your books, the same way our monthly bookkeeping does. No hourly billing. You get a fixed price before we start.
Catch-Up Bookkeeping
What a catch-up costs, and why.
Two things set how long each month takes. How many accounts we match, and how many charges run through them in a month.
| Accounts | Charges a month | Per month behind |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 3 | Up to 100 | $300 |
| Up to 5 | Up to 200 | $400 |
| Up to 7 | Up to 300 | $525 |
| Up to 10 | Up to 500 | $675 |
Example: six months behind, with 4 accounts and about 150 charges a month. That’s 6 × $400 = $2,400, start to finish.
$1,000 minimum. A short catch-up still takes setup work on our end, so anything under $1,000 is billed at $1,000.
What counts as an account? Anything with a monthly statement: checking, savings, each credit card, each loan, and each payment app like Jobber or Square. Payment apps count as two. Your size is set by whichever is larger, accounts or charges.
Three Steps to Current Books
- 1. Send us three months of statements. We count your accounts and charges, and we’ll confirm your price and timeline within 3 business days of receiving your statements.
- 2. Invite us into QuickBooks. You add us as your accountant in QuickBooks Online. One email, about two minutes. We never ask for your bank login or your passwords. Then we work through every month, and send you questions only you can answer.
- 3. Get current, then stay current. When you’re caught up, your books roll into monthly bookkeeping, so they never pile up again. Only need your return filed? We can do that instead.
Keep Them Current
A catch-up fixes the past. Monthly bookkeeping keeps it from piling up again. It runs $500 to $1,400 a month, priced by the same two things, and the person who caught you up keeps doing your books. See bookkeeping for contractors.
Starting fresh instead of catching up? See QuickBooks Online setup.
Need your return filed too? Tax prep is priced separately, per return, with no monthly plan required. See tax preparation pricing.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does QuickBooks cleanup cost?
$300 to $675 per month behind, depending on how many accounts you have and how many charges run through them. $1,000 minimum. You get a fixed price before we start, never an hourly bill.
How far back can you go?
As far as you need. You pay per month, so a longer catch-up just means more months. Most contractors need the current year, and sometimes the one before it.
Do I have to sign up for monthly bookkeeping?
It’s the normal next step, because it keeps you from falling behind again. It’s not required. If you only need your return filed after the catch-up, we can do that instead.
I’m on QuickBooks Desktop, Xero, or spreadsheets. Can you help?
We work only in QuickBooks Online, so we can’t take on a catch-up in another system.
What do you need from me?
Three months of statements to quote you. After that, statements for every month we’re catching up, an invite into your QuickBooks Online file, and answers to our questions within 5 business days. If we don’t hear back, your timeline moves by the same amount.
Will you file my tax return too?
Yes, if you want us to. The return is priced separately, per return. Because the same Enrolled Agent who caught up your books files the return, nothing gets lost between the two.
I owe the IRS or I’ve missed filing. Can you help?
We can catch up your books and prepare the returns. We don’t handle IRS notices, payment plans, or representation, and we’ll tell you up front if you need someone who does.
Do you fix payroll?
No. We don’t run payroll or fix payroll records. We’ll refer you to someone who does.
Let's Talk.
At Civita Tax Solutions, we help home service business owners save money on taxes with all-in-one accounting. We handle your bookkeeping, advisory, and tax filing. You focus on the business. We handle the finances.
Every contractor’s books are different. A quick conversation tells us if we’re the right fit.
Book a Free Consultation