Bookkeeping • Monthly close & cleanup
Find a Bookkeeper Near You
Hire a vetted bookkeeper to keep your books reconciled, your reports current, and tax season painless. Compare verified pros across QuickBooks, Xero, and FreshBooks.
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Overview
What a bookkeeper actually does
A bookkeeper records transactions, reconciles bank and credit card accounts, and produces monthly financial reports. The goal: clean books your CPA can trust at tax time and dashboards you can use to run the business.
- Categorize income and expenses each month
- Reconcile bank, credit card, and merchant accounts
- Produce monthly P&L and balance sheet
- Manage accounts payable and receivable
- Clean up prior-period errors and catch-up work
- Hand off clean files to your CPA at year-end
Typical pricing
What this service usually costs
Solo and contractor books typically run $300–$600/mo. Growing small businesses with payroll and inventory: $800–$1,500/mo. One-time cleanup engagements are usually quoted hourly at $50–$125/hr.
Estimate cleanup costRight fit
Who should hire this professional
- Owners spending more than 2 hours/week on books
- Anyone behind on reconciliations
- Businesses preparing for a loan or investor
- S-corps that need clean payroll + distribution tracking
- Anyone whose CPA charged a 'messy books' fee last year
- Solo founders trying to focus on revenue, not data entry
Scope
Services included
Monthly bookkeeping
Transaction categorization, reconciliations, and a closed period each month.
Bookkeeping cleanup
Catch-up work for prior months or years so you have accurate financials.
QuickBooks setup
Chart of accounts, integrations (Stripe, Shopify, PayPal), and bank feeds.
Accounts payable
Bill entry, vendor management, and scheduled payments.
Sales tax filing
Multi-state sales tax registration, calculation, and remittance.
Year-end packet
Adjusting entries, depreciation schedule, and a clean trial balance for your CPA.
Need help with bookkeeping, QuickBooks, tax, or CFO support?
Tell us what service you need and where your business is located.
Before you hire
Questions to ask any candidate
- 1Which software do you specialize in (QuickBooks, Xero, FreshBooks)?
- 2Are you a Certified ProAdvisor or Xero Certified?
- 3How quickly do you close each month?
- 4What reports will I get and when?
- 5How do you handle missing receipts or unclear transactions?
- 6Do you coordinate directly with my CPA at year-end?
Get ready
Documents to prepare
- Most recent bank and credit card statements
- Access to QuickBooks, Xero, or FreshBooks file
- Prior-year tax return
- Payroll reports (if applicable)
- Loan agreements and amortization schedules
- List of recurring vendors and revenue sources
Compare
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Explore this serviceNeed help with bookkeeping, QuickBooks, tax, or CFO support?
Tell us what service you need and where your business is located.
FAQ
Common questions
How much does a bookkeeper cost?
Most small businesses pay $300–$1,500/month depending on transaction volume, payroll, and complexity. Cleanup work is usually quoted hourly at $50–$125/hr.
Bookkeeper vs. accountant — what's the difference?
Bookkeepers record transactions and reconcile accounts. CPAs review the books, file taxes, and advise on strategy. Many small businesses need both.
Can a bookkeeper file my taxes?
Bookkeepers can file sales and payroll taxes. Federal and state income tax returns are filed by a CPA, EA, or other PTIN-holder.
How long does cleanup take?
Typical cleanup for 6–12 months of backlogged books runs 2–4 weeks. Multi-year cleanups can take longer and are often phased.
Keep exploring
More on CPAZenith
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Advisor-grade guides
Downloadable ebooks & templates
CPA-ready playbooks and templates you can use today — instant downloads, no signup required.
The Small Business Tax & Profit Playbook
A CPA-ready guide to deductions, quarterly taxes, S-Corp strategy, owner pay, cash flow, and year-round tax planning.
Business Tax Deduction Checklist
A CPA-curated checklist of 80+ business deductions most owners miss — organized by category so you can sweep it before filing.
The Definitive Bookkeeping Cleanup & Recovery Guide
The CPA's step-by-step playbook for diagnosing messy books, reconstructing missing history, and restoring a clean, audit-ready ledger.
The Freelancer Tax Guide
The practical tax playbook for freelancers, contractors, and solo creatives — deductions, quarterly estimates, and self-employment strategies.
The Year-End Tax Planning Guide
The CPA's December playbook — practical strategies to reduce your tax bill before the year closes.
The Premium Bookkeeping Template Pack
Automated dashboards, multi-account reconciliations, and CPA-ready reporting workbooks for serious owners and bookkeepers.
Tax & Bookkeeping Resource Library
Our complete advisor-grade collection — every premium asset an owner needs to run clean books, lower taxes, and recover messy ledgers, in one bundle.