QuickBooks Setup & Cleanup
Most Bad QuickBooks Files Started Out Fine
Somebody set it up in an afternoon. Then a transaction showed up that didn't fit anywhere, so a new category got made. Then another one. Two years later there are eleven expense accounts that mean roughly the same thing and a profit and loss statement nobody can read.
None of that is carelessness. It's what happens when a file grows without anybody owning the structure.
The fix isn't lecturing you about it. The fix is rebuilding the structure underneath what you already have, so the history still works and the next two years land somewhere sensible.
What We Do
- Build the chart of accounts around your business. Not a template. A service business, a contractor, a nonprofit and a franchise location need four different structures — and a franchise system that mandates its own chart is a structure we work inside, not around.
- Clean up what's there. Merge the duplicates, retire what nobody uses, fix what's landing in the wrong place.
- Set up the connections. Bank and credit card feeds, and the rules that carry the repetitive decisions so a person can spend their attention on the ones that matter.
- Make the reports readable. The point of the whole exercise is that you can open a report and know something afterward.
Setup, Cleanup, or Both
Setup is for a business that's new, changing shape, or moving into QuickBooks Online for the first time. Cleanup is for a file that has drifted. Plenty of people need both, and plenty of people who think they need a rebuild actually need a good month of reconciling — we'll tell you which one you are.
Either way it's quoted as a one-time number before anything starts, separate from any ongoing monthly service. You'll know both figures up front.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will I lose my history?
No. Restructuring a chart of accounts doesn't delete what happened — it reorganizes how it's reported. Your prior periods stay intact, and in most cases they get more readable, not less.
Are you actually certified?
Yes. QuickBooks ProAdvisor certified. It isn't the reason to hire anybody, but it's a fair thing to check.
Can you fix it and leave me to run it?
Yes, and some people should. If you've got the time and the temperament, a clean file is genuinely maintainable. We'd rather tell you that than sell you a monthly service you don't need.
Thirty minutes on Zoom. Nothing to drive to.