Cleanup and Catch-Up
Some new clients need historical cleanup before recurring bookkeeping can operate reliably. AnchorPoint handles that work as part of the transition, scoped from the actual condition of the file.
Cleanup is a capability, not the way most clients arrive.
Most engagements begin with monthly bookkeeping. Cleanup exists for the cases where the historical record has to be corrected first, because running a monthly close on top of unresolved problems produces wrong numbers faster.
It is a defined project with a scope and an endpoint, not an open-ended retainer, and it leads into monthly bookkeeping.
No paid review is required to become a client. The starting point is a conversation. After engagement and system access, AnchorPoint reviews the accounting environment as part of onboarding and determines what cleanup, setup, or process changes are actually needed.
Where the condition of a file is too unclear to scope responsibly, a focused review of the file may be proposed before a cleanup quote. That is a scoping step for a project, not a gate in front of monthly service.
What cleanup work typically covers.
Cleanup scope depends entirely on what is in the file. These are the problems that come up most often.
- Unreconciled bank, credit card, and loan accounts
- Catch-up bookkeeping for months or years of unrecorded activity
- Duplicate, missing, or misdated transactions
- Incorrect or inconsistent classifications
- Opening balance problems and prior-period corrections
- Balance sheet accounts that no longer correspond to real assets or obligations
- Payroll liability and sales tax accounts that do not match filings
- Clearing and undeposited funds accounts that keep accumulating
- A chart of accounts that has stopped producing readable reports
- Preparation of a clean record set for CPA handoff
On fixed fees. Cleanup is quoted from the condition of the file. Some engagements can be quoted as a fixed fee once the scope is clear. Others are staged, with the first stage establishing how much work remains. What AnchorPoint will not do is quote a flat cleanup price for a file nobody has looked at.
Cleanup in four stages.
Scope confirmation
The condition of the file is reviewed, the work required is identified, and the scope, sequence, and price are confirmed in writing before the work starts.
Structural correction
Balance sheet accounts corrected, liability accounts repaired, clearing accounts resolved, and the chart of accounts restructured where it is getting in the way.
Systematic reconciliation
Period by period, key accounts reconciled and verified against statements and filings rather than force-balanced to make a report print.
Clean close and handoff
A defined period closes cleanly, reconciliations are current, remaining open items are documented, and the file is ready for monthly service or for your CPA.
What the books look like when the work is done.
- Reconciliations that close cleanly, with remaining items documented
- Balance sheet accounts tied to actual business assets and obligations
- Payroll and sales tax liabilities that match filings
- Clearing accounts that resolve as intended instead of accumulating
- A chart of accounts that produces readable financial reports
- A defined starting point for the recurring monthly process
Cleanup is a beginning, not a product. A cleaned-up file that goes back to an inconsistent month-end will need the same work again in two years. The point of cleanup is to establish a dependable starting point for monthly bookkeeping.
Behind on the books, or not sure they are right?
Describe the situation. You will get a straight answer about whether cleanup is needed, roughly what it involves, and whether monthly service can begin sooner than you think.