How long does catch-up bookkeeping take?

It depends on how many months are behind and how complete your records are. A 3-month catch-up with good bank statements and receipts typically takes 1–2 weeks. A 12-month backlog with missing records, mixed accounts, or high transaction volume can take 3–5 weeks. After the initial conversation, I give you a clear timeline estimate before any work begins — so you know when the books will be done.

How is catch-up bookkeeping priced — fixed or hourly?

Catch-up bookkeeping is quoted as a fixed price per the scope agreed upfront — not hourly. You know the total cost before any work begins. The price depends on how many months are behind, how many bank and credit card accounts need reconciling, and how clean the existing records are. There are no surprise bills for extra hours. Once the scope is agreed, the price is fixed.

What do I need to provide for a catch-up bookkeeping project?

At minimum: bank and credit card statements for the affected months (PDFs or CSV exports), and accountant-level access to your QuickBooks Online or Xero account (or I can set one up). If you have receipts, invoices, or bills — those help with accurate categorisation. If records are incomplete, I work with what's available and flag gaps for your review. The initial conversation is free and covers exactly what you need to provide.

Can you catch up multiple years of bookkeeping?

Yes. Multi-year catch-ups are more involved but follow the same process — working month by month through the backlog, reconciling each period, and producing a P&L for every month. The quote scales with the number of years and the transaction volume. Many clients use a multi-year catch-up to prepare for a tax audit, a business sale, or a lender's due diligence request.

What happens after the catch-up is complete?

You receive a clean books handover document summarising what was done — months covered, accounts reconciled, any issues found, and the current state of your books. From there, you can either continue with monthly ongoing bookkeeping (the natural next step for most clients) or hand the clean records to your accountant for tax filing. The ongoing monthly service starts from $100/month.

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Catch-Up Bookkeeping Service
Months behind? Fixed price. Done right.

Tax deadlines don't care that your books are months behind. Messy or missing records don't fix themselves, and doing catch-up wrong creates compounding errors you'll pay to fix later. I quote a fixed price for the whole backlog — so you know the cost, and it gets done properly.

Fixed

Price per project

Years experience

24hr

Response time

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QuickBooks ProAdvisor Xero Certified Fixed Price No contracts

What the catch-up project includes

✓ All transactions categorised for missed months
✓ Per-month bank & credit card reconciliation
✓ AR & AP reconstructed for every period
✓ Monthly P&L rebuilt for every missed period
✓ Clean books handover document
✓ Transition to ongoing monthly bookkeeping (optional)

Pricing Fixed per project

Quote before you commit. No hourly billing.

Full scope

What catch-up bookkeeping includes

Catch-up bookkeeping is not just importing bank transactions. It is rebuilding accurate records for every missed period — so your books can be trusted for tax filing, due diligence, or ongoing use.

Transaction Categorisation for All Missed Months

Every transaction in every missed month classified to the correct category — consistently, using the right chart of accounts. Not a bulk import dump. Category decisions are made carefully so the numbers are accurate.

Per-Month Bank & Credit Card Reconciliation

Each month reconciled separately — every bank and credit card account matched to its statement. Discrepancies identified and resolved. A reconciliation that covers 12 months in one pass is not a reconciliation.

Accounts Receivable & Payable Reconstruction

Outstanding invoices identified and entered. Bills and expenses matched to the correct periods. Payments matched to the invoices or bills they clear. AR and AP brought current as of the final catch-up month.

Monthly P&L Rebuilt for Every Period

A Profit & Loss statement produced for every month in the catch-up range — not just a single year-to-date figure. This is what your accountant needs for tax filing and what lenders need for due diligence.

Clean Books Handover Document

A summary of what was done: months covered, accounts reconciled, issues found and resolved, and the current state of your books. Your accountant gets this alongside the clean QuickBooks or Xero file.

Transition to Ongoing Monthly Bookkeeping

Once the books are clean, most clients move straight to monthly ongoing bookkeeping at $100/month. The transition is seamless — no re-setup, no duplication. You don't fall behind again.

The catch-up process

How catch-up bookkeeping works

The process is the same as ongoing bookkeeping — just applied backwards through the months you've missed, one period at a time.

Connect your software

Grant me accountant-level access to your QuickBooks Online or Xero account. If you don't have one, I can set it up. You also provide bank and credit card statements for the months we're catching up — PDFs or CSV exports are both fine. No passwords shared — access is through the platform's own permission system.

I handle the books

I work through the backlog month by month — categorising transactions, reconciling accounts, and rebuilding your P&L for each period. I flag any unclear transactions for your input rather than guessing and introducing errors that compound forward.

You get your summary

Once complete, I send you a clean books handover document plus access to your updated books in QuickBooks or Xero. Every month in the catch-up range has a reconciled P&L. From here, you can hand off to your accountant or transition directly to monthly ongoing bookkeeping.

No QuickBooks or Xero account yet? That's common for catch-up clients. I set up the software as part of the project — with the right chart of accounts for your business type — so the books are not just caught up but set up correctly for the future.

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Best fit

Businesses that need catch-up bookkeeping

If any of these describe your situation, the books are behind — and the sooner they're cleaned up, the less they compound.

3–24+ months behind

Whether it's a busy quarter or two years of inaction, the backlog needs to be cleared before it gets to your accountant or the tax authority.

Tax deadline approaching

Your accountant needs clean books to file. Handing them a mess means a bigger bill, a delayed filing, or both. Catch-up bookkeeping done first saves money on the accountant's side.

Switching bookkeepers mid-year

If you've changed bookkeepers, the records for the gap period need to be caught up and reconciled before the new monthly rhythm can begin.

Books never set up properly from launch

Many businesses start with no bookkeeping system at all. The catch-up builds the foundation — correct categories, reconciled history — so the books are actually usable going forward.

Why not use software to catch up yourself?

DIY catch-up vs. a professional catch-up

QuickBooks and Xero can import transactions automatically. That is not the same as catching up your books — it is just moving the problem into the software.

	Professional catch-up	DIY with software
Transactions categorised correctly	Yes — reviewed manually	Auto-suggested — often wrong
Bank accounts reconciled per month	Yes — every period	Requires your time & knowledge
Errors caught before they compound	Yes — flagged and resolved	Often not noticed until audit
P&L produced for every month	Yes — ready for accountant	Only if reconciliation is complete
Time required from you	Statements & one conversation	Hours of categorisation
Result is accountant-ready	Yes	Rarely — needs review anyway

Catch-up done wrong is worse than no catch-up. Miscategorised expenses, unreconciled accounts, and transactions assigned to the wrong periods create errors that carry forward — and get more expensive to fix as time passes. A fixed-price professional catch-up is cheaper than fixing a DIY catch-up later.

Credentials

Certified, experienced, reachable

Years in accounting & finance

QBO

QuickBooks Online ProAdvisor Certified

Xero

Xero Certified Level 1 Associate

Fixed

Price quoted before work begins

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Transparent pricing

Catch-up bookkeeping pricing

Catch-up bookkeeping is quoted as a fixed price for the whole project — based on how many months are behind and how complex the records are. You know the cost before any work begins. No hourly billing, no surprises.

Catch-Up Project

Custom

Fixed price based on months behind, account count, and record quality. Quoted before any work begins — not hourly.

✓ All transactions categorised
✓ Per-month reconciliation
✓ P&L for every missed period
✓ AR & AP reconstructed
✓ Clean books handover document

Get a Fixed-Price Quote

Catch-Up + Ongoing

$100/month

After the catch-up is complete, transition to monthly bookkeeping. Seamless — no re-setup, same accountant, same books.

✓ Catch-up project first
✓ Monthly bookkeeping continues
✓ No falling behind again
✓ WhatsApp & email support

Discuss Your Situation

The catch-up quote is free. See ongoing monthly pricing →

Common questions

Catch-up bookkeeping FAQ

Most catch-up projects for 1–6 months of backlog take 1–2 weeks once I have access to your bank statements and accounting software. 6–12 months typically takes 2–4 weeks. Larger projects with multiple accounts or years of backlog are scoped individually. You'll get a timeline estimate in the first conversation before any work begins.

Catch-up bookkeeping is quoted as a fixed project fee, not hourly. This means you know the total cost upfront before committing. The quote is based on how many months of backlog need to be done, the number of bank and card accounts involved, transaction volume, and whether the accounts have never been set up or were partially started. No surprise invoices.

At a minimum: read-only access to your accounting software (QuickBooks, Xero, Wave, etc.) and bank/credit card statements for the period to be caught up. If you don't have an accounting file set up yet, I can set one up as part of the project. If your statements are in PDF or CSV format, those work fine — you don't need to do any pre-sorting or categorisation yourself.

Yes. Multi-year catch-up is one of the most common requests. The process is the same — I work chronologically through each month, reconcile each bank statement, and categorise transactions correctly. Multi-year projects are quoted per year of backlog and delivered year by year so you can see progress. Tax deadlines can also be factored into the delivery timeline if you need specific years completed first.

You'll receive clean, reconciled financial statements covering the entire period — typically a P&L and balance sheet per month or quarter. If you'd like ongoing monthly bookkeeping after the catch-up, I can continue on a retainer. Many clients use the completed catch-up to file overdue tax returns, get a business loan, or simply start fresh with clean records. You own everything — no lock-in.

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