If your books feel messy, behind, or just plain confusing, you’re not alone. A lot of small business owners reach a point where they know they need help, but they’re not sure what kind.
Do you need cleanup?
Do you need catch-up?
Do you maybe need… both?
Let’s break it down in simple terms so you can figure out what kind of support your business actually needs.
What Is Catch-Up Bookkeeping?
Catch-up bookkeeping is all about getting your books up to date.
Maybe you fell a few months behind. Maybe you haven’t touched your QuickBooks since last year (or longer—no judgment!). Catch-up means entering, categorizing, and reconciling past months so your financials are current and ready to use.
Signs you need catch-up bookkeeping:
- You haven’t entered any transactions for weeks, months, or longer
- You still have a pile of receipts and bank statements waiting to be sorted
- You’re not sure how much you made—or spent—this year
- You’re dreading tax season because nothing is ready
What Is Cleanup Bookkeeping?
Cleanup bookkeeping is about fixing errors and getting things accurate.
Even if you’re mostly caught up, your books can still have issues—duplicate transactions, uncategorized income, incorrect balances, and more. Cleanup is like spring cleaning for your books: making sure everything is organized, correct, and easy to understand.
Signs you need cleanup bookkeeping:
- Your bank account balances in QuickBooks don’t match your actual accounts
- Income or expenses look way off
- You’ve got tons of uncategorized or miscategorized transactions
- Your reports don’t make sense—and you don’t trust the numbers
Can You Need Both?
Yep. And that’s super common.
If you’re behind and your books are a little messy (or a lot), you’ll need a combo of catch-up and cleanup. That way, we’re not just getting things up to date—we’re also making sure the data is solid moving forward.
So… What Now?
If any of this sounds familiar, it’s probably time to bring in a pro. You deserve financial clarity, not stress and guesswork.
At my firm, we help small business owners clean up the chaos and build a bookkeeping system that actually works—so you can make decisions with confidence and keep growing.
Not sure where you fall? Reach out, and I’ll take a look. We’ll figure out exactly what your books need (and nothing they don’t).