Outsourced Accounting Services That Keep the Books Closed Without Keeping You Up
Bookkeeping is the eleven months that make filing season short — transaction entry, reconciliation, and a monthly close that ends in statements you can actually use, handled in the same office that files the return.
What Outsourced Accounting Actually Covers — and What Stays With You
Outsourced accounting services are not a single thing. The work runs in levels, and knowing which level you are buying is the first decision worth making.
Transaction Entry and Reconciliation
Every bank account and credit card gets reconciled on the schedule your business runs on. Transactions are categorized, duplicates are cleared, and at the end of the cycle the accounts match the statements. This is the foundation layer — nothing above it is reliable without it.
Once the accounts are reconciled, we close the period. That produces a profit and loss, a balance sheet, and — depending on the business — an accounts receivable and accounts payable aging. These are the deliverables by name, not summaries. You get the actual statements, in a form a lender, a partner, or a tax return can use.
Monthly Close and Financial Statements
How the Monthly Engagement Works
Step One: A First Look at the Current File
Before anything else, we look at what you have — the accounting software, the chart of accounts, the state of the reconciliations, and how documents have been moving. That first look tells us what needs to be built, what needs to be cleaned, and what is already working.
Step Two: Agreement on What We Handle and What Stays In-House
Some owners want everything off their plate. Others want to keep payables or invoicing in-house and hand off the reconciliation and close. We agree in writing on the division before the work starts, so there are no gaps and no overlap.
Step Three: Transaction Entry and Reconciliation on Your Schedule
Once the engagement is set, the recurring work runs on the schedule the business runs on — monthly for most, more frequently when the volume calls for it. Transactions are entered and categorized, accounts are reconciled, and the file stays current.
Step Four: The Monthly Close
At the end of each period we close the books and produce the statements. The profit and loss shows what came in and what went out. The balance sheet shows where things stand. If you carry receivables or payables, the aging reports show who owes what and what is due.
Step Five: A Conversation About What the Numbers Say
Reconciled books are not the end of the engagement — they are the starting point for a conversation. We go through what the statements show, flag anything that looks off, and connect the numbers to the decisions you are making. Reconciled records are what make a return, a loan application, or a bid defensible.
If Your Books Are Behind, That Is a Normal Way to Start
Behind is a starting point, not a verdict. Catch-up and clean-up engagements are ordinary work here — the kind of situation we see often enough that there is a clear process for it.
How Far Back a Catch-Up Typically Reaches
Most catch-up engagements go back one to three years. Some go further. The range depends on when the books last balanced, what the IRS or a lender is asking for, and whether there are unfiled returns waiting on the records. We work through the unreconciled months in order, rebuilding the file as we go.
What Makes a Catch-Up Go Faster
The documents that speed the work are bank statements, credit card statements, and any records of large payments — materials, subcontractors, equipment. If you used accounting software during the period, even a file nobody has touched in a year is useful. If the records are partial, we work with what exists and note the gaps.
What Happens After the Catch-Up Is Done
Once the file is rebuilt through the unreconciled period, the monthly work starts from a clean point. If there are unfiled returns that were waiting on the books, we move to those next. The catch-up is not a separate product — it is the on-ramp to the ongoing engagement.
Documents and Data: How They Move
Handing over financial records is the part of this decision that gives most owners pause, and that is a reasonable concern. Documents come in through a secure client portal — the same one used for tax returns. Statements, receipts, and any other records are uploaded there rather than sent by email. The portal is the concrete answer to the data security question.
Setting Up and Cleaning Up the Software File
If the accounting software itself needs to be set up, switched, or cleaned up before the bookkeeping can run correctly, that work is part of what we do. Setting up and cleaning up accounting software is a separate engagement, but it feeds directly into the bookkeeping once it is done.
The Books and the Return, Built by the Same Hands
When the bookkeeping and the tax return are handled in the same office, the year's records are already in the form the return needs when filing season opens. There is no translation step, no March scramble to explain last year's categories to someone who was not there. The handoff is internal.
Bookkeeping for the Industries We Know Well
The work looks different depending on the business, and the differences matter. Generic bookkeeping categories do not always match how money actually moves in a specific trade or industry.
Construction Trades: Roofing, Painting, Framing, Concrete, Remodeling
For contractors, the bookkeeping angle is job costing — tracking materials, labor, and subcontractor payments to the project they came from rather than into a general expense account. That separation is what makes a job's profit or loss visible. We also track the cash flow gap between draws: the period between when costs go out and when the next draw comes in is where contractors run short, and the books need to reflect it clearly.
Retailers: Inventory and Seasonal Swings
Retail bookkeeping has to account for inventory on hand, cost of goods sold, and the revenue patterns that shift by season. Reconciling sales figures against inventory records is where errors tend to hide, and a clean monthly close makes them findable before they compound.
Professional Service Firms: Billing, Receivables, and Owner Draws
For firms that bill by project or by hour, the accounts receivable aging is one of the most useful statements we produce. It shows what has been billed, what has been collected, and what is sitting unpaid. Owner draws also need to be recorded correctly from the start — the way they are treated on the books affects how they are treated on the return.
Why Bookkeeping Is Year-Round Work
Filing season is short when the other eleven months are handled. That is the argument for outsourced accounting services, stated plainly: the return is built on the records, and the records are built all year.
When the books are current, a lender can get statements the same week they ask. A bid can be priced on actual job costs rather than estimates. A year-end tax projection is based on real numbers rather than guesses. None of that is possible if the books are three months behind.
Who Does This Work
We have been doing individual and business tax work for seventeen years and have been in business for fifteen. Across the office, there is roughly sixty years of combined experience. Craig Collins works directly with owners — not through a chain of staff — and the standard is straight talk about what the numbers show, not a summary dressed up to sound better than it is. Se habla español.
Our office serves clients in Tallahassee, Florida and the Atlanta, Georgia area in person, and we handle engagements fully remotely for clients anywhere in the country.
Schedule a Conversation About Your Books
If the books are current and you want the monthly work off your plate, or if you are behind and need to figure out where to start, the next step is the same: a conversation about where things stand and what the engagement would look like. Call us at (850) 391-7659 or use the form below.
Questions About Outsourced Accounting and Catch-Up Bookkeeping
What does outsourced accounting actually include?
At minimum, it covers transaction entry, bank and credit card reconciliation, and a monthly close that produces a profit and loss and a balance sheet. Depending on the engagement, it may also include accounts receivable and accounts payable aging reports, payroll coordination, and a review of what the statements show each period. The scope is agreed on before the work starts.My books are two years behind and I don't know where to start — can you still help?
Yes. Catch-up engagements that go back one, two, or three years are ordinary work here. We start with whatever records exist — bank statements, credit card statements, any accounting software file — and rebuild the books in order through the unreconciled periods. Once the file is current, the monthly work begins from a clean point.Will I have to learn new software or change how I do things?
Not necessarily. We work with the software you already have if it is serviceable. If the file needs to be cleaned up or the software needs to change, we handle that as part of the engagement. The goal is a setup that runs without requiring you to become an accountant.How do documents and financial records move between us?
Through a secure client portal. Bank statements, credit card statements, receipts, and any other records are uploaded there rather than sent by email. Finished statements come back through the same portal. That is the concrete answer to the data security question.Does it matter that the bookkeeping and the tax return are in the same office?
It matters in March. When the records are already in the form the return needs, filing season is a short process rather than a reconstruction project. There is no explaining last year's categories to someone who was not there. The handoff from the books to the return is internal, and the year's records are already organized the way the return requires them.
