Questions people actually ask me

The twelve questions

• What do I need to bring to the first call?

  Nothing. Genuinely nothing. The first call is me asking what your business does and how far behind you feel, and you asking me whatever you want.

  If you like having something in hand, bring last year's return and a rough number of how many bank and card accounts run through the business. That is enough for me to tell you what the work looks like.

• How far back can a clean up go?

  As far back as you need. I have gone back years. The record is not the thing that matters; what matters is that we agree on a date to go back to, I go back to it, and every month between there and now balances when I am done.

  The reason to go further back rather than less far is usually a return that needs amending or a loan application that needs real statements. If neither of those is true, we can pick a sensible starting point and save you money.

• My books are genuinely bad. Will you judge me?

  No. And not in the polite way people say that.

  Books get bad for boring reasons: a business grew faster than the person running it could keep up with, or a bookkeeper left, or one hard year happened and the paperwork was the thing that got dropped. None of that is a character flaw. It is just a backlog, and backlogs are a thing I clear for a living.

• Do you handle payroll taxes?

  Yes. Withholding, deposits, quarterly returns, and the year end forms for your people.

  This is the area where being a little bit late costs the most, because penalties and interest on late deposits add up quietly and the notice shows up months later. If you have been doing payroll by hand and hoping, that is worth a call on its own.

• Can you work alongside my accountant?

  Yes, and quite often that is the best arrangement. I keep the books clean all year and hand your accountant a set of books that does not need arguing with. They spend their time on the parts that need their level, instead of on reconciling your checking account at four hundred dollars an hour.

  Tell me who they are at the start and I will work the way they prefer to receive things.

• Are you remote? Can you work with me in another state?

  Yes, anywhere in the United States. Your books live in your own QuickBooks Online account, documents move through a secure portal, and we talk by video or phone.

  Bookkeeping and payroll travel fine. On the tax side, some state situations need somebody who practices in your own state, and if yours is one of those I will tell you on the first call rather than take the work and find out later.

• What does it cost?

  The sample prices on the services page are there to show you the shape of it, and they are labeled as samples for a reason: your real number depends on how many accounts you run, how many transactions come through them, and how far behind you are.

  What I will promise is the process. I look first, I give you a number before I start, and the number does not move unless the work changes and you agree to it.

• Do I have to use QuickBooks Online?

  For ongoing bookkeeping, I strongly prefer it, and here is the honest reason: it is what I am fastest in, which makes it cheaper for you, and it is in your name so you keep everything if we ever part ways.

  If you are already on something else and it is working, tell me what it is on the call. Sometimes moving is not worth it. I would rather say that than sell you a migration.

• Do you do my personal return as well as the business one?

  Yes, and usually it makes sense to do both. For most small business owners the two returns are really one conversation, and having the same person see both sides means nothing falls between them.

• How do we send documents back and forth safely?

  Through a secure portal, not email attachments and not photos by text. The portal keeps a record of what was sent and when, which matters more than people expect if a question comes up a year later.

  For local clients who would rather hand me a folder, that still works. Paper is not obsolete around here.

• How quickly do you answer?

  Fast, and from me rather than from an assistant. Call 386-344-7113 and you get me or you get a call back the same day, most days.

  Texting is fine. A lot of my clients text me a photo of a letter they just opened with "is this bad" underneath, and usually the answer is no.

• What if I only need help once, not every month?

  Then we do it once. A set up, a clean up, a single year's return, an hour of somebody looking over what you have built and telling you it is fine.

  I would rather do one honest job for you than talk you into a monthly arrangement you do not need. Some of my favorite clients call me twice a year.