Bookkeeping Cleanup Specialist

Cleanup bookkeeping specialists fix businesses' messy financial records - reconciling months or years of transactions, correcting errors, categorizing properly, and delivering clean accurate books.

Many businesses fall behind or have poor bookkeeping requiring professional cleanup.

Projects range from $2,000-$15,000 depending on mess severity and timeframe.

Completing 15-30 cleanup projects annually plus ongoing maintenance generates $80,000-$220,000 with 65-80% margins.

Target clients include businesses behind on bookkeeping, companies preparing for audits or due diligence, businesses with tax problems from bad books, new business owners inheriting messes, and companies switching bookkeepers.

Services include historical transaction categorization, bank and credit card reconciliation, error identification and correction, financial statement preparation, sales tax catch-up, and transition to ongoing bookkeeping.

Success requires advanced bookkeeping and accounting skills, detective work finding and fixing errors, patience with messy situations, efficiency to quote projects accurately, and communication explaining issues to stressed clients.

Many cleanup specialists charge project fees versus hourly, potentially upsell ongoing bookkeeping after cleanup, specialize in specific software or industries, systematize cleanup processes, and build practices on both cleanup projects and recurring maintenance.