The method
Most bookkeeping engagements begin by entering transactions. A cleanup has to begin by establishing why the previous set could not be relied upon.
That order does most of the work. Correcting a file without diagnosing it first rebuilds on the same underlying fault, and the same cleanup is purchased again within a few years. We have inherited enough of those files to be firm about the sequence.
Four stages, each with a defined output and a defined cost, so the scope is understood before the work is authorised.
Chart of accounts rebuilt around your industry, with capture, cash flow and currency tools feeding it automatically.
The order matters. Correcting a file before diagnosing it rebuilds on the same underlying fault, which is why so many businesses pay for a second cleanup within a few years.
In detail
The stage most engagements skip. Nothing is entered or corrected until this is complete.
Backlog reconstructed to a standard that withstands external review.
A structure shaped around how the business operates, rather than how the software ships.
The stage that determines whether the cleanup was worth paying for.
What changes
Once the structure is correct, the monthly close is administrative. Figures arrive, reconcile, and report themselves.
The change is most visible in what stops happening. No scramble in the final week of the month. No repeated requests for the same schedule. No uncertainty about what year end will produce.
Common questions
It depends on the number of years, entities and accounts involved. A single company two years behind is typically four to six weeks. A group structure with intercompany history runs longer. The diagnostic produces a defined scope and timeline before anything is authorised, so the engagement is never open ended.
Usually not. Many clients keep day to day entry in house and engage us for the diagnostic, the rebuild, the system design and a monthly review. The diagnostic will recommend the split that suits the business, including where that means less work for us.
Read only access to the QuickBooks file, the last filed corporate return, and recent HST and payroll filings. There is no need to organise anything beforehand. The current state of the file is the information the diagnostic is assessing.
You are told immediately, in writing, with the amount at issue and the available options set out beside it. Voluntary correction is generally treated more favourably than an error identified during a review. We will explain what disclosure involves before you decide, and the decision remains yours.
We are not the lowest cost option in Toronto and do not present ourselves that way. Cleanup work is quoted as a fixed scope after the diagnostic, so the figure is known before the work begins. In many engagements a meaningful portion of the fee is offset by recovered credits and corrected tax, and we will say plainly where we do not expect that to be the case.
Next step
The initial conversation carries no fee and will tell you more about the condition of your file than the last twelve months of reporting has.