Bookkeeping5 min
Behind on Your Books? A Founder's Guide to Catch-Up Bookkeeping
What to do when you're 6, 12 or 24 months behind — and how catch-up turns chaos into tax-ready clarity.
Falling behind on bookkeeping is more common than founders admit — and entirely fixable. The trick is to treat it as a scoped project, not an open-ended slog.
How catch-up works
A good catch-up engagement runs in four steps:
- Scope the backlog by months behind and monthly transaction volume.
- Reconstruct period by period — reconcile every bank and card account.
- Categorise historical transactions and restate the financials.
- Hand off a tax-ready package, then move to a monthly retainer.
What it costs
Catch-up typically runs $500 to $10,000+ depending on volume and how far back you go. It's usually the fastest way to demonstrate value — which is why it so often converts into an ongoing relationship.