How much does it cost to catch up a year of unfiled bookkeeping?
There's no single number that's true for everyone — but there is a real way to price it before you commit, instead of an open hourly tab.
"It depends" sounds like a dodge, but it's genuinely true here — and it's worth knowing what it actually depends on before you get a quote, so you can tell whether one makes sense.
What drives the cost
- How many transactions ran through the year — a low-volume consultant is a different job than a busy retail shop
- How many accounts need reconciling — each bank, card, and loan account adds real work
- Whether the chart of accounts needs to be rebuilt from scratch, or just corrected
- For investors: how many properties or entities are involved — see real estate investor bookkeeping
Why fixed quote beats hourly here specifically
An hourly rate on a cleanup punishes you for exactly the thing that isn't your fault — how messy the books got before you called anyone. A fixed quote, priced after I've actually looked at the state of things, means you know the number before work starts and it doesn't move if the job takes an extra afternoon. See why that distinction matters generally, or how cleanup pricing works specifically.
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