When does a business need QuickBooks cleanup?

Signs your books need a closer look

• Unreconciled accounts. Bank or credit-card accounts have months that do not match the statements.
• Unexpected opening balances. The starting balance does not agree with the supporting records.
• Duplicate or uncategorized activity. Transactions appear twice, or an unresolved backlog remains.
• Unexplained balances. Loans, payroll liabilities, customer balances or owner accounts do not make sense.
• Unreliable reports. Profit-and-loss or balance-sheet figures conflict with records you can verify.

A warning sign calls for investigation. It does not, by itself, establish which entry should be changed.

What a cleanup review can include

QuickBooks cleanup begins by comparing the books with bank and credit-card statements and other supporting records. Depending on the scope, the review can cover reconciliations, opening balances, duplicate entries, uncategorized activity, loans, payroll and owner transactions.

Intuit notes that a problem with the beginning balance during a first reconciliation can come from an incorrect opening balance. That is one reason to investigate the starting point rather than force a reconciliation to balance.

Gather these records before the review

• Bank and credit-card statements for all months needing review.
• The latest profit-and-loss and balance-sheet reports.
• Loan statements and payment details.
• Payroll reports and supporting tax records, where relevant.
• Prior tax returns and information about opening balances or earlier adjustments.
• A list of known issues and the last month successfully reconciled.

Use a secure method agreed with the firm to provide records. Do not share your QuickBooks password; arrange appropriate accountant access.