Monthly bookkeeping for owner-run businesses
Books you can trust, and a bookkeeper who picks up the phone
I’m Vicki Spurling, a bookkeeper in Shreveport, Louisiana. I keep the books for owner-run businesses here and anywhere in the country: every account reconciled each month in QuickBooks Online, explained in plain English, and every question answered within one business day.
- One bookkeeper, not a rotating team
- Email and phone, a shared Dropbox folder, no driving
- A flat monthly fee, agreed in writing
- Replies within one business day
What I do
What happens every month
Bookkeeping is a routine, not a rescue. This is the routine, and it is what the monthly fee covers.
Every transaction recorded and categorized in QuickBooks Online, from your bank and card feeds and the receipts you share
Bank and credit-card accounts reconciled to the statement, every month, line by line
A monthly report in plain English: what came in, what went out, what you own and owe, and what changed
The figures behind your sales tax and other filings, current and ready for whoever files them
Your questions answered as they come up, not saved for tax time
A year-end package your tax preparer can work from without chasing you
Where you start depends on where you are
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Monthly bookkeeping
The routine that keeps your books current, reconciled and ready for whatever comes next, month after month.
- Every transaction recorded and categorized
- Every account reconciled, every month
- A plain-English report you can read in five minutes
From $300 a month
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Catch-up bookkeeping
For books that are months, or years, behind. Behind is common. It is also fixable, and it is fixed once.
- Every missing month entered and reconciled
- Duplicates, miscodings and personal expenses corrected
- Books ready for your tax preparer or lender
A fixed price after a look at your books
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A clean start for a new business
If your business is new, we begin with a simple, sensible structure you will not have to undo later.
- QuickBooks Online set up in your name
- Bank and card feeds connected, read-only
- A first month done together
From $300 a month
Every new client starts with a one-time setup fee, priced in your written quote. Your first month’s fee is included in it; after that, it’s business as usual.
Who this is for
Sound familiar?
Most people get in touch from one of these four places. None of them is a bad place to start.
You are months behind and dreading it
The receipts are in a box, the software has not been opened since spring, and every week it gets harder to start. This is the most common place people begin.
You have outgrown doing it yourself
A second account, a first employee, a second location. What used to take an evening now takes a weekend, and it is not the best use of yours.
You are just starting and want it right
A new LLC, a new bank account, and a strong preference for never having to untangle the first year.
Your tax preparer keeps asking for cleaner books
They do the return; they do not want to do the bookkeeping. They would rather receive a reconciled set of books than a folder of statements.
Who it’s for
Businesses like yours
Bookkeeping is the same discipline in every trade: record everything, reconcile everything, explain it plainly. What changes from one business to the next is what you need to see each month. A few examples:
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Contractors and trades
Costs tracked by job, so you know which jobs made money, with deposits, draws and subcontractor payments reconciled every month.
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Law offices
Operating and trust accounts kept separate and reconciled to the statement every month, so every client dollar is accounted for.
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Churches and small nonprofits
Giving recorded, designated funds kept designated, and a monthly report your board or finance committee can read in five minutes.
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Farms, stables and horse businesses
Seasonal income, animal and equipment costs, and the mix of personal and business that comes with working from home, kept straight month by month.
Not on the list? Almost nobody’s business is, and the routine is the same. Tell me about yours.
How it works
Four steps, and the first one is a conversation
You should know exactly what you are signing up for, and what you get out of it, before you say yes.
Step 1: A short conversation, by phone
You tell me about your business and where the books stand. I ask a few questions. No preparation needed, and nothing to sign.
Step 2: A written quote, then setup
You get a written quote: a one-time setup fee that includes your first month, then a flat monthly fee. If you say yes, we connect your accounts to QuickBooks Online through read-only feeds and set up a shared Dropbox folder for documents. You keep your own logins and your own books.
Step 3: Every month, handled
I record and reconcile everything and send you a report you can read in five minutes. If something looks off, you hear about it early.
Step 4: Tax time, without the scramble
Your tax preparer receives a complete, reconciled set of books, and I can assist them with any questions.
Online, on purpose
It happens by phone and online, not across a desk
Three tools carry the whole of working together. They are why you can be anywhere in the country, and why you never lose a morning to an appointment. If you are in Shreveport–Bossier and would like to meet in person, that can be arranged.
Email, or a phone call when we need to talk
The first conversation, the setup, and any question that is easier said than typed happen by phone. The rest happens by email, at whatever hour suits you.
A shared Dropbox folder for documents
Receipts, statements and reports live in one folder we both can see, instead of traveling as email attachments.
Read-only bank feeds into QuickBooks Online
Transactions arrive on their own. You never share a password, and nothing can be moved or changed from my side.
How fees work
Know your cost before we get started
Monthly bookkeeping from $300 a month
My starting price is just that: a starting point, not a one-size-fits-all package. Every business is different, so I will take the time to review your books and understand your monthly activity. Your monthly fee is agreed in writing before we begin.
No hourly rate. No surprise invoices. For service this personal, the fee is more than competitive.
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A flat monthly fee for the monthly routine, sized to how much activity your books carry, not to how long I spend.
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Catch-up work at a fixed price after a look at your books, in writing before I begin, so a box of receipts never turns into an open-ended bill.
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No surprise scope changes. If your business grows and the work grows with it, that is a conversation first and a new number in writing, never a bigger invoice.
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No long contract. Thirty days’ written notice ends it, from either side. Your books live in your own QuickBooks Online account, in your name, so you would leave with a clean, current set of books.
At tax time
Everything your tax preparer needs, from books that are already done
I don’t prepare or file tax returns. What I do is hand your preparer a complete, reconciled set of books, so the return starts from a finished record instead of a box of statements.
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A year-end package. Reconciled books, the financial statements, and the supporting detail your preparer needs to file without coming back to you with a list of questions.
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Figures ready all year. The numbers behind your sales tax and other filings are current every month, not pieced together in March.
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Nothing to chase. Every figure in the package ties back to a reconciled account, so your preparer finds the answer in the books instead of coming back to you. If they do have questions, I can assist.
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Ready for any preparer. Your books are in QuickBooks Online, in your name, so whichever preparer you choose can work from them.
What the year-end package includes
A profit and loss statement for the year
A balance sheet at year end
The total paid to each contractor, for their 1099s
The general ledger: available 24/7 in your QuickBooks Online, as well as each month’s bank and credit-card reconciliations, which are kept month by month in our shared Dropbox folder
Who you would be working with
Vicki Spurling
I’ve been working with numbers and some form of bookkeeping since 1978.
Spurling Bookkeeping is a bookkeeping practice in Shreveport, Louisiana, and it is deliberately small: one bookkeeper, a short client list, and the attention that comes with that. When you send a question, the person who answers is the person who keeps your books.
I believe every owner should be able to read their own numbers. So the reports are written in plain English, the questions get asked while they are fresh, and nothing about your own money is ever kept mysterious from you.
Questions
The things people ask first
What does it cost?
Monthly bookkeeping starts at $300 a month: a flat fee, agreed in writing before we start. Getting started is a one-time setup fee, priced in the same written quote, and your first month’s fee is included in it. After that, it’s business as usual: the monthly fee we agreed on. Above that, the amount depends on how much activity your books carry, how many bank, card and loan accounts there are to reconcile, how many transactions go through them in a month, how many contractors you pay, and whether I work alongside a payroll service, not on how many hours I spend. There is no meter running, and for service this personal the fee is more than competitive.
Catch-up work is a one-time project at a fixed price after a look at your books, in writing before I begin. After a short conversation about your business, you get a number in writing.
My books are a mess and I am way behind. Is that a problem?
It is the most common starting point there is, and it is fixable. Catch-up bookkeeping is a normal, bounded project: I look at where things stand, give you a fixed price, enter and reconcile every missing month in order, and hand you a clean starting point. Nobody is judged for a box of receipts.
Do we ever need to meet in person?
No. The work and our conversations happen at a distance: email, a phone call when we need to talk, a shared Dropbox folder for documents, and read-only bank feeds into QuickBooks Online for the numbers. That is what lets me work with businesses anywhere in the country. If you are in the Shreveport–Bossier area and would like to meet in person, that can be arranged.
Do you prepare tax returns?
No. I keep the books; your tax preparer files the returns. What I make sure of is that they receive a complete, reconciled set of books, early. If they have questions, I can assist your preparer with them.
A small first step
Tell me about your business.
A 15 to 20 minute conversation, nothing to prepare, nothing to sign. I reply within one business day, and you get a written quote afterwards.
- Email vicki@spurlingbookkeeping.com
- Phone 318-422-8570