Spurling Bookkeeping

Services

What I do, in plain terms

Three ways to work together, one monthly routine underneath all of them, and a clear line around what I do not do.

Monthly bookkeeping

The routine that keeps your books current, reconciled and ready for whatever comes next, month after month.

  • Every transaction recorded and categorised 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

A good fit if

  • You want the books current all year, not reconstructed in March
  • You are tired of digging through statements to answer a simple question
  • You would rather hand the bookkeeping off and get back to running the business

Catch-up bookkeeping

For books that are months, or years, behind. Behind is common. It is also fixable, and it is fixed once.

  • A short look at where things stand, and a fixed price in writing before any work starts
  • Every missing month entered and reconciled, in order
  • Duplicates, miscodings and stray personal expenses found and corrected
  • Books that are accurate and ready to hand to a tax preparer or a lender
  • A clean starting point, so the monthly routine can begin

A good fit if

  • The books are months, or longer, behind
  • You inherited a mess from a software switch or a previous bookkeeper
  • You need accurate books soon, for a tax deadline, a loan application or a big decision

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.

  • A QuickBooks Online file set up in your name, with the right set of accounts for the way your business actually works
  • Your bank and card accounts connected through read-only feeds
  • A clean line between business money and personal money
  • A habit for receipts and records that you will actually keep
  • A first month done together, so you know what to expect

A good fit if

  • You have just formed the business and want the first year done right
  • Money is starting to move and nothing is set up yet
  • You would like someone to tell you plainly what to keep

What you receive

A report you can read in five minutes

Every month you get a short report, written for an owner rather than an accountant. It covers what came in and what went out, what the business owns and owes, and what changed since last month, with a sentence or two on anything worth your attention. The formal statements are attached for your tax preparer, your bank, or anyone else who needs them.

At year end you get a complete package: reconciled books, the statements, and the supporting detail a preparer needs to file without coming back to you with a list of questions. If they do have questions, they can ask me directly.

Through the year the figures behind your other filings, sales tax above all, are current and ready whenever a date comes round; the filing itself is yours or your preparer’s. The dates, state by state, are on the home page.

Working with your tax preparer

Two jobs, one clean handover

Bookkeeping and tax preparation are different jobs. I keep the record complete, categorised and reconciled through the year; your preparer works from that record to file the return. When the record is clean, their work is faster and cheaper, and nobody spends February reconstructing March.

If you already have a preparer, I will work alongside them. If you do not, say so, and I will tell you what to look for when you choose one.

Scope

What I don’t do

It is easier to trust someone who tells you where their work ends. This is bookkeeping, and only bookkeeping; the following are not offered:

  • Preparing or filing income tax returns
  • Filing sales tax returns, renewing licences, or filing state annual reports
  • Payroll

Each of those is done by you or by your tax preparer, from books that are ready for them. If you need something that is not listed on this page, ask. I will tell you plainly whether it is something I do, and if it is not, I will point you toward someone who does.

How fees work

Agreed in writing, before we start

The fee is set to fit your business. You will know the number before any work begins, it does not change because a month was busy, and for service this personal it is more than competitive.

Ask for a quote

Monthly bookkeeping is a flat monthly fee. It is sized to how much activity your books carry, roughly how many accounts and transactions there are in a typical month, not to how many hours the work takes.

Catch-up bookkeeping is a one-time project with a fixed price, quoted after I have seen how far behind the books are. The price is in writing before I begin, and it does not grow.

A clean start is set up as part of your first months, with the setup work itemised so you can see exactly what it covered.

There is no long contract, and no setup fee hiding behind the first invoice. If the work grows because your business did, that is a conversation first and a new number in writing, never a surprise on the invoice. If you want to stop, thirty days’ written notice ends it, from either side, and you leave with a clean, current set of books in your own QuickBooks Online account.

Not sure which of these you need?

That is what the first conversation is for. Tell me where the books stand and I will tell you what I would do, and what it would cost.

Start a conversation Read the questions first