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OUR SERVICES

Accounting & Bookkeeping

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OUR SERVICES

Ongoing Monthly Bookkeeping

At Barton CPA PLLC, our monthly bookkeeping services ensure your financial data remains up to date and accurate, supporting critical decision-making. We implement industry best practices, rooted in Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and AICPA guidelines, to maintain consistent and reliable books for businesses of all sizes.

1. Transaction Recording & Reconciliations

We record daily transactions—sales, expenses, payroll—and reconcile all bank, credit card, and loan accounts.

Example: A retail store with multiple daily transactions relies on our monthly reconciliation to identify errors (e.g., double charges or missing deposits) before they become larger issues.

2. Customized Chart of Accounts

We design a chart of accounts tailored to your business operations, making financial statements easy to read and interpret.

Example: A technology startup may need distinct expense categories like “Research & Development” or “Software Subscriptions” to track spending patterns effectively.

3. Real-Time Reporting & Advisory

By staying current with monthly bookkeeping, we can provide timely financial reports (e.g., income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements) that help you spot trends, control costs, and forecast cash needs.

Example: A restaurant chain might use monthly sales trends to determine optimal inventory purchasing and staffing levels.

Timely Filing Emphasis

Keeping books updated on a monthly basis means you’re well-prepared for tax deadlines, lender requests, or investor inquiries.

AICPA recommends consistent, periodic reviews of financial data to ensure accuracy (see https://www.aicpa.org).

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Annual Bookkeeping for Tax Return Filing

For some businesses, a streamlined approach to bookkeeping involves consolidating records once a year in preparation for tax season. Barton CPA PLLC offers an annual bookkeeping service that focuses on ensuring your financial data is accurate, comprehensive, and ready to support a smooth tax filing process.

1. Year-End Compilation of Transactions

We gather all of your financial documents—bank statements, receipts, credit card statements, payroll reports—and categorize each transaction according to GAAP.

Example: A small consulting firm may have sporadic monthly activity and prefer a single year-end accounting engagement to finalize its books before filing Form 1120S or 1065.

2. Adjusting Entries & Account Reconciliations

We conduct reconciliations for each balance sheet account to verify accuracy and prepare adjusting journal entries for items such as depreciation, accrued expenses, or prepaid accounts.

Example: We help a home-based business calculate and record depreciation on office equipment, ensuring correct deductions for the tax return.

3. Preparation for Tax Filings

Once year-end books are completed, we collaborate with our tax team (or yours) to supply financial statements and supporting schedules for the corporate or personal tax return.

Example: An LLC structured as a partnership may need a “Schedule K-1” for each partner. We ensure the annual bookkeeping accurately reflects each partner’s distributive share.

Timely Filing Emphasis

Proper annual bookkeeping avoids last-minute scrambles when tax deadlines approach (e.g., March 15 for S-Corps/partnerships or April 15 for C-Corps/individuals).

The IRS emphasizes accurate recordkeeping for all entities to reduce errors and facilitate prompt filing (see https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/recordkeeping).

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3) Historical Cleanup – Catchup

When a company’s books haven’t been maintained for several months—or even years—Barton CPA PLLC offers historical cleanup (also called “catchup”) services. We reconstruct missing financial records, correct inaccuracies, and prepare your books for ongoing operations or imminent tax filing requirements.

1. Data Reconstruction & Forensic-Like Procedures

We locate bank statements, receipts, invoices, and any other source documents to rebuild your financial history accurately.

Example: A business owner who neglected their records for two years might have hundreds of unrecorded transactions. We systematically log and reconcile them to produce a reliable set of financial statements.

2. Error Identification & Correction

We identify and correct previous misclassifications or duplicates. Where necessary, we work with third-party software or external data to fill gaps in the transactional record.

Example: If payroll was lumped into a single “expense” category for months, we’ll break it down into wages, taxes, and benefits so that the income statement is correctly detailed.

3. Compliance & Tax Alignment

Our cleanup ensures compliance with GAAP and sets you up for accurate tax returns. If the IRS or state authorities require late filings, we provide the corrected financial data and coordinate with legal/tax professionals as needed.

Example: A restaurant may need to file multiple delinquent sales tax returns. Once the books are caught up, we can assist in calculating prior sales tax obligations accurately.

Timely Filing Emphasis

Delays in financial statement preparation can lead to missed tax deadlines, potential penalties, and difficulty securing financing.

We fast-track the cleanup process when clients are facing looming deadlines, ensuring historical records are accurate in time for filings.

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4) Audit Readiness Preparation

When a company’s books haven’t been maintained for several months—or even years—Barton CPA PLLC offers historical cleanup (also called “catchup”) services. We reconstruct missing financial records, correct inaccuracies, and prepare your books for ongoing operations or imminent tax filing requirements.

1. Internal Controls Assessment

We evaluate your processes for sales, purchases, payroll, and financial reporting to verify that adequate controls are in place to prevent errors or fraud.

Example: A growing e-commerce company might need to strengthen segregation of duties around billing, collections, and bank reconciliation.

2. Financial Statement Preparation

Before an external auditor arrives, we prepare or refine financial statements (balance sheet, income statement, cash flow statement, equity statement) in accordance with GAAP.

Example: A technology startup planning an external audit ahead of a funding round benefits from well-supported balances for intangible assets (like patents or software development costs).

3. Supporting Documentation & Schedules

We compile schedules for accounts like fixed assets, inventory, or debt to support the figures on your financial statements. This includes reconciliations, vendor invoices, and other key evidence.

Example: A manufacturer must back up its raw materials, work in process, and finished goods inventory with physical counts and cost allocations to pass an audit without discrepancies.

Timely Filing Emphasis

Early audit readiness can save you substantial time and cost once the external auditors or due diligence teams begin their review.

PCAOB sets the standards for audits of public companies, while AICPA standards apply to private company audits. Ensuring your financial data aligns with these standards helps your external audit conclude smoothly and on schedule.

FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions: Bookkeeping

When should I hire a bookkeeper?

The decision to hire a professional bookkeeper is usually triggered by a business owner’s experience of working late into the night, only to find that they’re still not keeping up with their bookkeeping duties. By this point, their books are usually out of order and whether they know it or not, they are often costing themselves money by paying more in taxes than they actually need to. Hiring a bookkeeper will help you to maximize the clarity of your company’s books so you have complete awareness of your income and expenses.

What’s the importance of outsourcing my bookkeeping to a 3rd party?

Outsourcing your bookkeeping to a professional has many benefits. Primary among these benefits is preserving the integrity of your books.

Beyond that, outsourcing your bookkeeping to a professional helps to ensure that you are paying the proper amount in taxes, maximizing your profitability, and most importantly, that you have more time to focus on the day-to-day operations of your business.

Will I still be able to keep control over my business if I outsource my bookkeeping to a 3rd party?

Yes, you will – your bookkeeper is there to provide you with assistance, and to keep up with the financial details of your operation, leaving you to spend time working on and growing your business. All decisions about the business remain with you.

Should my books be done on the cash basis or accrual basis of accounting?

Most businesses will at least need to have cash basis bookkeeping for tax reporting purposes. For simpler businesses, this may be all you need. For businesses that have a bit more going on, you’d be well advised to also keep your books on the accrual basis of accounting in combination with cash basis books (you can keep your books on both accounting methods to be able to see either with the click of a button). Accrual accounting allows for you to better match revenue and expenses so that you can gain deeper insight into profitability and your true performance during a given period of time. It is also the foundation of being able to do forecasting, proformas, profitability analyses and other fractional CFO-type services. If your business is an accrual basis taxpayer (we can help you figure that out), then you’ll absolutely need accrual basis bookkeeping.

What is the ideal frequency for accurate bookkeeping?

We recommend monthly bookkeeping as a best practice. However, in certain situations where transactions are very limited (such as during the initial year of a start-up) we can conduct quarterly or annual bookkeeping services. For most businesses, we prefer to avoid year-end/annual bookkeeping. The reasoning is there is typically a lot of clean up and a lot of questions that need to be answered in a timely manner to be ready for tax filings. Plus, there might have been opportunities for additional tax planning and savings throughout the year that could have been missed or overlooked if we are only looking at your books after the year closes.

HOW IT WORKS

Easy Step Process

1

Consultation

Contact us today to set up a free consultation to discuss your needs.

2

Service Process

Together we will agree on a plan and approach and scheduled delivery date.

3

Delivery

Deliverables will be discussed with you and will obtain your approval before final issuance.

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