Catch-up bookkeeping and cleanup
Catch-up bookkeeping is the work of bringing neglected or backlogged books current: reconstructing periods, reconciling accounts that have drifted, and rebuilding a trial balance that ties, whether the gap is a few months or several years. Sahana Global does that cleanup on QuickBooks Online and Xero, and hands back a file that is ready to keep current.
Cleanup is not glamorous and it is easy to under-scope. We start by measuring the gap honestly, then work back to a defensible opening balance rather than papering over one.
What's included
The standing scope.
Backlog reconstruction
Missing months or years rebuilt from statements, feeds, and source documents.
Reconciliation to source
Bank, card, and loan accounts reconciled back to statement, with prior plugs identified and cleared.
Chart of accounts repair
A bloated or inconsistent chart of accounts rationalised so the books are legible again.
Opening balance rebuild
A defensible trial balance to hand to a preparer or auditor, with the reconstruction documented.
Prior-period corrections
Misclassifications, duplicates, and errors found, listed, and corrected on a clear trail.
Handover to current
The cleaned file returned ready for ongoing monthly close, by us or by your own team.
Who it's for
Where this fits.
This service suits anyone facing a filing, an audit, a sale, or a financing with books that will not stand up to it.
- Businesses several months or years behind on their books.
- Firms that have inherited a client with a file in poor shape.
- Owners heading into a tax filing, audit, diligence, or raise who need clean numbers.
- Anyone who has lost trust in what the current file is telling them.
How it works
How an engagement begins.
Week 1
Diagnosis
We measure the gap: how far back, how many accounts, how bad, and give you a scoped plan and a fixed price before work starts.
Weeks 2 onward
Reconstruction
We rebuild and reconcile in defined stages, oldest first, with visible checkpoints so you can see the file coming back.
Handover
Current and clean
A reconciled trial balance and a documented trail, ready to keep current or hand to your preparer.
Questions
Answered plainly.
The objections firms raise before the first call, without the sales gloss.
How far back can you go?
As far as the records allow. We have brought files current from a few months behind to several years. The limit is usually the availability of statements and source documents, not the age of the backlog. Where records are genuinely missing, we tell you what can and cannot be reconstructed rather than invent it.
How is a cleanup priced when the scope isn't known yet?
We run a short paid diagnosis first to measure the gap, then quote a fixed price for the reconstruction before the main work begins. You are not signing a blank cheque against an open-ended hourly rate. If the diagnosis uncovers something materially larger than expected, we re-scope openly before continuing.
What do we get at the end?
A reconciled file with a trial balance that ties, a list of the corrections made, and documentation of how opening balances were rebuilt. It is ready to hand to a tax preparer or auditor, or for us to keep current on a monthly close from there.
Start a conversation.
Tell us what your books look like now, and we will tell you honestly what the first ninety days would involve.