Bookkeeping and accounting services for US small businesses

Most clients start with monthly bookkeeping and add the rest as they need it. Every service below runs in your own QuickBooks Online or Xero file, so the books stay yours.

• Monthly bookkeeping: transactions categorized, every account reconciled, books closed between the 5th and the 15th of the following month, depending on when your documents arrive.
• Cleanup and catch-up: months or years of missing or wrong entries rebuilt and reconciled.
• Accounts payable and receivable: bills scheduled, invoices sent, overdue invoices followed up.
• Bank and card reconciliation: every account tied to its statement, including payment app payouts.
• Month-end close and financial statements: profit and loss, balance sheet and cash flow each month.
• Payroll: pay runs, payroll tax filings, W-2s.
• Tax preparation: we prepare and file your business tax return from reconciled books.
• Audit support: the schedules and records your auditor asks for.
• Budgeting and forecasting: budgets, cash flow forecasts and financial models.
• A dedicated accountant: one person on your books full time.

The best service for a small business is the one whose accountants know your software, close your books on a fixed schedule and put the quote in writing before you start. Brand size matters less than who actually touches your file each month.

Before you sign with anyone, including us, ask these questions and compare the answers in writing.

• Who does the work, and will it be the same person each month?
• Which software are they certified in? Ours: QuickBooks Online Certified ProAdvisor, QuickBooks Online Advanced, Xero Advisor and Xero Payroll.
• By what date is each month closed, and which reports do you get?
• Is every bank and card account reconciled to its statement every month?
• What does it cost, and what is extra? How is cleanup priced?
• If you leave, do the books stay in your own subscription?

Outsource when you are more than a month behind, when the books take more than a few hours of your month, or when a lender or investor asks for statements you can't produce. If you also want the tax return prepared and filed from those books, one team can do both. Outsourcing costs less than a full-time in-house bookkeeper for most small businesses, and it doesn't stop when someone goes on leave or quits.

It is not hands-off. You still answer questions about transactions we can't identify, upload receipts and approve payments. And if you need someone physically in the office every day, an in-house hire fits better.

Best for a US small business with one or two entities and a few bank and card accounts that wants the monthly books and the tax return from the same team: that is the work SF Business Solutions does. If what you need is an audit opinion, that is available through our CPA partner firms, not from us.

Bank feeds and rules in QuickBooks Online and Xero speed up the routine coding, but an accountant reconciles every account before the month is closed. Software alone doesn't catch a personal charge on the business card or a loan payment booked as an expense.

SF Business Solutions was founded in 2015, and the team brings 10+ years of industry experience. It includes a licensed CPA.

If your books live in your own QuickBooks Online or Xero subscription, switching loses nothing. You invite us as your accountant user, we check the opening balances against your bank statements and pick up from the last month that was properly reconciled. If the previous service kept the books in its own system, ask it for a full export and your statements first; we rebuild from those.