QuickBooks bookkeeping services
We keep the books inside your own QuickBooks Online file. Most of our clients run on QuickBooks Online, and most of them came to us with a file that needed fixing first. This page shows what we usually find, how to check your own file, and when you are better off with Intuit’s own service instead of us.
- QuickBooks Online certified team, led by chartered accountants
- Accounts reconciled every two weeks
- Monthly statements by the 7th of the following month
What we usually find in a QuickBooks file
A QuickBooks file can look fine on the dashboard and still be wrong underneath. These are the four problems we find most often when we take a file over, roughly in the order we fix them, with a real case for each (clients unnamed).
Bank and card accounts that have not been reconciled.
Months go by without anyone matching QuickBooks to the bank statement, or someone reconciles to the wrong ending balance to make the difference disappear. Every report built on top of that is a guess.
One Canadian client, a one-person parts reseller, came to us with a full year in which only a handful of transactions had been entered. We rebuilt January to December from the bank statements. Along the way, two sales tax payments turned out to have been typed into QuickBooks by hand and did not match the bank: one entered at $274.40 had cleared at about $252.40, after an early-payment discount.
A pile in Uncategorized or Ask My Accountant.
Transactions the last person was not sure about get parked in Uncategorized Income, Uncategorized Expense or an “Ask My Accountant” account. A few is normal at month-end. Thousands of dollars sitting there for months means your profit figure is wrong by that much.
In that same file, a few deposits matched no invoice and no payment: transfers labelled “from credit card” with no card payment behind them. We did not guess them into sales. They went on a short list for the owner to explain.
Duplicates from bank feeds, and transfers booked as income.
Bank feeds are useful, but they import whatever the bank sends. A payment that was already entered by hand gets added a second time. Money moved from savings to checking gets accepted as a sale. Revenue looks higher than it is, and so does the tax bill.
Feeds bring the bank’s labels with them, too. For one manufacturer we work with, the business credit card is personally guaranteed, so the feed arrived named after the owner who holds it. A $45,000 card payment looked personal to the other owner reading the reports. The fix was to rename the account in QuickBooks.
Customer payments and bills that never got matched.
Payments sit in Undeposited Funds instead of being matched to the deposit that actually hit the bank. Invoices show as unpaid when the customer paid months ago, so the receivables report is no use for chasing anyone. Payroll, sales tax and owner draws get booked as ordinary expenses.
An equipment parts dealer moved to QuickBooks from an older system. Its customer payments had been booked straight to income instead of against the invoices they paid, so the invoices stayed open: the receivables report showed customers owing money they had already paid, and credit balances with no invoice behind them. Two of the old system’s own reports, for the same date, disagreed on receivables by about $29,600. The opening balances had to be rebuilt before the monthly work could mean anything.
None of this means the last bookkeeper was careless. Most of it comes from a busy owner, a feed that auto-accepts, and no one closing the month.
Check your own QuickBooks file in ten minutes
You do not need us for this. Open your QuickBooks Online file and look at five things.
Reports › Reconciliation reports
GoodEvery bank and card account reconciled to last month’s statement.
A problemAn account last reconciled months ago, or one never reconciled.
Balance Sheet, bank lines
GoodEach balance agrees with your bank statement for the same date.
A problemThey differ, and no one can say why.
Chart of accounts: Uncategorized Income, Uncategorized Expense, Ask My Accountant
GoodZero, or close to it, at month-end.
A problemA balance in the thousands, or one growing month to month.
Undeposited Funds (newer files may call it Payments to deposit)
GoodOnly this week’s payments, waiting for the bank deposit.
A problemPayments from months ago still sitting there.
A/R Aging Summary
GoodCustomers you know owe you, in the buckets you expect.
A problemCustomers who paid long ago still showing as owing.
If two or more of these look wrong, fix the file before you rely on it for a loan, a tax return or a decision.
What we do in your QuickBooks Online file each month
Categorize every transaction and reconcile bank, card and payment processor accounts (Stripe, Shopify, PayPal) every two weeks.
Record vendor bills, and schedule payments where your quote includes it.
Track invoices and incoming payments, and flag overdue customers so you can chase them.
Record payroll from the payroll provider you already use.
Record US sales tax, or GST/HST and PST for Canadian businesses, in the books.
Close the month and send your profit and loss, balance sheet and cash flow statement by the 7th, in a format your CPA can use as is.
The file stays yours. We work inside your own QuickBooks Online account, and you can remove our access at any time.
On QuickBooks Desktop?
We work in QuickBooks Online. If you are on Desktop, we move you across to Online as part of onboarding, then start the monthly work from there.
The full list of what our bookkeeping covers is on the bookkeeping services page.
QuickBooks Live or a bookkeeping firm?
QuickBooks Live is Intuit’s own bookkeeping service, now sold as Expert Full Service Bookkeeping. It is a real option, and for some businesses it is the right one. Here is what Intuit says it does, next to what we do.
| Compared on | QuickBooks Live | Celeste |
|---|---|---|
| Categorize and reconcile | QuickBooks LiveYes, monthly | CelesteYes, every two weeks |
| Profit and loss, balance sheet | QuickBooks LiveYes | CelesteYes, plus a cash flow statement, by the 7th |
| Send invoices or pay bills | QuickBooks LiveNot included | CelesteBills recorded; payments scheduled where your quote includes it |
| Accounts receivable and payable | QuickBooks LiveNot included | CelesteInvoices tracked, overdue customers flagged |
| Payroll | QuickBooks LiveNot included (Intuit sells payroll separately) | CelesteRecorded from your payroll provider; run where needed and agreed in your quote |
| Tax returns and 1099s | QuickBooks LiveNot included | CelesteNot included either: your CPA files, from the books we keep |
| Financial or tax advice | QuickBooks LiveNot included | CelesteSomeone who explains the numbers; FP&A and fractional CFO from the same team |
| Who can use it | QuickBooks LiveQuickBooks Online users who filed taxes last year | CelesteQuickBooks Online users in the US and Canada (Desktop moved across) |
QuickBooks Live column from Intuit’s QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping FAQ, updated August 3, 2026.
When QuickBooks Live is enough
If you have one or two bank accounts, simple sales, no inventory or job costing, and you mainly need clean books at tax time, Live will probably do the job. The same goes if you want the books categorized and reconciled but do not need anyone to tell you what the numbers mean or what to do next.
When a firm earns its fee
Once you have bills to manage, customers to chase, payroll, more than one location or entity, inventory, or a lender asking for statements, you need a QuickBooks bookkeeper who owns the whole month, not only the categorizing.
Who we are not right for
- You want someone in your office.
- Our team is in Thane, India. The bookkeeping is done during your night, and review calls are booked in your working hours.
- You want your tax return filed.
- We do not prepare or file tax returns. Your CPA does, from the books we keep.
- You want to stay on QuickBooks Desktop.
- We work in QuickBooks Online.
- Your books are simple and you need no advice.
- QuickBooks Live, above, will likely cost you less.
What it costs
Bookkeeping starts at $350 a month for a business with $500,000 to $700,000 in annual revenue. What moves the price is volume, the number of accounts and entities, and what state the file is in. We look at your QuickBooks file before we quote, and the quote comes in writing.
Frequently Asked Questions
QuickBooks Online. If you are on Desktop, we move you across to Online as part of onboarding.
Yes. Our team is QuickBooks Online certified, and the work is led by chartered accountants qualified through ICAI.
Yes. We work inside your account, your data stays with you, and you can remove our access at any time.
Intuit's service categorizes and reconciles your accounts and sends reports. It does not send invoices, pay bills, manage receivables, payables or payroll, or give financial advice. We do the monthly bookkeeping plus bills, receivables, payroll recording and a month-end close, and someone explains the numbers. Neither files your taxes.
Yes. Most new clients start with a clean-up: we reconcile the past months, clear the uncategorized balances, remove duplicates and bring the books current. The monthly work starts from that clean base.
Yes. We keep books for clients in British Columbia and Ontario, in Canadian dollars, and record GST/HST and PST. Your accountant files the returns.