I'm a bit behind with it
A prospective client tells you they are 'a bit behind'. They have been using Xero themselves for two years, some months are reconciled, the VAT returns went in somehow, and their accountant has suggested they get help. You give a figure based on the conversation.
Two weeks into the job, the bookkeeper finds eight months unreconciled, a bank feed that duplicated a quarter of transactions, a loan recorded as income and a VAT return that does not match the ledger. The fixed fee is long gone and the job is nowhere near finished.
Why clean-up quotes go wrong
The client genuinely does not know how bad it is; if they did, they would probably not be in this position. The information needed to scope the work is in the ledger and bank data, but getting it means doing a chunk of the work before quoting, which nobody wants to give away for free.
Every clean-up is different, so there is no rate card that fits. Firms either price high to protect themselves and lose the work, or price on hope and lose money.
What bad scoping costs
Overrun clean-ups are some of the least profitable work a firm does, and they tie up skilled staff for weeks. They also start the relationship badly: either you go back to the client asking for more, or you absorb it and resent the client from day one. A clean start is supposed to lead to a good monthly client, and a bitter clean-up often does not.
| Problem in the books | How the diagnostic finds it |
|---|---|
| Months not reconciled | Unreconciled lines by account and month |
| Duplicate transactions | Matching amount, date and reference patterns |
| Bank balance not agreeing | Ledger balance against statement balance |
| Suspense and miscoding | Balances on suspense and unusual account use |
| VAT returns not matching ledger | Filed figures against current ledger figures |
| Missing accounts | Payments to lenders or cards with no ledger account |
How we build a clean-up diagnostic
- With the prospect's permission, we connect read-only to their Xero or QuickBooks file, or take an export if they use something else.
- The diagnostic runs a set of checks across the whole history: reconciliation by account and month, duplicates, suspense, balance differences, VAT periods against filed figures, and unusual coding.
- It produces a report in two layers: a plain summary for the client and a detailed list for your team.
- Each finding is sized in the way you price work, for example months to reconcile or transactions to review, using weights you set.
- Your quote is built from those sizes, with the assumptions written down, so if something new turns up, you can show it was not in the original scope.
- Once the job starts, progress is tracked against the same findings, so both you and the client can see how much is left.
The diagnostic describes the state of the books. It does not decide how errors should be corrected or give tax advice; that is your professional work.
Clean-ups you can quote with confidence
You quote on evidence, and the client can see why the figure is what it is. Surprises still happen, but they are clearly new findings rather than things you should have spotted. Staff start the job with a map instead of a blank page. And the client arrives in your monthly service with a clear record of what was fixed, which is a far better start.
Some firms charge a small fixed fee for the diagnostic itself and credit it against the clean-up if the client goes ahead. Whether that suits your firm is your call; the report is useful either way.
Do your clean-ups overrun?
- Clean-up jobs regularly take far longer than quoted.
- You price catch-up work from what the client tells you.
- Staff dread being given a clean-up job.
- You have gone back to clients to ask for more money mid-job.
- You turn down clean-ups because they are too risky to price.