What Monthly Bookkeeping Covers for a Trumbull Business, and What It Does Not

Two quotes, two different jobs

Ask two bookkeepers for a monthly price and you'll often get two numbers that are hard to compare, because the word bookkeeping covers a lot of ground. One quote might mean typing in transactions and sending a report now and then. Another might mean reconciling every account, closing each month on a set date and answering your questions along the way. The totals look like they're for the same service, and they aren't.

So compare the scope first and the price second. Below is what a month of bookkeeping should include, what usually sits outside it, and the questions that make two quotes line up. The same list holds for a shop in Trumbull, a contractor in Stratford or a business in another state, since the work itself doesn't change with the postcode.

What a month of bookkeeping should include

Every transaction recorded and categorized

Each deposit, card charge, transfer and bill gets recorded and given a category that matches how the business earns and spends. Software can suggest categories from past behavior, and that helps with repeat payees like a phone bill. It also repeats its own mistakes every month, so someone should be checking the suggestions rather than accepting them all.

Every account reconciled to its statement

This is the line that separates bookkeeping from data entry. Reconciliation proves that the books agree with the statement for each account, to the cent. That should cover every business checking and savings account, every credit card, and any loan or line of credit, where the balance in your books should match the balance your lender reports. A quote that only reconciles the main checking account leaves the rest unchecked.

The month closed on a set date

Closing a month means locking it in the accounting software once it's reconciled, so a transaction entered later can't slip back into a finished period and change figures you've already used for a decision or a loan application. Before the close, any lines nobody could place go to you as one short list of questions to answer in a single sitting.

Reports you can read

At minimum, each closed month should produce a profit and loss and a balance sheet, delivered by a date you agreed at the start. If you've never been shown how to check those reports yourself, our guide to three reports that tell you whether your books are right walks through it. Good monthly bookkeeping services also come with a person you can ask when a number looks off.

What monthly bookkeeping usually does not include

The items below sit next to bookkeeping and depend on it, which is why they get blurred together. They're separate pieces of work, and quotes differ a lot on which of them are folded into the monthly fee.

Payroll

Recording payroll in the books is bookkeeping. Running payroll, meaning calculating each paycheck, handling withholding and filing the payroll tax returns, is its own job with its own deadlines. If you have staff, ask whether payroll is part of the quote or a separate line.

Tax returns and tax planning

Clean monthly books make the business tax return faster and more accurate to prepare, but preparing and filing the return is a separate service, and so is planning for the tax bill during the year. Ask whether the person keeping your books will hand them to someone else at tax time or prepare the return from them directly.

Sales tax filings

If you collect Connecticut sales tax, the books should track what you've collected and what you owe as its own balance. Preparing and filing the sales tax return is a separate question, so ask about it by name.

Catch-up and cleanup

A monthly fee normally covers the months from its start date onward. If the file is behind or was set up badly, bringing it up to date is a one-off project, and a fair quote says whether that sits inside the monthly price or is scoped separately before the monthly work begins.

Advice and forecasting

Bookkeeping reports what already happened. Budgets, cash flow forecasts and decisions about pricing or hiring look forward, and that work usually falls under CFO services rather than the monthly bookkeeping fee.

Questions to ask before you compare prices

Put the same questions to every bookkeeper you talk to. Which accounts do you reconcile each month, and does that include credit cards and loans? By what date after month end will I get my reports, and which reports are they? What happens to a transaction you can't identify? Is payroll, sales tax or tax preparation in this price? Is any catch-up work included, or priced on its own?

Once the answers line up, the prices become comparable. For any bookkeeper, the real number depends on the volume and comes after a conversation, because the number of accounts and the transactions running through them drive the work far more than the size of the business does.

Talking it through

Our office is in Trumbull, Connecticut, in Fairfield County, and we serve small businesses across the state and throughout the United States. If you're comparing quotes or not sure what your current bookkeeping includes, call (267) 710-6742 or use the contact page to start a conversation.