Services
Small business bookkeeping, handled end to end.
Monthly bookkeeping, catch-up and cleanup, bank and card reconciliation, financial reporting, payroll support, accounts payable and receivable, and QuickBooks Online or NetSuite support — organized around one goal: books you can trust every month.
Bookkeeping services
Our Services
Monthly bookkeeping
Your books shouldn’t depend on someone remembering to catch them up before tax season. Each month, transactions are reviewed and categorized, the general ledger is kept current, and open questions get resolved so the records stay useful instead of turning into a backlog.
Why it mattersBank & card reconciliation
Bank and credit-card statements are matched to the books every month, line by line. Missing, duplicated, or miscategorized activity gets investigated while the month is still fresh instead of becoming a year-end mystery.
Why it mattersFinancial statements & monthly reporting
Profit & loss, balance sheet, and cash flow reports show how the business actually performed. Reports come with a plain-language summary, so you can understand what changed without translating accounting jargon yourself.
Why it mattersPayroll support
Payroll activity can be processed and reconciled as part of the agreed scope, with clean records flowing back into the books. You keep final approval over payroll before it’s submitted.
Why it mattersCatch-up bookkeeping & QuickBooks/NetSuite cleanup
If the books are months — or years — behind, that’s a starting point, not a disqualifier. Backlogged transactions get reviewed and categorized, accounts reconciled month by month, and the chart of accounts cleaned up so ongoing bookkeeping starts from a reliable baseline. New QuickBooks Online or NetSuite files can be set up when needed, too.
Why it mattersAccounts payable & receivable
Vendor bills and customer invoices are tracked so you know what you owe, what customers owe you, and what needs attention. Final approval over payments, transfers, refunds, credits, and write-offs stays with your business.
Why it mattersGood to know
Balanced On Time Books specializes in cash-basis bookkeeping. If your business requires accrual-basis accounting, we may not be the right fit for that engagement, and we’ll be straightforward about that before work begins.
We don’t prepare or file tax returns. Our job is to keep the books clean, current, and tax-ready so your CPA, enrolled agent, or other qualified tax professional receives records that are ready to work with.
The process
What a monthly close may include
Every business is a little different, so the exact checklist varies. This is representative of a typical ongoing monthly bookkeeping engagement, not a specific client’s actual books.
- Bank & card accounts reconciledEvery statement matched to the books, line by line.
- Transactions reviewed & categorizedIncome and expenses placed in the right accounts instead of a catch-all category.
- Payroll activity reconciled, when includedPayroll records matched back to the books so labor costs and related activity are reflected correctly.
- Open questions resolvedUnclear transactions or missing information get addressed instead of carried forward month after month.
- Financial statements preparedCurrent P&L and balance sheet reports, with cash flow reporting included where it’s part of the engagement.
- Plain-language summary deliveredA short explanation of what changed and anything in the numbers that deserves your attention.
- Anything worth flagging, flaggedDiscrepancies or unusual activity called out directly instead of buried in a report.
- Books closed by the 10thA predictable monthly close date, so you know when the prior month’s numbers will be ready.
Where we work
Cincinnati-based bookkeeping services, built to work remotely.
Balanced On Time Books is based in Cincinnati and is building its presence in New York City, but the bookkeeping itself doesn’t depend on paperwork changing hands in person. QuickBooks Online, NetSuite, bank feeds, and platform-based access make it possible to provide remote bookkeeping services to small businesses beyond those two cities.
Access to accounting software is granted through the platform’s own accountant-invitation features rather than a shared master login. Bank and card access is limited to what’s needed for the bookkeeping work, and your business keeps final approval over payroll, payments, transfers, refunds, credits, and write-offs.
Working remotely doesn’t mean the process is less thorough. The same reconciliation standard, the same monthly close date, and the same reporting format apply whether a client is a few blocks from Cincinnati, in New York City, or somewhere else entirely.
What these services don’t include
None of the six services above include tax-return preparation or filing, sales-tax or payroll-tax filing, audit or assurance work, or worker-classification decisions. Payroll support and accounts payable/receivable tracking never come with independent authority to move money — payroll, payments, transfers, refunds, credits, and write-offs stay subject to the business’s own approval.
Some industries also carry their own boundaries beyond these general ones — law firms and client trust accounts, or medical practices and protected health information, for example. The industries page covers what’s specific to a given business type.
Pricing
Straightforward bookkeeping pricing based on the work
Bookkeeping cost depends on what the books actually require. A business with one checking account and a few dozen transactions is a different engagement from a business with several cards, payroll, accounts payable and receivable, and months of catch-up work. Rather than forcing both into the same package, pricing is scoped around the work.
Transaction volume
How many transactions move through the business’s bank, card, and payment accounts each month.
Number of accounts
How many bank accounts, credit cards, loans, and payment platforms need to be reviewed or reconciled.
Services needed
Monthly bookkeeping alone is a different scope from bookkeeping paired with payroll support, AP/AR management, cleanup, or file setup.
Condition of the books
A current, well-organized file requires different work from one that needs months or years of catch-up and cleanup first.
After a short callback, you’ll get a clear scope and price before work begins. Ongoing bookkeeping engagements run month to month — there’s no minimum term.
How the services fit together
Most engagements combine a few of these, not all of them
Monthly bookkeeping is the foundation almost every engagement is built on — transaction review, reconciliation, and reporting on a recurring schedule. From there, most businesses add only the pieces that match how they actually operate. A business without employees has no use for payroll support. A business that collects payment at the point of sale, with no outstanding customer invoices, may not need accounts receivable tracking at all. A file that’s already clean and current doesn’t need a QuickBooks or NetSuite cleanup first.
That’s part of why pricing and scope get worked out on a callback rather than a fixed package. Two businesses with similar revenue can need very different combinations of these six services, and there’s no benefit to paying for a piece of the work that doesn’t apply to the business.
A common starting combination looks like monthly bookkeeping plus reconciliation and financial statements, with payroll support and AP/AR support added once a business has employees or invoices customers on terms. A business that’s significantly behind usually starts with a QuickBooks or NetSuite cleanup before the recurring monthly work begins, so the ongoing service isn’t built on top of a file that still has unresolved problems.
Common questions
Bookkeeping services questions
Do I have to sign up for all six services at once?
No. Most clients start with monthly bookkeeping and add payroll support, AP/AR tracking, or a cleanup only when the business actually needs that piece. The combination gets worked out during onboarding, not decided in advance.
Can services be added or dropped later as the business changes?
Yes. A business that hires its first employee can add payroll support at that point rather than from day one, and a business that starts invoicing customers on terms can add accounts receivable tracking when that becomes relevant.
What if I only need one of these services, like reconciliation?
That’s a common starting point, especially for a business with an in-house bookkeeper who wants reconciliation or reporting handled separately. Tell us what’s needed and the scope gets built around that piece specifically.
Is there a minimum contract length?
No. Ongoing bookkeeping engagements run month to month, without a minimum term. Catch-up and cleanup work is typically scoped and priced as its own project rather than an ongoing commitment.
How do I know which services my business actually needs?
You don’t need to figure that out before reaching out. Describe how the business currently operates — whether it has employees, whether customers pay immediately or on terms, how current the books are — and the right combination gets identified during the callback.
Credentials
QuickBooks Certified ProAdvisor
Formal training and certification directly through Intuit on QuickBooks Online setup, troubleshooting, and best practices.
Certified Bookkeeper
A credential grounded in tested bookkeeping fundamentals and consistent recordkeeping standards.
Ready to hand off the books?
Tell us what software you use, how current the books are, and what you need help with. Get a personal callback, usually within about 30 minutes during business hours, and talk through fit, scope, and pricing.