What's the difference between catch-up and clean-up bookkeeping?
The short version is that catch-up is for books that were never done, and clean-up is for books that were done wrong.
Catch-up bookkeeping is what you need when there are months, sometimes years, with nothing recorded at all. You opened the practice, set up a business account, started seeing clients, and the statements have been piling up ever since. There is nothing to correct because there is nothing there yet. The work is building it from scratch. I gather your statements and access, record each period in order, reconcile every account, and bring everything current through last month.
Clean-up bookkeeping is what you need when the records exist and you do not believe them. Transactions sitting in Uncategorized Expense. EHR deposits entered twice. Personal spending mixed in with practice spending. Accounts that have never been reconciled, so the balance in QuickBooks and the balance at the bank have not matched in a year. Sometimes that comes from doing it yourself at nine at night between notes. Sometimes a previous bookkeeper left it that way. Either way, the work is reviewing what is there, finding what is wrong, correcting it properly, and reconciling until the numbers hold up.
Here is an easy way to tell which one you have. Open your accounting file and scroll through the last twelve months. Empty stretches with no activity point to catch-up. Full months with numbers you would not want to read out loud to your tax preparer point to clean-up.
Plenty of practices need some of both, and that is completely normal. A therapist who kept up in January and February, drifted through spring, then tried to fix it all in one weekend usually has gaps and errors sitting side by side. That is why I scope and price these per engagement after I actually look at what exists instead of quoting a number before I know.
Both jobs finish in the same place. Accurate books that are current, records organized so your tax preparer has what they need without chasing you, and then steady private practice bookkeeping every month so it never builds back up. Monthly service starts at $165, and it is worth confirming current pricing when we talk since that can change.
If you are behind, I am not going to make you feel bad about it. Falling behind while carrying a full caseload is one of the most ordinary things in private practice. Book a consultation with me and I will look at what you have and tell you honestly which one you need.
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Tell me where your books stand right now, even if the honest answer is that nobody has looked at them in a year. I'll ask a few questions and give you a clear idea of how I can help.
More Questions
Where do my payment processing fees actually go in my books?
Processing fees belong in their own expense account, with your session revenue recorded at the full amount clients paid. If you only record the smaller net deposit that lands in your bank, both your revenue and your fees disappear from view.
Read answerWhat has to happen before January so contractor 1099s are easy?
Almost everything. Collect a W-9 from every contractor before the first payment, record payments by payee all year long, and review the totals in December. Do that and January is nothing more than paperwork.
Read answerWhat's different about bookkeeping for a psychologist who does testing?
Testing behaves like a second business inside the same practice. The engagements run long, the money often arrives on a different schedule than the work, and materials cost real money, so testing revenue and testing costs belong in their own categories.
Read answerHow many sessions a week does my practice actually need?
Add your real overhead, the pay you want to take home, and the tax reserve your tax preparer sets, then divide by what you actually collect per session. Common benchmarks put a sustainable full caseload somewhere around 18 to 22 sessions a week. Clean books give you honest numbers to put into that math.
Read answerWhat does it actually cost to run a therapy practice?
Established solo practices commonly run somewhere between $1,500 and $5,000 a month in overhead, and lean virtual practices often come in well under that. Those figures move around and are worth verifying. The number that matters most is your own, and your books can tell you exactly what it is.
Read answerWhat do you deliberately not do?
Four things stay outside my scope. Tax return preparation, insurance billing and credentialing, payroll system setup, and clinical or legal advice. Naming those lines up front means everything inside them gets my full attention.
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