Accounting

Books you can actually trust — closed every month, on time.

Done-for-you monthly accounting, payroll, sales tax, and tax-ready books. Industry-correct chart of accounts. Owner-grade reports. Backed by our 30-day satisfaction guarantee.

§ 01 What's included

Books closed every month — by the 10th, every time.

Most owners we meet have books that are 3–6 months behind, full of suspense entries, or technically "current" but completely useless for decisions. We fix that. Then we keep it that way.

01

Monthly close

Bank, credit card, and loan reconciliations. AR aging cleaned. AP coded properly. Books closed by day 10 of the following month.

02

Industry-correct chart of accounts

Real estate has different accounts than a plumbing company. We rebuild your chart of accounts to actually reflect how your business makes and spends money.

03

Payroll & contractors

Run payroll on Gusto or Justworks. 1099 prep at year-end. W-2s, contractor onboarding, multi-state if you've grown across borders.

04

Sales tax

Multi-state sales tax registration, filing, and reconciliation. We handle it; you don't get a surprise letter from a state revenue department.

05

Tax-ready books, year-round

By December your books are clean, depreciation is current, and your CPA gets a tidy tax package — not a 6-week panic in March.

06

Owner-grade reports

P&L, balance sheet, cash flow — every month, on a one-page summary you can actually read. Plus the detail if you want it.

§ 02 Onboarding

The first 30 days. Boring. On purpose.

If your books are messy, the first month is cleanup. We don't try to "transform" your finance function in week one — that's how mistakes happen. We get the data foundation right first, then we make it useful.

Most clients are fully onboarded within 3–4 weeks. By month 2 you're getting clean monthly reports. By month 3 you're using them.

  • Day 1: kick-off call, access to QuickBooks / Xero / banking
  • Days 2–10: data audit, find the broken stuff, document it
  • Days 10–20: rebuild chart of accounts, reclassify back-entries
  • Days 20–30: first proper close, owner walkthrough of what changed
  • Month 2+: standard monthly cadence
§ 03 Tools we run

Modern stack. No spreadsheets-as-a-system.

We work primarily in QuickBooks Online and Xero. We integrate with the tools you already run — not the other way around.

QuickBooks Online

Default for most clients. Solid integrations, good reporting, scales to mid-size.

Xero

Stronger for clients with multi-entity structures or international exposure.

Gusto / Justworks

Payroll, benefits, contractor payments. Multi-state ready.

Bill.com / Ramp

AP automation and corporate cards with proper expense coding.

§ 04 More than bookkeeping

Books that set up the next decision.

Plenty of bookkeepers will close your month. Few will tell you that your gross margin is 8 points below industry, or that your 13-week cash forecast is going to break in week 7. We do that.

Accounting is the floor. Most clients eventually layer on Fractional CFO or Advisory work — same team, same data, no handoff. See our fractional CFO offering →

  • Spot trends before they become problems
  • Hand your CPA tidy books in January, not March
  • Make hiring, pricing, and capex decisions with real numbers
  • Sell or raise without an emergency book cleanup
§ FAQ Common questions

Things owners ask before signing.

How long does onboarding take if my books are a mess?
Typically 3–4 weeks for a normal cleanup. If you're 12+ months behind, we do a separate cleanup project first (usually 4–6 weeks) before moving into monthly maintenance. We'll quote both transparently after the initial consult.
Do you do my taxes too?
Tax filing isn't where we focus — we focus on the work that builds your business: clean books, real reporting, smart decisions. Your tax CPA handles the filing side, working hand-in-glove with us year-round so the tax advantages your numbers create actually get captured. We hand them a tidy year-end package and stay in the loop. Don't have a tax CPA? We'll introduce you to one we trust.
What if I already have a bookkeeper?
If you hire us for accounting, we are your accounting team. We replace, we don't run alongside — and the reason is simple: good decisions require good data, and good data requires one team owning the whole pipeline. Two bookkeepers means two opinions, two reconciliations, two sources of truth. We handle the transition cleanly so the switch is painless.
QuickBooks or Xero?
Default to QuickBooks Online unless you have multi-entity, multi-currency, or specific Xero integrations. We migrate either direction if needed; migration is included in onboarding for most clients.
How much does monthly accounting cost?
Flat monthly fee scoped to revenue, transaction volume, and complexity. We quote it on the consult — typical engagements range from a few hundred to a few thousand per month depending on scale. No hourly billing, no surprise invoices.
What about the 30-day satisfaction guarantee?
Same on every Black Lotus engagement: if we can't solve a problem you bring us within 30 days, we refund two months of fees. No questions asked.

Ready to see your numbers actually mean something?

30-minute call. No obligation. We'll tell you straight whether we can help — or who can.