Behind on books? Our catch-up bookkeeping service gets you current.
Months, or years, of backlog cleared at a flat fee. We've taken on 14-month-plus backlogs and turned them around in six weeks. Once current, we transition you smoothly onto a monthly retainer.
What does a catch-up bookkeeping service actually do?
A catch-up bookkeeping service clears a backlog of unrecorded transactions and unfiled returns, then hands back a reconciled ledger. Every bank line is matched and coded, control accounts are agreed, missing paperwork is chased, and late VAT, Self-Assessment or corporation tax returns are prepared and filed.
Falling behind on bookkeeping is more common than firms like to admit. Founders get pulled into the business. Bookkeepers leave. Software gets switched mid-year. A pandemic happens. Suddenly there are six months, or two years, of unreconciled bank transactions, missing receipts and unfiled VAT or tax returns. The longer it sits, the more daunting it gets.
Catch-up bookkeeping is one of our most-requested services because we make the unstuck process structured and predictable. We quote upfront based on the number of months you're behind, a flat $200 per month of books cleared, and run a documented six-stage cleanup against a fixed timeline.
The work is real and detailed: every bank transaction matched, coded and reconciled; missing receipts chased; back VAT or tax returns prepared and filed via the appropriate agent portal with penalty-mitigation guidance where applicable. By the end, you have a clean ledger, accurate opening balances and a chart of accounts ready for ongoing service.
Most catch-up engagements roll straight into a monthly retainer: Starter, Growth or Professional tier, depending on your size. The cleanup pays for itself in the avoided penalties and the clarity it brings; the monthly retainer ensures you don't end up here again.
The cost of waiting is not vague, and it compounds on a schedule. A late UK Self-Assessment return draws an immediate £100 penalty from HMRC, then £10 a day from three months to a £900 cap, then 5 percent of the tax owed (or £300, whichever is more) at six months and again at twelve. Late statutory accounts at Companies House run £150 under a month, £375 to three months, £750 to six, and £1,500 beyond that, doubled if you were late the year before. VAT now runs on a points system, with a £200 charge once you hit the threshold and £200 for every late return after it. In the US the IRS failure-to-file penalty is 5 percent of unpaid tax per month, capped at 25 percent.
A backlog also decays in a set order, and the order matters when we scope the work. Bank feeds only reach back 90 days on most connections, so month four onward has to be rebuilt from statements. Supplier portals purge invoices after 12 to 24 months. Card providers charge for statement copies older than a year. Staff who could explain a payment leave. That is why a 6-month backlog is a straightforward job and an 18-month backlog is a forensic one, and why the quote is per month of books rather than per hour.
A worked example. A 14-month backlog on a UK limited company with two bank accounts, a Stripe feed and around 250 transactions a month is roughly 3,500 lines to code, two VAT quarters to refile, one set of statutory accounts to restate and one Corporation Tax return to amend. At a flat $200 per month of books that is $2,800, quoted before we start, against £1,500 of Companies House penalties and a VAT points balance that would otherwise keep running. You can see how that sits next to ongoing fees on our flat $200 per month catch-up pricing page.
What we hand over at the end:
- Every bank, card and payment processor account reconciled to statement, not to feed.
- A rebuilt chart of accounts with the historic coding restated onto it.
- Agreed opening balances and a signed-off trial balance for the first clean month.
- Back VAT and tax returns filed through the relevant agent portal, with the workings archived.
- Late Self-Assessment returns for directors caught in the same backlog.
- A written penalty position: what has been charged, what can be appealed, and on what grounds.
From there the sensible move is a monthly cadence, because the second backlog is always cheaper to prevent than the first was to clear. That is cloud bookkeeping on a fixed fee, usually alongside UK compliance support for a UK entity. The stage-by-stage method we use is written up in full in our catch-up bookkeeping playbook, and the terms the engagement runs under are in our standard engagement terms. Once the backlog is cleared, most clients move onto a monthly retainer chosen from our accounting services index.
What's included in a catch-up engagement.
Specific scope, fixed fee, no scope creep. Quoted before we start.
- Flat $200 per month of books cleared No hourly billing. The quote you receive at the start is the quote you pay at the end. Includes all reconciliation, coding and reporting work.
- Historical bank reconciliation Every transaction matched to a bank line. Coded against your chart of accounts. Anomalies, duplicates and miscodings caught and corrected.
- Receipt & invoice chase We work with you to recover missing supporting documents: invoices, receipts, supplier statements. Realistic gaps are documented for audit-trail purposes.
- Back VAT / sales tax returnsLate filings prepared and submitted via agent portals. Penalty-mitigation submissions made where there's reasonable excuse. HMRC / IRS / FTA correspondence handled on your behalf.
- Back Corporation Tax / income taxLate CT600, 1120, T2 or equivalent filings prepared. Where the underlying books were absent, we rebuild from source documents.
- Cleaned chart of accounts & opening balances A chart structured for your sector and reporting standard. Opening balances reconciled to the last clean financial-year close.
- Transition handover On completion, a handover document covering every adjustment made, every assumption taken, and the state of every account. Your auditor or future provider can pick up cleanly.
- Smooth onto monthly service If you continue with us, the engagement migrates to a Starter, Growth or Professional retainer on the day the catch-up completes, no second onboarding.
A six-stage cleanup process.
Documented, time-bound and quoted at the start.
Diagnostic & quote
We review the state of your books in a 60-minute working session and quote a flat fee and timeline before any work begins. No commitment until you accept.
Setup & access
We migrate or refresh your software (Xero / QuickBooks), grant accountant access, connect bank feeds historically and configure document-capture for the cleanup window.
Transaction reconciliation
Every historical bank transaction reviewed, matched and coded. Missing receipts identified and chased. Anomalies flagged for your review.
Back filings prepared
VAT returns, sales tax filings, payroll RTI and corporation tax returns prepared for any periods that were missed. Penalty mitigation submitted where applicable.
Final review & sign-off
Cleaned ledger reviewed end-to-end by a senior accountant. Walkthrough call with you to review adjustments and approve the closing position.
Transition to monthly service
You sign onto a monthly retainer with no second onboarding required. Or we hand over to your chosen provider with full documentation.
What a late filing costs, and how fast it grows
Penalties published by HMRC, Companies House and the IRS, all linked above. They run whether or not tax is owed.
| Filing | Authority | Penalty starts at | How it escalates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Self-Assessment return | HMRC | £100 the day after 31 January, even where no tax is due | £10 a day from three months, capped at £900, then 5 percent of the tax due or £300 at six months and again at twelve |
| Annual accounts, private company | Companies House | £150 where up to one month late | £375 to three months, £750 to six, £1,500 beyond that, and doubled where the previous year was also late |
| VAT return | HMRC | A late submission point rather than an immediate charge | £200 once the points threshold is reached, then £200 for every later late return |
| Federal income tax return | IRS | 5 percent of the unpaid tax for each month it is late | Capped at 25 percent of the unpaid tax |
Who this is for.
Businesses 3+ months behind
Whether due to founder bandwidth, a departed bookkeeper or a software change, getting back to current is the priority. Most of our cleanups are 6–24 months in scope.
Pre-fundraise / pre-acquisition
Due diligence is coming and your books won't survive it. We can take a year of disorder to clean financials in six weeks, in time for the data room.
Recently-formed entities with no records
New entity, no formal bookkeeping in place, multiple months trading. We build the ledger from source documents and put you on a sustainable cadence.
Transferring from a struggling provider
Your current bookkeeper has fallen behind and you need a clean handover. We assess, rebuild where needed and take over on a monthly retainer.
"They took on a year of unreconciled Xero, cleaned it up in six weeks, filed the back VAT returns and put us on a proper monthly cadence. Faultless execution."
Common questions about catch-up bookkeeping.
How much does it cost?
How long does it take?
What if there are penalties on the late filings?
What if I don't have all the receipts and invoices?
Will my old software work, or do you need to migrate me?
Can you handle catch-up across multiple entities at once?
Do I have to sign on to monthly service afterwards?
How far back can bank data actually be recovered?
Related services.
Cloud bookkeeping
The monthly cadence that follows cleanup.
Tax & VAT
Back filings handled alongside the cleanup.
Management accounts
Once current, monthly reporting locks the cadence in.
The catch-up playbook
The six-stage cleanup method, written out step by step.
Self-Assessment filing
Late director returns usually sit inside the same backlog.
Small business accounting
What the ongoing finance function looks like once you are current.