The catch-up bookkeeping checklist.

Scope the engagement in writing.

Name the entity, the accounts, and the period. Write down what "done" means: Books reconciled through a date, a year-end package, or a clean file for a tax preparer. Agree on who collects the statements and by when. Agree on how the client will answer questions: One list, once a week, not a stream of texts.

Collect every statement, one per account per month.

1. List every bank account, credit card, loan, and merchant account that moved money in the period. Ask the client for the ones they forgot; loan statements are the usual ones.

2. Download one PDF per account per month from the bank. Quarterly statements are fine where that is all the bank offers. Note which months are missing before you read a single one.

3. Ask for photos only when the bank has no PDF. A photo reads less well than a text statement and every row needs a second look.

4. Keep the originals in one folder per client, named by account and month, so the file can be rebuilt later.

Check each statement before you trust its rows.

1. Foot each statement: Opening balance plus every transaction equals closing balance. A statement that does not foot has a misread or a missing row. Find it before you import anything.

2. Where a statement prints a running balance, check it row by row. The first break is where the misread row is.

3. Mark overlapping statements. A quarterly next to three monthlies, or a month downloaded twice, produces duplicates. Decide which copy is the source of record.

4. Mark the gaps. A month with no statement is a question for the client, written down now, not discovered at the end.

This is the step Ledgerfoot does for you. Every statement is checked against its own balances. Duplicates and gaps are named, and the exceptions list is the work queue.

Categorize by rule, then by hand.

1. Start from the client's chart of accounts, or a short one you can grow. Fewer categories, used consistently, beat many used once.

2. Write rules for the recurring vendors first. Payroll, rent, the card processor, the bank fees. They are most of the rows.

3. Categorize the rest by hand, in batches by vendor, not in date order.

4. Keep a list of the ones you guessed. They go on the client's question list.

Ask the client once, with a list.

Missing months, unknown vendors, and transfers between accounts you cannot pair. Deposits that are not sales, and anything over a threshold you agree on. One list, sorted by amount, with a column for the client's answer. Follow up once a week until it is empty.

Import in the destination's format, then reconcile.

1. Export one file per account in the format the software documents. For QuickBooks Online, the 3-column or 4-column bank file; for Xero, the bank statement file. Mind the row limits and the date format.

2. Import into the right account. A card file goes into a credit card account.

3. Reconcile each account to its closing balance for each month. The statement check means each month already adds up; the reconciliation makes it official.

Keep a record for the file.

The list of statements and whether each one footed. The duplicates and what you did with them. The gaps and the client's answers. The exceptions you cleared and the ones you left open, with why. The exports and their dates. One page is enough, and it is the page that answers the question six months from now.