Books that are months behind
You cannot manage a business on figures from a quarter ago, and the longer the gap, the harder and more expensive the catch-up.
Outsourced finance
Accounting & Bookkeeping
Bookkeeping is not data entry. Done properly it is the discipline that turns daily transactions into numbers a managing director can rely on. We run the ledger, keep it reconciled, and produce management accounts that answer the questions you actually ask — where the margin is, what is owed to us, what we owe, and what the cash position will look like next month.
Who this service is for
- Businesses with transaction volume that has outgrown the owner or an administrator doing the books.
- Companies whose management accounts arrive too late to influence a decision.
- Owners who need reliable numbers for a bank, an investor, a board or a statutory filing.
- Finance teams with a gap — a resignation, maternity cover, a period of growth — needing interim capacity.
- Businesses in more than one location whose books are held in different places and never properly consolidated.
- Companies where one person holds all the financial knowledge, which is both an operational and a control risk.
The problems this addresses
Unreconciled bank and payment accounts
Unexplained differences accumulate until nobody trusts the balance sheet.
Spreadsheets as the ledger
No audit trail, no user controls, and a single corrupted file away from losing the record.
Debtors that quietly age
Without disciplined receivables reporting and follow-up, working capital drains without anyone deciding it should.
Management reports nobody reads
A dump of ledger codes rather than analysis that reflects how the business is run.
Single-person dependency
Knowledge concentrated in one head is a continuity risk as much as a fraud risk.
Scope and deliverables
We agree a defined scope at the outset. Typical monthly deliverables are listed below; the exact pack depends on the business.
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Transaction recording
Sales, purchases, receipts, payments, journals and payroll postings recorded to an agreed timetable, in your accounting platform.
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Bank and payment account reconciliations
Monthly reconciliation of every bank account, mobile money and payment gateway account, with differences investigated and cleared — not parked.
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Receivables management
Customer ledger maintenance, invoice control, ageing reports and an agreed follow-up routine so overdue balances are chased consistently.
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Payables management
Supplier ledger maintenance, invoice matching, payment scheduling and cash-requirement forecasts to support payment decisions.
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General ledger maintenance
Accruals, prepayments, depreciation, provisions and month-end adjustments, with a clear record of the basis for each.
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Management accounts
Profit and loss, balance sheet and cash-flow summary, presented by branch, project or product line where relevant, with written commentary on the movements that matter.
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Budget versus actual reporting
Comparison against the agreed budget or forecast, with variance explanation rather than variance alone.
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Statutory records support
Preparation of the records and schedules your accountant, auditor or tax adviser needs, so filings are not delayed by missing information.
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Payroll accounting support
Recording of payroll journals and reconciliation of gross, deductions and net pay, working with your payroll process or provider.
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Year-end support
Schedules, reconciliations and queries handled for your auditor or statutory accountant, reducing the cost and disruption of the audit.
How the engagement works
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Review of the current position
We look at the ledger, the reconciliations and the reporting to establish the true starting point, including how far behind the books are.
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Agree the scope and timetable
What we do, when we do it, what you provide and by when, and what the monthly pack contains.
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Catch-up where needed
If the books are behind, we clear the backlog as a defined piece of work before the monthly cycle begins.
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Monthly cycle
Recording, reconciliation, review and reporting to an agreed close calendar, usually within a set number of working days after month-end.
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Review meeting
A short call or meeting to walk through the numbers and the actions that follow. Reporting nobody discusses is reporting nobody uses.
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Continuous improvement
As the reporting stabilises, we recommend the process and system changes that reduce the manual work behind it.
What we need from you
Preparation is where most engagements are won or lost. The more of this you can gather before we start, the faster the work goes and the more accurately we can scope it.
- Read access to bank and payment accounts, ideally through a feed rather than statements emailed across.
- A defined route for invoices in and out — one inbox or one folder, not several.
- Payroll data or access to your payroll provider each cycle.
- A named contact who can answer queries within a day or two; most close delays are query delays.
- Approval of journals and adjustments above an agreed threshold.
- Any contracts, loan agreements or lease terms that affect the accounts.
What you can reasonably expect
- A ledger that is current and reconciled, with the differences explained.
- Management accounts delivered to a predictable calendar.
- Clear visibility of receivables, payables and the cash position.
- Fewer surprises at year-end, in the accounts or in a tax review.
- Finance knowledge held in documented process rather than in one person's memory.
- Management time released from chasing numbers to acting on them.
We do not guarantee a specific reduction in costs or tax. What we commit to is accurate, timely records and reporting that reflects the business.
What affects fees and timelines
We do not publish a price list. The drivers below vary too much between businesses for a published figure to be honest — and a price quoted before an assessment is usually wrong in one direction or the other.
| Factor | How it affects the engagement |
|---|---|
| Transaction volume | The number of bank lines, invoices and journals each month is the main driver of monthly effort. |
| State of the existing records | A catch-up exercise for books that are months behind is quoted separately from the monthly fee. |
| Number of entities and branches | Each additional ledger and consolidation adds review time. |
| Reporting depth | A basic pack costs less than branch, project or product-line analysis with commentary. |
| Close timetable | A close required within five working days needs more resourcing than one required within fifteen. |
| Quality of source information | Where invoices, contracts and approvals arrive late or incomplete, query time rises. |
| Payroll in scope | Running payroll is a separate engagement from recording it. |
Monthly engagements are quoted as a fixed monthly fee once the volume is understood. Catch-up work, advisory projects and year-end support are quoted separately.
Software and industries this service applies to
Platforms we commonly work with for this service
Sectors we apply this service in
Professional Services
Retail & Distribution
Hospitality & Restaurants
NGOs & Donor-Funded Organisations
Logistics & Business Services
Frequently asked questions
Do you take over our accounting software?
We work in the platform you use, or recommend a move if the current one cannot support the reporting you need. You retain ownership of the data and administrator access at all times.
How quickly can you produce monthly accounts?
It depends on transaction volume and how quickly queries are answered. Most clients agree a close calendar between five and fifteen working days after month-end. We set the target together and report against it.
Can you catch up on books that are months behind?
Yes. We scope catch-up work separately, working back from the last reliable point. In some cases a defined opening position with prior periods summarised is faster and more useful than reconstructing every transaction.
Do you handle our tax filings?
Tax compliance is a separate service with its own scope. Bookkeeping produces the records; the tax service uses them. Many clients take both, and the two work together naturally.
What if we only need cover for a few months?
Interim and project cover is common — a resignation, a system migration, a period of rapid growth. We agree a defined period and handover, and we document everything so your next hire can pick it up.
How do we know our data is safe?
Access is limited to named staff, credentials are held securely and never shared by email, and access is withdrawn immediately when an engagement ends. Our privacy notice sets out how we handle client data.
Let’s build a stronger financial foundation for your business.
Tell us what you are dealing with. We will tell you honestly whether we can help, what it would involve and what it would cost.