Monthly bookkeeping
The monthly close each entity runs on, fixed-fee.
Bookkeeping · Multi-entity
Multi-entity bookkeeping: every company closed, every intercompany balance tied.
A holding company, an operating company and the LLC that owns the building are three sets of books — and the balances between them have to agree. We close each entity in its own QuickBooks file on one calendar, tie the intercompany accounts every month, and build the consolidated view your CPA and lender read. Fixed fee against a written scope that names every entity.
$500–$2,500+/mo
What you can check before you sign
- Fixed fee, written first
- Your own QuickBooks file
- No hourly billing
If your file needs our paid diagnostic first, its fee is credited in full against the cleanup. Either way, you get a fixed fee in writing before any work starts.
§ 01 · TL;DR
§ TL;DR
Multi-entity bookkeeping keeps separate books for each company you own and makes the money moving between them agree on both sides. Each entity closes in its own QuickBooks file on one monthly calendar, with consolidated reporting built from those closes. One fixed fee covers the group, within the published monthly bookkeeping range of $500–$2,500+/mo; your CPA files each return.
They took something that felt overwhelming to me as a first-year business owner and made it simple.
What stood out the most was TechBrot Inc’s attention to detail.
Intuit QuickBooks Certification Level 2 and QuickBooks Workforce Certification,
§ 02 · What we find
Where multi-entity books go wrong.
Each of these makes the group’s numbers wrong even when every single file looks clean.
Intercompany balances that do not mirror
One entity shows it is owed more than the other shows it owes. The gap is a transfer, fee or payment recorded on one side only.Expenses paid by the wrong company
One entity’s card pays another entity’s bills and the expense lands in the payer’s file: one company’s margin looks worse, the other’s better, and neither is true.One bank account doing two companies’ work
When entities share an account, every deposit and payment has to be split and recorded as an intercompany transaction in both files, or the separation between the companies exists on paper only.Management fees and rent booked once
A management fee or a lease between related companies is income for one and expense for the other. Booked on one side only, it distorts both companies and the group total.An entity nobody closes
A property LLC or a quiet subsidiary still has bank activity, taxes and a balance sheet. Without books it surfaces at year-end, when the CPA asks for it.§ 03 · How we run it
Five steps from scattered files to a group that closes.
- STEP 1
Map the group
Every entity, who owns it, its bank and card accounts, and every flow between the companies — fees, loans, rent, shared payroll, shared expenses. - STEP 2
Clean or set up each file
Each entity gets its own QuickBooks Online file with a chart of accounts that lines up across the group. Files that are behind or wrong are scoped for cleanup first. - STEP 3
Pair the intercompany accounts
A due-to account in one file for every due-from in the other, with a monthly tie-out: the pair nets to zero before the month closes. - STEP 4
Close every entity on one calendar
Reconciliations, accruals and the intercompany tie-out for all entities, locked on the same date each month. - STEP 5
Report the group
Statements for each entity plus a consolidated view with intercompany balances eliminated — the package your CPA, lender or board reads.
§ 04 · Hypothetical example
One month-end close across three companies, worked through.
Hypothetical example. The companies and figures are invented round numbers that show the method; no client is described.
A holding company (HoldCo) owns an operating company (OpCo) and the LLC that owns OpCo’s building (PropCo). Each has its own QuickBooks Online file, and all three close on the same date. This month, four things move between the companies, each under a written agreement:
- PropCo charges OpCo $10,000 rent under the lease; OpCo pays it early next month.
- HoldCo charges OpCo a $5,000 management fee under the management agreement, unpaid at month end.
- HoldCo’s card pays a $1,200 software bill that belongs to OpCo.
- HoldCo advances PropCo $20,000 toward a roof repair under a loan agreement.
| Transaction | HoldCo | OpCo | PropCo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rent, $10,000 | Nothing | Rent expense $10,000; due to PropCo $10,000 | Rent income $10,000; due from OpCo $10,000 |
| Management fee, $5,000 | Fee income $5,000; due from OpCo $5,000 | Fee expense $5,000; due to HoldCo $5,000 | Nothing |
| Software bill, $1,200 | Due from OpCo $1,200 (not HoldCo’s expense) | Software expense $1,200; due to HoldCo $1,200 | Nothing |
| Loan, $20,000 | Cash out $20,000; due from PropCo $20,000 | Nothing | Cash in $20,000; due to HoldCo $20,000 |
The tie-out. Before the month closes, each due-from is matched to the due-to on the other side. At the first pass the HoldCo and OpCo pair does not agree: HoldCo shows $5,000 due from OpCo, while OpCo shows $6,200 due to HoldCo. The $1,200 difference is the software bill, which HoldCo’s file had booked as HoldCo’s own expense. It is moved out of HoldCo’s expenses into due from OpCo, the pair agrees at $6,200, and only then does the month close. The difference is traced to the entry recorded on one side and corrected; it is never plugged.
| Pair | One side | Other side | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| HoldCo and OpCo | HoldCo: due from OpCo $6,200 | OpCo: due to HoldCo $6,200 | $0 |
| PropCo and OpCo | PropCo: due from OpCo $10,000 | OpCo: due to PropCo $10,000 | $0 |
| HoldCo and PropCo | HoldCo: due from PropCo $20,000 | PropCo: due to HoldCo $20,000 | $0 |
The consolidated view. Each company gets its own statements. In the group view, the $10,000 rent and the $5,000 management fee are eliminated on both sides, because each is income in one company and expense in another, and the three pairs ($6,200, $10,000 and $20,000) eliminate to zero. The $1,200 software bill stays: it was paid to an outside vendor. What remains is what the group earned from, spent with and owes to the outside world, which is the package your CPA and lender read.
§ 05 · Day one
What we ask for before the first close.
- The list of entities with legal names, EINs and ownership percentages.
- Accountant-user access to each QuickBooks file, or a note that an entity has no file yet.
- Bank and card statements for every account, labelled by entity.
- Any written agreements between the companies — management fee, lease, loan — so the intercompany entries follow the agreement.
- Your CPA’s contact, so each entity’s year-end files reach the right person.
§ 06 · Pricing
One written scope for the whole group.
Multi-entity work is quoted as one fixed fee against a written scope that names every entity, the intercompany flows and the close calendar. The published range for monthly bookkeeping is $500–$2,500+/mo; the number of entities and the intercompany activity are what move a group through it, and the scope states the exact figure.
When a group needs someone to own the close and the controls across every entity, that is the outsourced controller retainer ($1,800–$5,000 a month on top of monthly bookkeeping). No hourly billing either way.
§ 08 · Questions
Questions about bookkeeping for several companies.
How much does multi-entity bookkeeping cost?
One fixed fee against a written scope that names every entity. Monthly bookkeeping is published at $500–$2,500+/mo; the number of entities and the intercompany activity move a group through that range, and the scope states the exact figure before work starts.
Who actually does the work?
Every engagement runs on three roles: a client advisor who scopes it and stays your point of contact, a senior bookkeeper who prepares your setup and monthly close in your software, and a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor who reviews every close before it reaches you. A U.S.-based bookkeeper is available on request; we can share their public directory profile with you.
Can one bank account serve two of my companies?
It can be made to work, but then every transaction has to be split and recorded as intercompany activity in both files. Separate accounts per entity keep the books cleaner and the separation between the companies easier to show.
What happens when the intercompany balances do not agree?
The month does not close until they do. We trace the difference to the transaction recorded on one side only and record the other side; the gap is never plugged.
Do you handle payroll when staff work for several companies?
Payroll runs through the employing entity. When people work across companies, the cost is allocated under a written agreement and recorded as an intercompany charge. Payroll management is its own service ($150–$800+/mo).
Is TechBrot a CPA firm?
No. TechBrot is a bookkeeping and advisory firm, not a CPA firm, and does not perform audits, reviews, compilations, or income-tax filing.
How do I get started?
Book a 30-minute discovery call. TechBrot reviews your file, determines which engagement fits, and produces a written fixed-fee scope within 3 business days. No pitch, no obligation. If TechBrot isn’t the right fit, we’ll say so.
Several companies, one owner
Get one written scope for the whole group.
Tell us what’s wrong with the books. We’ll tell you whether cleanup, catch-up or monthly bookkeeping fits.
Or send the details instead