IRS problem resolution: how a ProAdvisor helps (and who represents you).
An IRS notice or problem — underreported income, a 1099 or information-return mismatch, a payroll-tax discrepancy, a balance due, or missing records — is answered from the books behind the return. TechBrot is a bookkeeping and advisory firm — not a CPA, EA, or tax attorney, and not the IRS. We cannot represent you before the IRS, negotiate a settlement, file or amend returns, or give tax advice. What we do: reconstruct and reconcile the books, produce clean, documented financials, and hand a defensible record to your CPA, EA, or tax attorney — who handles the representation.
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.
IRS problem resolution is two jobs. Representation (responding to the IRS, negotiating, filing or amending returns) belongs to a CPA, enrolled agent or tax attorney; TechBrot does none of it. We fix the books behind the notice: reconstruct, reconcile and document them for your representative. A focused diagnostic runs from $450; a bookkeeping cleanup $1,200–$15,000+.
They took something that felt overwhelming to me as a first-year business owner and made it simple.
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What’s usually behind an IRS notice.
For a small business, the figures a notice questions come from the books — which is why fixing the records is where the bookkeeping side of a response begins. Records example: for an underreporting notice, the reconciled bank and merchant accounts for the year, a deposits-to-income schedule that ties every deposit to an income account or a non-income source (a loan, a transfer, an owner contribution), and the 1099 totals squared against the Profit and Loss — the documentation your CPA, EA or attorney uses to respond.
Cause 01 · Unreported income from un-reconciled accounts
A root cause the books can fix. When bank, credit-card, or merchant accounts are never reconciled, deposits get missed and income on the return ends up lower than what the IRS sees from third-party data. That mismatch — not fraud, just unreconciled books — is what an underreporting notice is about; the IRS’s CP2000, for example, is sent when the income or payment information it received from third parties doesn’t match what was reported on the return. Reconciling every account so income is complete gives your representative the figures to answer it with.
Cause 02 · 1099 and information-return mismatches
The IRS matches the 1099-NEC, 1099-K, and 1099-MISC totals reported about you against your return. When the books don’t reconcile to those forms — duplicate entries, payments recorded in the wrong period, or amounts that simply don’t agree — a mismatch notice follows. Squaring the books to each information return is bookkeeping work, and it documents the explanation your representative gives.
Cause 03 · Payroll-tax discrepancies
Payroll-tax notices often come from figures that don’t tie: wages or withholding on the books that disagree with the quarterly returns, deposits that don’t match liabilities, or contractor pay miscoded as something else. Getting the payroll records to reconcile to the deposits and returns gives your representative a clean basis to respond — though the response itself stays with them.
Cause 04 · Missing or unsupported records
A notice or examination can ask for documentation the business never kept, or kept in scattered places — receipts, statements, contracts, prior reconciliations. We reconstruct the records from source documents and rebuild the books so each figure has support behind it. Reconstruction is bookkeeping; deciding what to provide to the IRS and how is your representative’s call.
Cause 05 · Miscategorized transactions and a return that didn’t tie
When transactions are coded to the wrong accounts, or the filed return never actually tied to the books, the numbers the IRS questions can’t be explained from the file as it stands. Re-categorizing correctly and reconciling the books back to the return produces a coherent record — the foundation your professional needs to answer the notice.
Less common · Less common: books behind from a migration or prior preparer
Sometimes the gap opened during a software migration, an ownership change, or a handoff from a prior bookkeeper or preparer, leaving periods that never reconciled. These are the cases where surface fixes stop working and a structured cleanup — then a clean handoff to your representative — is the path forward.
How we help you respond (and who represents you).
Six steps, in order. Notice the split: your CPA, EA, or tax attorney owns the IRS-facing work; we own the books behind it. Hand the notice to your representative first — especially any deadline.
- 1
Hand the notice to your CPA, EA, or tax attorney first
Before anything else, get the notice and any response deadline to a licensed professional — a CPA, enrolled agent, or tax attorney. They own the IRS-facing work and the clock. If you don’t have one, engage one for the representation; with your authorization, TechBrot coordinates records with them, but we do not respond to the IRS or represent you.
- 2
Free file review to find the gap behind the notice
We review the QuickBooks file at no charge to locate what’s actually driving the problem — unreconciled accounts, 1099 mismatches, payroll figures that don’t tie, or missing records — and scope the work in writing. This tells you, and your representative, how far behind the books really are before any work begins.
- 3
Reconstruct missing records from source documents
Where records are missing, we rebuild them from bank and credit-card statements, merchant reports, payroll data, and other source documents, so the period in question has a complete, documented trail rather than gaps. Reconstruction is bookkeeping work; what gets provided to the IRS, and how, stays with your representative.
- 4
Reconcile every account so income and figures are complete
We reconcile bank, credit-card, and merchant accounts so income is complete, then square 1099 and payroll-tax figures against what was reported and re-categorize transactions that were coded wrong. The goal is books that tie — to the statements, to the information returns, and to the filed return.
- 5
Produce clean financials and a documented audit trail
We turn the reconciled file into clean financial statements and an organized, documented record — the defensible package your professional can stand behind when they respond. We do not draft the IRS response or give tax advice; we make sure the numbers underneath it are right and supported.
- 6
Hand the defensible record to your representative
We deliver the clean books, financials, and documentation to your CPA, EA, or tax attorney, and coordinate on anything they need clarified about the file. From there they respond, negotiate, file, and represent you. We stay available to keep the books current so the same problem doesn’t recur.
When you need a CPA, EA, or tax attorney.
Anything that touches the IRS directly
Responding to the notice, negotiating a balance, requesting an installment agreement or offer in compromise, seeking penalty relief, or filing or amending a return — all of it is IRS-facing work. You can do some of it yourself (the IRS takes payment-plan requests directly from taxpayers); when someone acts for you, that is representation, and CPAs, enrolled agents and attorneys have unlimited representation rights. We cannot do any of it. If that’s what you need first, that’s who to call first.
An audit, examination, or legal exposure
If you’re facing an audit or examination, or there’s any question of penalties, fraud, or legal exposure, you need a licensed professional — often a tax attorney — representing you under a power of attorney. We support that professional by getting the books and documentation right; we do not stand in for them, and we’ll say so plainly.
Tax advice or a tax position
Any question about what you owe, how something should be treated for tax, whether to take a position, or what a notice legally means is tax advice — and that is a CPA, EA, or tax attorney’s role, not ours. We’ll get the books accurate so the advice rests on solid numbers, but the advice itself is theirs to give.
TechBrot gets the books defensible; your representative deals with the IRS.
Resolution rests on two pairs of hands. Your representative — a CPA, enrolled agent, or tax attorney — owns everything that touches the IRS: the response, the deadline, any negotiation or settlement, penalty-relief requests, and filing or amending returns. We own the books underneath: reconstructing missing records, reconciling bank, credit-card, and merchant accounts so income is complete, squaring 1099 and payroll-tax figures with what was reported, and producing clean financials and a documented audit trail your representative can stand behind. That work runs against a written scope and is prepared by a senior bookkeeper who works in your software, or by a signed specialist practice when your books need one. We are an independent firm — not the IRS, not a CPA, EA, or tax attorney, and not Intuit’s software support. We do not represent you, negotiate, settle, file, or give tax advice; that line never moves.
What people ask about IRS problems and the books behind them.
Do I still need a CPA, EA, or tax attorney if I hire you?
Yes, for anything that touches the IRS, because TechBrot does none of it. The response to the notice, any negotiation or settlement, penalty-relief requests, and filing or amending returns are IRS-facing work; acting for you before the IRS is regulated practice, and CPAs, enrolled agents and attorneys have unlimited representation rights. We complement that professional — we get the books accurate and documented so their response rests on numbers that hold up. If you don’t have a representative, engaging one is the first step; with your authorization, we coordinate records with them.
Why would a bookkeeper help with an IRS notice at all?
Because the figures on a small business’s return come from its books, and a notice about those figures is answered from them. Unreported income from un-reconciled accounts, 1099 totals that don’t match the return, payroll-tax figures that don’t tie, and missing records are bookkeeping problems that surface as tax notices. Fixing the books removes the underlying cause and gives your representative a complete, defensible record to respond with — the record their response rests on.
Can you talk to the IRS or call them on my behalf?
No. Acting for you before the IRS takes a signed Form 2848 power of attorney naming a representative the IRS accepts; CPAs, enrolled agents and attorneys have unlimited representation rights. We do not contact the IRS, take calls from them for you, or represent you in any IRS interaction. We work inside your books and records and coordinate with the licensed professional who does represent you.
Can you tell me what I owe or whether the notice is correct?
No — that is tax advice, and it belongs to a CPA, EA, or tax attorney. We don’t interpret what a notice legally means, calculate what you owe, or advise on a tax position. What we can do is reconcile the books so the figures are accurate and complete, which often clarifies the picture — but the advice and the response stay with your licensed professional.
How much does the bookkeeping side cost, and how does it work?
We start with a free file review to find the gap behind the notice and scope the work in writing. A focused diagnostic is a fixed-fee scope from $450; a full bookkeeping cleanup runs $1,200–$15,000+ when the books are behind. Every engagement has a written, fixed-fee scope before any work begins. That covers the books only — your CPA, EA, or tax attorney bills separately for the representation.
Is TechBrot affiliated with the IRS or with Intuit?
No to both. We are an independent firm. We are not the IRS, not a government agency, and not a CPA, EA, or tax attorney. We are also not Intuit and not Intuit’s official software support — for an Intuit account, login, subscription, or billing matter, contact Intuit directly.