Cleanup vs monthly bookkeeping
How to tell whether the file needs a one-time cleanup, ongoing bookkeeping, or the cleanup first — and the cost logic of each order.
OpenFlorida
Florida cleanup and catch-up bookkeeping
Months — or years — behind on the books? We’ll catch you up.
A QuickBooks® ProAdvisor reconstructs a Florida file that’s fallen behind — categorizing the backlog, rebuilding the 6%+surtax sales-tax figures, and reconstructing the fixed-asset schedule — until the books are current and CPA-ready. Fixed-fee, all 67 counties.
Catch-up bookkeeping: $2,000–$20,000+What sets the price
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.
State rule
Florida rule: a sales and use tax return is due for each reporting period even if no tax is due, and is late after the 20th of the following month; catch-up rebuilds each missed period’s liability. Source: Florida DOR, DR-15 instructions.
§ The short version
Florida cleanup and catch-up bookkeeping brings a file that is months or years behind back to current for a fixed fee of $2,000–$20,000+. We reconcile each bank and credit-card account to source statements, investigate unmatched balances, document corrections and hand over a period-by-period exception register. The 6% sales tax plus county surtax is rebuilt by location.
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,
§ 01 · Why a Florida backlog is more than messy
Three Florida deadlines a backlog puts at risk.
Falling behind in Florida isn’t just untidy — these three obligations keep running whether the books are current or not.
6% + surtax
Uncollected sales tax piles up while behind
Every month the books sit untouched, sales-tax periods come and go — and a return that doesn’t tie compounds. Catch-up reconstructs the 6% + county surtax liability by location so your CPA can address any prior-period exposure.Services
Florida taxes some services
Florida taxes some services, among them investigative and crime protection services, interior nonresidential cleaning and nonresidential pest control (Florida Department of Revenue). An owner who assumes every service is exempt can under-collect for months, so catch-up flags taxable and exempt service lines in QuickBooks and applies the right rate.TPP
Rebuilding the fixed-asset history
A behind file usually never tracked fixed assets — so the annual tangible personal property return (DR-405) has nothing to render from. Catch-up reconstructs the schedule from the records. Valuation stays with your CPA.§ 02 · What catch-up bookkeeping covers
From a backlog to current and CPA-ready.
We reconstruct the books period by period until the file is caught up — with the Florida figures rebuilt.
01
The backlog categorized
Every untouched transaction across the missing months or years categorized to a Florida-correct chart of accounts.Bookkeeping services
02
Sales-tax figures rebuilt
The 6% + county surtax liability reconstructed by location so your CPA can address any prior-period exposure.Sales tax help
03
Service-tax figures reconstructed
Taxable service lines rebuilt for the missing periods so the sales-tax figures are right for your CPA.Sales tax help
04
Fixed-asset schedule rebuilt
Equipment and furniture reconstructed into a schedule so the tangible personal property return has something to render from.QuickBooks cleanup
05
Every account reconciled
Bank, credit-card, and loan accounts reconciled across the caught-up periods so the file actually ties.Reconciliation
06
Stays current after
Move into monthly bookkeeping with the same preparer so the backlog never builds again.Monthly bookkeeping
07
Reconciliations that will not tie
A reconciliation that won’t tie usually traces to a few causes: transactions entered but never cleared, duplicate bank-feed entries, a wrong beginning balance, items dated in the wrong period, or undeposited funds hiding deposits. Catch-up fixes the cause at the source instead of parking the difference in a discrepancy account, then ties the sales-tax and surtax liability to each DR-15 by county and the loan and clearing accounts to their statements.Why reconciliations fail
§ 03 · The scope
What we do — and what we don’t.
What TechBrot does
- Categorize months or years of backlog to a Florida-correct chart of accounts
- Reconstruct the 6% + county surtax sales-tax liability by location
- Rebuild the taxability of services for the missing periods
- Reconstruct the fixed-asset schedule for the TPP return
- Reconcile bank, credit-card, and loan accounts across the caught-up periods
- Hand a current, CPA-ready file to your CPA
What your CPA does
- File the Florida sales tax, corporate income tax, or taxability of services
- File or amend prior-period returns or the TPP return
- Represent you before the Florida Department of Revenue
- Provide legal or tax advice
- Step 1
Free file review
A QuickBooks ProAdvisor reviews how far behind the file is and what catch-up requires. - Step 2
Written fixed-fee scope
A written scope and fixed fee within 3 business days, with the timeline and periods listed. - Step 3
Reconstruct period by period
We categorize the backlog, rebuild the Florida figures, and reconcile each period back to clean. - Step 4
Current & CPA-ready
A current, reconciled file handed to your CPA — or straight into monthly bookkeeping so it stays current.
§ 05 · The advisory line
Automation handles the data entry. We handle the judgment.
A Florida bookkeeping backlog is a quiet liability: sales-tax periods keep closing, the taxability of services keeps accruing, the corporate-tax deadline still lands, and the TPP return still comes due — all while the records to support them don’t exist yet. Catch-up reconstructs the work so your CPA can file accurately for the missing years.
Once you’re current, the same preparer keeps it that way in monthly bookkeeping — so you never need a second catch-up.
§ 06 · Around this page
Around Florida.
Florida QuickBooks ProAdvisor & bookkeeping
The state page: services, industries, cities and the Florida tax terms in one place.Cleanup & catch-up bookkeeping, nationally
The national engagement this page is the Florida version of — same scope, same written fixed fee.Also in Florida
Florida cities
Not sure where your file stands? Start with the free QuickBooks file review · how Florida compares: state-by-state tax quirks.
§ 07 · Around the engagement
Before you engage anyone.
QuickBooks cleanup cost estimator
A scope-based estimate for a focused, standard, or complex cleanup from your months behind, number of accounts, and transaction volume.
Open§ 08 · Common questions
Florida catch-up bookkeeping questions.
What does Florida catch-up bookkeeping include?
A QuickBooks ProAdvisor categorizes months or years of untouched transactions to a Florida-correct chart of accounts, reconstructs the 6% + county surtax liability by location and the taxability of services, rebuilds the fixed-asset schedule for the TPP return, and reconciles every account — until the file is current and CPA-ready.
How is catch-up bookkeeping different from a QuickBooks cleanup?
A QuickBooks cleanup fixes how the file is configured — sales-tax setup, the taxability of services, the chart of accounts. Catch-up bookkeeping reconstructs the missing work itself: the months or years of transactions that were never recorded. They’re complementary, and many behind Florida files need both — we scope whichever (or both) the file needs.
How many years behind can you catch up?
Any distance — from a few months to several years. The further behind, the larger the scope and timeline; a multi-year Florida file is reconstructed the same way, period by period, back to current and CPA-ready. We confirm the exact periods and timeline during a free file review.
Will catching up create a tax bill?
Catch-up itself doesn’t create tax — it produces the accurate records your CPA needs to determine what was actually owed for the missing periods. If prior-period sales tax, service taxability, or corporate tax was under-reported, your CPA addresses the filing; we make sure the books behind it are right.
How much does Florida catch-up bookkeeping cost?
Fixed-fee against a written scope, never hourly — typically $2,000–$20,000+ depending on how many months or years are behind and the transaction volume. You get the exact fee in writing within 3 business days of a free file review.
Do you file my back taxes after catching up?
No. TechBrot is a bookkeeping and advisory firm — we reconstruct the books to CPA-ready and coordinate with your CPA, who files or amends the sales tax, corporate income tax, service taxability, and TPP return.
My sales-tax liability never matches my return. Can you fix that?
Usually, yes. That mismatch tends to mean sales tax was set to a single rate instead of the county surtax, which is collected at the rate of the county where delivery is made and applies to the first $5,000 of the sales amount of any item of tangible personal property, or the liability account was never reconciled to the DR-15. We reconcile the liability to each return by county so the books show what was over- or under-remitted, and correct the prior periods as part of the cleanup; your CPA addresses any prior-period filing. Going forward, the collection allowance applies only when the return is filed and paid electronically and on time.
How often should I reconcile my QuickBooks accounts?
Monthly. Reconciling every month surfaces errors and missing transactions while they are still easy to trace, and keeps the sales-tax, corporate-tax and tangible personal property deadlines from catching you reconstructing a year of records under deadline. After catch-up, monthly bookkeeping keeps every account reconciled each month.
Checked against the Florida Department of Revenue.
Florida businesses start here