Retained earnings disagree with last year’s return
The equity section in QuickBooks does not match the ending balance your CPA filed.
QuickBooks cleanup · Books vs. the return
QuickBooks doesn’t match what your CPA filed.
Your CPA filed a return with one set of year-end numbers; QuickBooks shows another. Until the two tie, every report you run starts from the wrong balances — and next year’s return starts from a mismatch. We find why they differ, post what is missing, lock the year, and document it for your CPA, in your own QuickBooks file.
At review · April statementDoes not tie
Ending balance21,926.57
Cleared balance28,114.99
Difference−6,188.42
The same statement, worked
Same statement · difference found0.00 · not yet finished
Ending balance21,926.57
Cleared balance21,926.57
Difference0.00
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
When QuickBooks doesn’t match the filed return, the common causes are adjusting entries your CPA made that were never posted in QuickBooks, changes to a year after it was filed, depreciation and fixed assets kept only on the CPA’s schedule, or a cash versus accrual difference. Some differences are legitimate book-to-tax differences your CPA reconciles on the return.
The fix is to get the CPA’s final numbers, post what belongs in the books, set a closing date, and document what remains. TechBrot does not prepare the return; we tie the books to it.
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 · Plainly
Why the books and the return drift apart.
Your CPA prepares the return from a trial balance — the QuickBooks numbers plus the adjustments your CPA made to get them right. If those adjustments never make it back into QuickBooks, the file and the return start the next year from different balances.
The mismatch compounds. Retained earnings stop agreeing with the prior return, the balance sheet on the next return does not tie to the file, and every report you run for a lender or a buyer starts from numbers your CPA already corrected.
§ 03 · What we find
The five common reasons they differ.
Adjusting entries never posted
Your CPA’s year-end adjusting journal entries — accruals, reclassifications, corrections — exist in the CPA’s workpapers but not in QuickBooks.A filed year edited afterwards
Transactions dated in a year that was already filed were added, deleted or changed later, because no closing date was set.Depreciation kept only on the CPA’s schedule
Fixed assets and depreciation appear on the return but were never recorded in the books.Cash versus accrual
The return was prepared on one basis and QuickBooks reports on the other; the difference sits in receivables, payables and accruals.Legitimate book-to-tax differences
Some items are treated differently on the return by design. For corporations and partnerships, your CPA reconciles them on the return (Schedule M-1 or M-3); those are documented, not “fixed”.§ 04 · How we tie it out
From two sets of numbers to one.
- STEP 1
Get the CPA’s final numbers
The final trial balance and the list of adjusting entries for each filed year in scope. - STEP 2
Compare line by line
The QuickBooks year-end balance sheet against the CPA’s final numbers and the balance sheet on the return. - STEP 3
Post what belongs in the books
Adjusting entries dated at year-end, fixed assets and depreciation, and corrections for changes made after filing. - STEP 4
Lock the year
A closing date and password so a filed year cannot change again without anyone noticing. - STEP 5
Document what remains
A written tie-out of any remaining book-to-tax differences, for your CPA.
§ 05 · When to call
Three signs the mismatch needs a proper fix.
Your CPA sends the same adjustments every year
Because they never make it into QuickBooks, they have to be made again.
A lender or buyer is about to see the books
And the file still shows numbers the return has already corrected.
§ 06 · Pricing
What tying the books out costs.
Tying the books to the filed return is priced as QuickBooks cleanup (published at $1,200–$15,000+), fixed fee against a written scope that names the years. A single year with a short adjusting-entry list sits at the focused end; several years with edits after filing sit higher.
If tying out reveals something that affects a filed return, that is your CPA’s call, and we give them the documentation.
§ 08 · Questions
Questions about QuickBooks and the filed return.
What does it cost to tie QuickBooks to my filed return?
It is priced as QuickBooks cleanup, published at $1,200–$15,000+, fixed fee against a written scope that names the years. The exact figure is in the scope before work starts.
What do you need from my CPA?
The final trial balance and the adjusting-entry list for each year in scope, and a copy of the filed return’s balance sheet where there is one.
Will posting the adjustments change last year’s reports?
Yes — they will then match what your CPA filed. That is the point: the file and the return agree, and the next year starts from the right balances.
Can you prevent this happening again?
A closing date after each filing, the CPA’s adjustments posted every year, and a monthly close. Monthly bookkeeping includes the year-end handoff to your CPA.
Numbers that don’t tie?
Get the books tied to what was filed.
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