Resources · Guides
Plain-English guides from a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor.
Plain-English guides from a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor — how bookkeeping, QuickBooks, hiring, pricing, and compliance work for small businesses. This hub routes to a dedicated guide for every topic, dated and kept current. Independent firm — not Intuit.
Led by a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor · Independent · not Intuit · Free to read · dated & reviewed
All 13 guides, in plain English.
Most small-business owners don’t need an accounting degree — they need clear answers to real questions: what does bookkeeping actually involve, when should I hire help, what does it cost, and how do QuickBooks, payroll, and sales tax actually work? This hub answers those questions with 13 plain-English guides from TechBrot’s team, led by a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor, grouped by topic: getting started, hiring help, QuickBooks, money & compliance, and trends. Every guide is free to read, dated, and corrected when the facts change. We use our own canonical pricing for our services and describe Intuit and market figures by date rather than guessing. As an independent bookkeeping and advisory firm led by a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor — not Intuit — we wrote these to be genuinely useful, whether or not you ever hire us.
The fundamentals.
Where to begin if the books are new or never been set up right.
Bookkeeping basics
What bookkeeping actually is, the core terms, and the monthly cycle every small business runs — explained plainly, with no accounting degree required.
Bookkeeping basics →Small business accounting 101
How accounting works end to end — cash vs. accrual, the three core reports, and how the pieces fit together so the numbers actually mean something.
Accounting 101 →New business financial setup
The financial foundation for a brand-new business — bank accounts, chart of accounts, QuickBooks, and the habits that keep the books clean from day one.
New business setup →When to bring someone in.
How to tell what role you need, and what to look for.
Hiring a bookkeeper
When a business needs a bookkeeper, what the role really covers, what to ask, and how to tell a good fit from a costly one before you hand over the books.
Hiring a bookkeeper →Hiring an accountant
Bookkeeper, accountant, CPA, EA — who does what, when you need each, and how to hire the right one instead of paying for the wrong title.
Hiring an accountant →When to hire a fractional CFO
What a fractional CFO actually does, the signs a business is ready for one, and how it differs from bookkeeping or accounting — without overpaying for a role you don’t need yet.
Fractional CFO →Getting QuickBooks right.
Cleanup, cost, and the service that actually fits.
QuickBooks cleanup guide
How a QuickBooks cleanup works, when a file needs one, and what a real cleanup involves — from a firm led by a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor that does them. Independent, not Intuit.
QuickBooks cleanup →QuickBooks pricing 2026
What QuickBooks Online actually costs in 2026 — plans, add-ons, and the real total — described and dated from Intuit’s published figures, not guessed.
QuickBooks pricing →Cleanup vs. monthly bookkeeping
The difference between a one-time cleanup and ongoing monthly bookkeeping — which one your file needs first, and why most businesses need both in order.
Cleanup vs. monthly →Costs, payroll, and tax.
What things cost and what you’re obligated to do.
Bookkeeping rates 2026
What bookkeeping actually costs in 2026 — hourly, monthly, and flat-fee models — with our own canonical pricing and how to read a quote so you don’t overpay.
Bookkeeping rates →Payroll setup guide
How to set up payroll correctly — employees vs. contractors, withholding, tax filings, and where setup goes wrong — so the team gets paid and the filings stay clean.
Payroll setup →Sales tax compliance guide
How sales tax works for small business — nexus, registration, collection, and filing — in plain English, so you collect and remit what you actually owe.
Sales tax compliance →State tax quirks, state by state
One rule per state that most often trips up a small business’s books — gross-receipts taxes, local income taxes, city-limit rate lines, taxes owed at a loss — verified against each revenue authority, with the QuickBooks implication. 35 states, honestly labelled.
State tax quirks →Where accounting is going.
What’s actually changing — and what isn’t.
About these guides.
Are the guides free?
Who writes the guides?
How current are the guides?
Do you cover pricing honestly?
Will these guides solve my bookkeeping?
Where should I start if I’m brand new to this?
Start with your real numbers
Guides are a start — your file is the answer.
Get a free QuickBooks file review or book a discovery call. We'll look at your actual books, show you exactly where setup or cleanup will help, and point you to the guides that fit your situation. No pitch.
TechBrot is an independent bookkeeping and advisory firm — not a CPA firm (no audits, reviews, compilations, or income-tax filing) and not an Intuit affiliate. QuickBooks and Intuit are registered trademarks of Intuit Inc.