Who this is for
Catch-Up Bookkeeping for Sole Proprietors and Single-Member LLCs
The most common one-person backlog has a single bank account doing two jobs, a card that paid for both groceries and inventory, and a Schedule C due with everything else on April 15. It is also the quickest kind of catch-up, because the bank already has the whole story and there is only one of you to ask.
Separating business from personal, after the fact
When one account did both jobs, the cleanup is a sort: every transaction is business, personal, or a transfer, and only the first group becomes the books. The personal ones are not lost; they are simply not in the business. Going forward, a separate business account is the single change that makes next year a non-event, and your bookkeeper will say so on the first call.
What the Schedule C actually needs
Gross receipts, cost of goods if you sell product, and expenses by the categories the form uses: advertising, car and truck, insurance, supplies, utilities, home office and the rest. The books are built to those categories from the start so the preparer is not translating. Mileage is the usual gap: if there is no log, your bookkeeper will say what can be reconstructed from the calendar and what cannot.
Estimated payments and the self-employment surprise
A first profitable year as a sole proprietor often ends with a tax bill nobody planned for, because no employer withheld anything. The books cannot fix that for a year already gone, but they make the number known early, and from the next quarter your preparer can set estimated payments against real figures rather than a guess.
When the LLC question comes up
Many sole proprietors are told to form an LLC or elect S-corporation status somewhere in the catch-up conversation. Whether that is right depends on profit, state and plans, and it is a question for your tax preparer or attorney. What the books do is make the answer calculable, because the decision turns on numbers that do not exist until the catch-up is done.
Send how many months are behind and whether the account was shared with personal spending. The reply within a business day says what the deposit would be and whether an April date is reachable.
Sole Proprietors & Single-Member LLCs: common questions
I used one account for everything. Can that be untangled?
Yes. Every transaction is sorted as business, personal or transfer, and only the business ones become the books. It takes longer than a clean account, not much longer.
Do I need QuickBooks for a one-person business?
Not necessarily. Your bookkeeper will say what fits: for a very small business a simpler tool may be enough, and the books are kept monthly from $250 either way.
Can you reconstruct my mileage?
Partly, from calendars, invoices and job addresses. What cannot be supported is said plainly rather than estimated.
What your bookkeeper handles
- QuickBooks Cleanup Services
- Catch-Up Bookkeeping Services
- Bookkeeping Cleanup Services
- Behind on Bookkeeping Before a Tax Deadline
- Multiple Years of Bookkeeping, Rebuilt
- Monthly Bookkeeping After the Cleanup
Also written for S Corporations, Contractors & Trades, E-commerce Sellers, Restaurants & Food Businesses, Real Estate Agents & Brokers, Medical & Dental Practices and Switching From Another Bookkeeper.
Request a quote for your business
Tell us how far behind the books are and whether there is a date. Your bookkeeper replies within one business day with a plain answer: what it would take, whether the date is reachable, and what the deposit would be. Requests answered within one business day · Calls Mon–Fri, 9am–5pm Eastern Or call (888) 786-6502 if you would rather talk it through first.