What is included in full-service bookkeeping?
Full-service bookkeeping covers the core financial recordkeeping that keeps your business organized and tax-ready. At Manetto Hill Bookkeeping, this means transaction categorization, bank and credit card reconciliation, and monthly financial reporting.
Transaction categorization is the process of assigning every deposit and expense to the correct category in your books. Client payments go to revenue. Software subscriptions go to software expense. Materials go to supplies or cost of goods sold depending on your business. This matters because the categories determine how expenses appear on your tax return and directly affect your tax liability. Miscategorized expenses can mean missed deductions or audit problems down the road.
Bank and credit card reconciliation matches your accounting records against your actual bank and credit card statements each month. This process catches duplicate entries, identifies missing transactions, and spots errors before they compound. It also surfaces fraudulent charges quickly. Reconciliation is what makes your books accurate rather than just organized. Without it, the numbers in QuickBooks might not match what actually happened in your accounts.
Monthly reporting gives you a clear picture of your business finances. The profit and loss statement shows revenue, expenses, and net profit for the month and year to date. You can see whether you’re making money and where it’s going. This is the information your accountant needs at tax time, and it’s what you need to make informed decisions about your business throughout the year.
Full-service bookkeeping does not typically include payroll processing, invoicing, bill payment, or tax preparation. These are related functions, but they’re separate from the bookkeeping itself. The bookkeeping creates the foundation that these other services build on. If you need those additional services, they can be added.
For Long Island bookkeeping services, pricing starts at $199 per month based on your monthly expense volume. Lower transaction volume means lower cost. Businesses with more activity pay more because there’s more work involved in categorizing and reconciling.
The real value of full-service is that you don’t have to do any of it yourself. You provide account access, and the categorization, reconciliation, and reporting happen in the background. Your books stay current without you logging into QuickBooks or sorting through statements. When tax time arrives, your records are already clean and organized.
Home and property service businesses often find this especially useful because the owner is typically on job sites, not at a desk with time to manage the books. Full-service means the bookkeeping gets done consistently even during your busiest months.
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More Questions
Should I hire a local bookkeeper or an online one?
The question isn't local versus online. What matters is expertise, responsiveness, and familiarity with your state's tax rules. A virtual bookkeeper based in your area can offer both local knowledge and modern convenience.
Read answerDo I need a bookkeeper or can I do it myself?
DIY bookkeeping works when your business is small and transactions are few. It breaks down as volume grows, reconciliations slip, and the hours spent on books take you away from billable work. The real question is whether your time is better spent elsewhere.
Read answerHow much does a bookkeeper cost for a small business?
Most small businesses pay $200 to $2,000 per month for outsourced bookkeeping, depending on transaction volume. Pricing typically scales with your monthly expenses because more transactions mean more work to categorize and reconcile.
Read answerI have not done my bookkeeping in over a year, what do I do?
This is fixable. Gather your bank and credit card statements for the entire period, then work through each month reconstructing transactions and reconciling accounts. A bookkeeper can handle this as a project-based service so you're caught up cleanly.
Read answerWhat are the signs that my books are a mess?
Unreconciled accounts, uncategorized transactions, balances that don't match bank statements, and personal expenses mixed with business spending are the clearest signs. If you can't produce a current profit and loss statement, your books need attention.
Read answerShould I outsource accounts payable for my small business?
Outsourcing AP makes sense when you're missing due dates, spending too much time on bills, or when late fees are adding up. At around $99 per month for professional support, the math often favors outsourcing once you have more than a handful of recurring bills.
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