When the financial foundation
needs fixing.
Messy books, an overgrown chart of accounts, inconsistent processes, or reporting you don’t fully trust can make everything else harder. SmartScale helps clean up the financial foundation, strengthen the processes behind it, and build a structure that supports better reporting and better decisions.
Clean-Up · Chart of Accounts · Processes · Reporting Structure · Systems
Sometimes the numbers aren’t the problem.
The way they’re being produced is.
Financial systems tend to evolve one workaround at a time. An account gets added here. A spreadsheet gets created there. Someone develops a manual process that works until that person leaves or the business gets bigger.
Eventually, getting reliable financial information takes more work than it should.
- ✓ Your books are behind or need significant clean-up
- ✓ Your chart of accounts no longer reflects how the business operates
- ✓ Reconciliations have old or unexplained items
- ✓ Month-end close is inconsistent or takes too long
- ✓ AP, AR, or other accounting processes rely too heavily on manual work
- ✓ Financial reports require significant clean-up before they’re useful
- ✓ You’ve changed systems and the accounting structure didn’t transition cleanly
- ✓ You need better processes before handing accounting work to someone else
Build a cleaner financial foundation
The scope depends on what’s actually causing the problem. Some projects are primarily clean-up. Others require stronger processes, structure, or systems behind the books.
Bookkeeping Clean-Up & Catch-Up
Bring overdue or inconsistent books current, investigate unreconciled items, correct categorization issues, and establish a cleaner starting point going forward.
Chart of Accounts Clean-Up
Restructure an overgrown or poorly organized chart of accounts so financial reporting better reflects how the business actually operates.
Month-End Close & Reconciliations
Strengthen close procedures, reconciliation processes, checklists, and review steps so monthly financials are produced more consistently.
Accounting Workflows
Improve the way transactions, bills, payments, receivables, approvals, and other recurring accounting activities move through the business.
Financial Reporting Structure
Improve how accounting information is organized so management reporting is easier to produce and more useful once it arrives.
Accounting Systems & Transitions
Help evaluate or improve the accounting setup when systems, processes, or business needs have changed, including support around transitions when appropriate.
The goal is a financial process you can trust.
- Books are behind
- Accounts have accumulated over time
- Reconciliations contain old items
- Month-end depends on memory
- Reports need manual clean-up
- Nobody is quite sure which process is “the process”
- ✓ Books are current
- ✓ Accounts have a clear purpose
- ✓ Reconciliations are supportable
- ✓ Close procedures are documented
- ✓ Reporting has a cleaner foundation
- ✓ Responsibilities and workflows are clearer
Fix what’s broken. Build a better way forward.
Understand what’s happening
We start with the books, accounting structure, processes, systems, and reporting to understand where the problems actually are.
Identify what needs to change
Not everything needs rebuilding. We’ll separate the issues that need correction from the processes or structures that need improvement.
Clean up and rebuild
Depending on the project, that may mean catching up the books, resolving reconciliation issues, restructuring accounts, documenting procedures, or improving accounting workflows.
Leave you with a stronger foundation
The goal isn’t just to clean up yesterday’s problems. It’s to reduce the chances of recreating them next month.
Scope the problem first. Price the work from there.
Clean-up and systems work can vary significantly depending on what’s underneath the surface, so projects are scoped individually.
Pricing is based on the condition of the books, number of accounts or periods involved, systems being used, complexity of the issues, and the work required to establish a reliable financial foundation.
A clean-up project doesn’t automatically mean an ongoing engagement. If you do need continued bookkeeping, Controller support, FP&A, or another level of financial support afterward, we can determine what makes sense once the foundation is in better shape.
About clean-up & systems work
Can you clean up books that are several months behind?
Yes. The scope will depend on how far behind the books are, the condition of the reconciliations, and the quality of the underlying records.
Can you fix my chart of accounts without taking over my bookkeeping?
Yes. Clean-up and systems projects can stand on their own. SmartScale does not need to become your ongoing bookkeeper.
Do I need to switch accounting software?
Not necessarily. A messy accounting process does not automatically mean you need new software. We’ll first look at whether the problem is the system itself, the way it was configured, or the processes around it.
Can you work with my existing bookkeeper or accounting team?
Yes. SmartScale can work alongside the people already handling your day-to-day accounting and focus specifically on clean-up, structure, processes, or reporting.
Can you help after a software conversion?
Yes, particularly when a transition has left opening balances, account structures, reconciliations, or reporting that need to be reviewed or cleaned up.
What happens after the project is finished?
That depends on what you need. You can take the cleaned-up books and processes forward with your existing team, or SmartScale can provide ongoing bookkeeping, Controller, FP&A, or CFO support if it makes sense.
Let’s untangle it.
You don’t need to clean everything up before reaching out. Tell me what’s happening, what you trust, what you don’t, and where the financial process has started to break down. We’ll figure out what needs attention first.
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