Article content
Begin with the business decision
The most useful starting point is not a large file upload. It is the decision the books need to support. Are you preparing for a tax-professional handoff, trying to understand a balance, closing a backlog, changing bookkeepers, or determining whether historical payroll entries can be reconstructed?
A clear decision helps identify the relevant periods, accounts, records, and boundaries without requesting an unrestricted archive.
Write down the last reliable period
Record the month or quarter that appears to be the last dependable point in the books. Note who last reviewed it, whether reconciliations were completed, and what changed afterward. If you do not know the boundary, say so; uncertainty is useful assessment information.
This helps distinguish work that is present but unreliable from activity or entire periods that are missing.
Describe the symptoms in plain language
Examples include duplicated transactions, unreconciled bank accounts, unexplained loan or equity balances, missing months, reports that conflict with statements, a payroll-liability balance that does not tie, or a file affected by a migration. Include the account names and date ranges when known.
Avoid diagnosing the cause before evidence is reviewed. A symptom such as ‘the balance sheet is wrong’ can have several possible explanations, each with a different scope.
Inventory what evidence exists
List the bank, credit-card, loan, processor, sales, payroll, and QuickBooks records that are available, along with missing periods and known provider changes. Include whether the records are organized, exported, or still held in an online portal.
For the public assessment, provide record types and coverage dates only. Do not include passwords, tax IDs, employee information, account numbers, bank statements, payroll reports, or other sensitive documents in the form or ordinary email.
Identify the intended handoff
The desired deliverable may be a corrected QuickBooks file for defined accounts, a reconstructed backlog, reconciliation status, a discrepancy log, unresolved questions, or notes for a tax professional or next bookkeeper. Naming the handoff makes the scope more concrete.
ClearPath’s project work is finite and documented. Ongoing monthly bookkeeping, tax preparation, payroll processing, legal services, audit assurance, and agency representation are not automatically included.
Prepare questions about scope and timing
Ask which periods and accounts are included, what evidence is required, how missing records affect the work, how new discoveries are handled, what the handoff contains, and which matters are excluded. Also ask how the secure transfer process works before sending records.
A planning range is not a quote. ClearPath confirms a written fixed fee only after reviewing the assessment and agreeing on the scope, dependencies, and deliverables.
What happens after you submit
The public Books Assessment is a request for fit and next-step review; it does not confirm an appointment or promise acceptance. ClearPath may ask clarifying questions, discuss the appropriate service category, and determine whether the records and timeline support a defined project.
Meetings are appointment-only. Orlando and Central Florida clients may discuss an in-person option at an appropriate location, while suitable projects may be handled remotely across the United States.
The simple preparation list
Before submitting, have these facts available: business name and contact information, service need, affected periods, last reliable period if known, symptoms, QuickBooks version or file context, providers or integrations involved, available evidence categories, desired handoff, deadline, and any known tax-professional dependencies.
That is enough to begin. Keep the records themselves private until fit, scope, and an approved transfer method are confirmed.