Bookkeeping
Clean, current books every month, and a catch-up or clean-up when they've fallen behind. Looking for forecasts and planning? That's on the Fractional CFO page.
Monthly Bookkeeping
Reconciled, categorized, and reported on a schedule you can count on. This is the foundation: clean, current books that hold up at tax time and tell you something useful the rest of the year.
Essential
Accurate books, every month
$350–$450/month
- One bank account and one credit card, reconciled to the statement
- Transactions categorized with judgment, not just rules
- A full financial package: balance sheet and P&L
- Email support, answered within five business days
- A year-end package your tax preparer can work from
Best for solo owners and straightforward books
Standard
Numbers that support decisions
$450–$650/month
- Everything in Essential
- Up to three bank accounts and two credit cards reconciled
- Card reader or processor deposits matched to what actually hits your bank
- Class tracking, so you can see the business by segment
- A written quarterly summary of trends and what's worth your attention, plus a call to walk through it
- Email answered within three business days
Best for growing businesses with multiple accounts and more moving parts
Premium
Know which work actually makes you money
$650–$950/month
- Everything in Standard
- Job costing: margin by job, not just by month
- Reporting by location, service line, or project
- Custom reports built around how you run the business
- Payroll and loan activity recorded and reconciled
- A monthly recorded walkthrough of your numbers, included
- A monthly call, plus direct access when something can't wait
- CPA-ready books at year end
Best for contractors, project-based businesses, and multi-entity owners
Bigger than Premium?
Multiple entities, inventory, or volume past what Premium covers is quoted from your actual scope. Same work, priced to fit, and you'll see the number before you sign.
Add on: Financial Insights video, $75/month
A short recorded walkthrough each month: what moved, why, and what to watch. Available on Essential and Standard. Included in Premium.
Not sure which tier you're in?
Read down until the description fits your books.
Essential
One bank account and one credit card · roughly 75 transactions a month · a single entity
Standard
Up to three bank accounts and two credit cards · roughly 250 transactions a month · one card reader or payment processor · class tracking
Premium
Job costing · reporting by location or service line · inventory · more than one entity · higher volume than Standard covers
Either way, treat this as a starting point rather than a quote. After our call I'll ask for accountant access to your QuickBooks, run a free diagnostic on what's actually in there, and send you your tier and your price within one business day. Books have a way of being more tangled than they look from the outside, so I'd rather read the number off your file than guess at it on the phone. You can revoke the access with two clicks if we don't move forward.
Getting started
A one-time onboarding fee equal to one month of your quoted monthly rate, due at signing. The first month takes several times the work of a normal one: getting access configured, reviewing your chart of accounts, verifying your opening balances against your last filed return, and building the rules that make every month after it run smoothly. It's charged on every engagement, including ones that start with catch-up work.
Plan on the first week or two being the most work you'll do the whole time we work together. I'll need read-only access to your bank and credit card accounts, set up under my own login rather than yours, so I can pull statements myself instead of asking you for them every month. Read-only means I can see the accounts and move nothing. After that stretch, the books stop being your problem.
Prefer quarterly or annual?
Monthly is the default, but it's not required. Bookkeeping can be delivered quarterly or annually instead, at a lower effective monthly rate than the monthly plans (clean, tax-ready books without the monthly reporting). Your rate is quoted in your proposal. Bookkeeping only. The Financial Insights video isn't included.
Books are maintained on a cash basis. Financial statements are delivered within 15 business days of month end.
Catch-Up & Clean-Up
"My old bookkeeper screwed things up and left me a dumpster fire." I've heard versions of that more than once. No one starts monthly bookkeeping on dirty books, so whether you're behind in time or the books are just wrong, we get you current before monthly service begins.
Catch-Up
If your books are behind, catch up comes first.
- Every transaction reviewed and corrected, however many months back
- Accounts reconciled and brought current
- Tax-ready handoff for your CPA when we're done
Priced as: one flat quote, sent after I've looked at your books and before any work begins.
Once I'm in your QuickBooks, I look at how far back we're going, how many accounts are involved, and how much volume runs through them each month.
One flat number, up front. Most projects land between $1,500 and $4,500.
No hourly billing, and no surprise invoice waiting at the end of the project.
Clean-Up
"My books don't match my bank. What did I do?" Books can be perfectly up to date and still be wrong. That's a clean-up rather than a catch-up, and it's scoped and quoted based on what needs fixing.
What I Don't Do
I record what happened. You decide what happens next.
That's a real line, not fine print. I don't pay your bills, schedule your payments, sign your checks, move your money, or chase your customers for payment. I don't run payroll, choose your vendors, or make purchasing decisions. There are two reasons, and both of them work in your favor.
It protects you
The person keeping your records shouldn't also be the person moving your money. That separation is one of the oldest controls in accounting, and it exists because it works. Any accountant who waves it off is telling you something worth listening to.
It keeps my read honest
If I'm the one choosing your vendors and making the purchases, then I'm grading my own homework when I sit down to tell you what the numbers mean. Staying out of the driver's seat is what keeps that read independent. The read is the part you're actually paying for.
If you need bill pay or someone to run payroll, say so on our first call. I'm glad to point you to people in the valley who do it well.
Common Questions
Usually some version of: "My books are overwhelming, can you just handle it and tell me if something is wrong?" Here's the rest of what comes up.
What kinds of businesses do you work with?
Service-based businesses across the Magic Valley: law firms, real estate, trucking and logistics, property management, dental and wellness practices, consulting, and similar work. The industry matters less than the shape of the problem: enough complexity to matter, without a finance team on staff to handle it.
Am I locked into a contract?
No. It's month to month with no minimum commitment. Either of us can end it in writing, and the engagement wraps at the end of the following month. That keeps your books closing on a clean cycle instead of mid-period. If we part ways, you leave with your QuickBooks file. It's registered in your name and it stays yours.
Do you do taxes?
No. I keep your books clean and hand your tax preparer a package they can work from without chasing you for answers. If you don't have one yet, I know several good ones in the valley and I'm glad to make an introduction.
Can I switch tiers later?
Yes, in either direction, as your business changes. If you grow into more complexity, we move up. If things simplify, we move back down. Repricing goes both ways.
What software do you use?
QuickBooks Online. The file is registered in your name, which means you own it, not me. That matters more than it sounds like it does, and it's worth asking any bookkeeper you talk to.
Are you a CPA?
No, and Willow Creek Accounting is not a licensed CPA firm. I hold the CMA (Certified Management Accountant) credential, which is a management accounting credential rather than a license to practice public accountancy. That means no audits, no reviews, no compilations, and no tax returns. That's why I'll hand your tax preparer a clean package rather than try to be one. There's more on the difference on the About page.
Why should I trust you with this?
Eight years in bookkeeping, public accounting, and controllership, plus the CMA credential. There's more on the About page. But the honest answer is that you shouldn't trust anyone on credentials alone. Get on a call and ask me hard questions. If I'm not the right fit, I'll tell you.
Not sure which line fits?
Give me accountant access and I'll tell you what's actually wrong in your books. No charge, no obligation.
- A 15-minute call to understand your business
- Accountant access to your QuickBooks Online file
- A written diagnostic of what's broken and what it's costing you
- Your tier and your price within one business day
Month-to-month subscription, no minimum commitment. Either of us can end it in writing; the engagement wraps at the end of the following month so your books close on a clean cycle.