🚨 From a forensic accountant who audits bad bookkeepers and horrendous books for a living
The fastest way I know your bookkeeper is unqualified? (Queue suspenseful music) The balance sheet doesn’t make sense — and they can’t explain it. Tell me if these statements sound familiar: “It’s close enough.” “QuickBooks does that.” “We’ll fix it at year-end.” “That’s how it’s always been” “The CPA will fix it at year-end” “It doesn’t affect the P&L” Those aren’t explanations. They’re cover stories. When I open your file and see: • retained earnings moving with no rationale • loans that don’t amortize • cash that doesn’t reconcile • equity used as a junk drawer I don’t see “messy bookkeeping.” I see untested financial data and untested data is how: • fraud hides • taxes get misstated • owners make bad decisions with confidence Bottom line: If the balance sheet can’t survive basic questioning, the bookkeeper can’t survive scrutiny.