SortKai's catch-up bookkeeping service rebuilds the months your books are missing, or recorded wrongly, and then keeps them current. It is for businesses that are behind in QuickBooks Online, Xero, spreadsheets or a box of paper. The catch-up is quoted as a one-time flat fee, in writing, alongside the monthly service that follows it.
If you want to know what catch-up work typically costs across the market, or what being behind can cost with the IRS, that is covered in our guide to catch-up bookkeeping. This page explains how SortKai runs the engagement itself.
A catch-up fits when the books cannot be trusted for a stretch of time. Common starting points:
Missing months are catch-up work; months recorded wrongly are cleanup work. Most real backlogs are a mix of both, and SortKai takes on either — wherever the backlog lives, however messy it is.
Not by the hour. After a free consultation, once we have seen the backlog, SortKai quotes the catch-up as a one-time flat fee in writing, before you commit. The monthly service is quoted the same way: a fixed monthly fee sized to your document volume, with the band's rate held for twelve months. A one-time onboarding fee, also in writing, covers connecting your platform or setting one up, mapping your chart of accounts and writing the coding rules the agent follows.
Three numbers, all fixed and all written down before work starts. The catch-up fee is charged once; it does not turn into a recurring charge.
The faster the evidence arrives, the faster the backlog closes. This is the list we work from:
| What you provide | Why it is needed | If you don't have it |
|---|---|---|
| Bank and card statements for every business account, for every month of the gap | They are the independent record each rebuilt month is checked against | Request them from the bank. Live feeds often do not reach back far enough; older periods can be uploaded as statement files |
| Access to your QuickBooks or Xero as a named user | Kai works inside your file under its own login, with every action logged | No platform? We set you up on QuickBooks Online or Xero during onboarding |
| Invoices, bills and receipts for the period, wherever they are | Every entry is linked to the document behind it | A payment with no document becomes a written question, not a guess |
| A list of recurring vendors and subscriptions | Portal-only invoices can be collected directly | We build the list with you during onboarding |
| Answers to written questions | Some items only you can explain — a transfer, a cash payment, an owner withdrawal | Open items stay listed in writing until they are settled |
On the statement point: Intuit says QuickBooks Online lets you manually upload transactions if “you cannot connect your bank or need to add transactions from an earlier period,” in CSV, QBO, QFX or OFX files, up to 1,000 lines per upload. Statements supplied as PDFs can also be uploaded, according to the same article.
The backlog runs through the same pipeline as the monthly service, just with more months in it:
At the end you have a reconciled ledger in your own platform, every entry linked to its source document, with the corrections made and any questions still open set out in writing for you and your accountant.
The backlog becomes the monthly service, without a hand-off. From then on Kai posts your documents daily, missing paperwork is chased before each close, and by the tenth business day you receive a reconciled trial balance and P&L, reviewed and signed by a person, with close notes in writing.
A document, for pricing purposes, is anything the agent has to read and post: an invoice, a bill, a receipt, an expense report, a statement. A ten-page PDF from one vendor counts as one document, and bank-feed transactions do not count at all, so a busy bank account does not by itself push up the fee.
The monthly fee is the one quoted at the start, sized to your document volume and held for twelve months. If volume later runs above your band for two months in a row, the next band is proposed in writing at least 30 days ahead — never auto-billed. The service is month to month, with no notice period, and if you leave, your complete document archive goes with you.
SortKai rebuilds and keeps the books. It does not prepare or file tax returns — late, current or amended — and it does not run payroll, conduct audits or give CFO-level or tax advice. Your accountant files from the reconciled books, and we answer their questions about those books in writing. If you do not have an accountant, we can recommend firms that like receiving clean ledgers. Nothing on this page is tax or legal advice.
One thing worth knowing while you decide: the IRS reminds businesses that “proof of payment of an amount, by itself, does not establish you are entitled to a tax deduction.” Bank lines show money moved; the invoices and receipts show what it was for. A catch-up that attaches documents to transactions, rather than just categorizing bank lines, is what makes the rebuilt months usable at filing time.
Tell us how far behind you are and which platform you use. A person replies within one business day, and the catch-up is quoted as a flat fee in writing before you commit.
It is quoted as a one-time flat fee, in writing, after a free consultation and once we have seen the backlog. There is no hourly billing. For the prices other providers publish, see our catch-up bookkeeping guide on the blog.
The catch-up is quoted alongside the monthly service, because the point of rebuilding the books is to keep them current afterwards. The monthly service is month to month, with no notice period, so you can cancel any month.
Yes. We set you up on QuickBooks Online or Xero as part of onboarding, map your chart of accounts, and then rebuild the missing months in the new file.
Bank and card statements can be requested from the bank, and older periods can be uploaded as statement files. A transaction with no document behind it is not guessed: it becomes a short written question for you to answer.
No. SortKai is a bookkeeping service only. Tax filing, payroll, audit and advisory work stay with your accountant, who files from the reconciled books. If you do not have one, we can recommend firms that like receiving clean ledgers.
