Local business · Front page

Local Firm Closes Books by the 10th, Every Month

Seven people on University Avenue keep the books, file the returns and answer their own phone for about 140 small businesses. We asked how.

By the Front Desk · Staff report · Section A

Two people at a white desk covered in printed charts, one marking a bar chart with a pen while the other works a calculator, a laptop open at the edge
Month end on the second floor: last month's numbers, checked twice before anyone sends a report. Photograph: Artem Podrez via Pexels

Los Gatos: Most small business owners know the feeling. It is the 20th, the bank wants statements, and nobody can say whether last month made money. At On Point Accounting the answer is ready by the 10th. Every month, for every client, without a reminder.

The trick is not a trick. Bank feeds come in daily. A bookkeeper reconciles every account weekly, so the month end close is a check, not a rescue. On the 10th you get a short report: profit, cash, what changed and what to watch. If something looks wrong, a person calls you before you have to ask.

"We would rather be boring," said Renee Calloway, the managing partner. "If your books are exciting, something went wrong in March."

The firm does monthly bookkeeping, business and owner tax returns, payroll, a catch up desk for books that fell behind, and fractional CFO work for owners who need a forecast more than a filing. Fees are fixed and quoted after one 20 minute call. You can price it yourself below.

Clients range from a two chair salon to a contractor with twenty people in the field. The common thread is that each of them gets the same named bookkeeper all year, and a reply within one business day. Usually in about three hours.

Continued on B2: what a monthly close includes

By the numbers

Sample figures

Day of the month the books closed

May to October, all clients, median day

Bar chart: books closed on day 8 in May, 9 in June, 7 in July, 9 in August, 8 in September and 6 in October, all before the 10th. The 10th 0 5 10 8 9 7 9 8 6 MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT
The dashed line is the promise. The bars are the month end. Sample data for this demo.

Hours to a first reply

Average, last eight weeks, business hours

Line chart: average first reply time across eight weeks, between 2.5 and 3.4 hours, ending at 2.7 hours. 0 2 4 3.4 2.7 WK 1 WK 4 WK 8
A person answers. If they cannot fix it today, they say when. Sample data for this demo.
140Clients on the books
7People in the office
1 dayLongest wait for a reply
0Voicemail trees

Also in this edition

A hand tapping a pink calculator on a pink carbon form while the other hand holds a long paper receipt, more receipts piled at the edge of the desk
Receipts, sorted by month, one shoebox at a time. Photograph: Kaboompics via Pexels

The catch up desk

Two Years of Shoeboxes, Rebuilt in Five Weeks

A landscaping owner walked in with a tote bag of statements and a letter he had not opened. Five weeks later he had clean books, filed returns and a payment plan he could live with.

Continued on B7
A woman with short red curls tying on an apron behind a cafe counter, pastries on a stand in the foreground and an espresso machine behind her
Opening time behind a cafe counter. Stock photograph, not a client. Photograph: Ron Lach via Pexels

Restaurants and cafes

Cafe Owners Get Their Sunday Nights Back

Tips, split shifts and three delivery apps make restaurant books messy. We map each deposit to its source so the profit number on the 10th is real, not a guess.

Continued on C1
Two people at a wooden table reviewing printed pages, one pointing with a blue pen, a calculator and a laptop beside the papers
The October meeting: one hour, real numbers, a plan for the year end. Photograph: ArtHouse Studio via Pexels

Tax planning

October Is for Planning. April Is Too Late

By spring the year is closed and the choices are gone. One planning meeting in the fall looks at salary, retirement accounts and estimates while you can still change them.

Continued on B4

Markets: what it costs you

Price your own books in a minute. Same numbers we use on the call, no email required.

The fee ledger

An estimate, not a quote
Business type
Transactions a month
Monthly bookkeeping Books, under 75 transactions a monthBase rate$350 Bank and card accounts: 33 included$0 Payroll: noneAdd it any time$0 Sales tax filings: none$0 Monthly, estimatedYour figure is $350, give or take 10 percent$320 to $390 Yearly and one time Yearly tax returnSingle member LLC$650 to $950 One time catch upBooks are current$0 First year, all in12 months, the return and any catch up$4,490 to $5,630

An estimate from what you entered. A fixed quote follows a 20 minute call.

Book the 20 minute call See the rate tables

Letters to the editor

Placeholder reviews

To the Desk:

I used to dread the 15th of every month. Now a one page report shows up and I read it with coffee. That is the whole review.

M.T., owner of a bakery

To the Desk:

Three years behind and embarrassed about it. Nobody made me feel bad. They just asked for the bank logins and a list of what I remembered.

J.R., general contractor

To the Desk:

The forecast caught a cash gap in August before it happened. We moved a supplier payment and never touched the credit line.

A.K., online shop owner

Continued on F1: all the letters, and our corrections

Write to the desk

Letter to the Desk

Fill it in, send it, and a real person replies within one business day.

Phone or email, whichever you actually check.

What happens next

  1. A reply in one business dayUsually the same afternoon, from the person who will do the work.
  2. A 20 minute callWe ask about your business, your software and what is behind.
  3. A fixed quote in writingOne monthly fee. No hourly meter, no surprise invoices.

Or call the desk

(408) 555-0140
Mon to Fri, 8:30am to 5pm. 50 University Ave, Suite 210.