The work behind the numbers
Our monthly close quality standard
A professional close is not just a set of categories. It is a trail from the original activity to the payout, the bank, the ledger and the reviewed owner package.
This is the bookkeeping preparation and review standard for agreed monthly work. It is not an audit, review, assurance engagement, tax opinion or guarantee that source records supplied by others are complete or correct.
Start with source records
Use the booking platform’s detailed earnings, transaction and payout exports, reservation detail, bank and card statements, receipts or invoices, and the client’s QuickBooks ledger. A tax form or a net bank deposit is not a substitute for the underlying activity.
Bridge each payout from gross to net
For each included payout, identify the platform-reported booking activity and the fees, refunds, adjustments, taxes or co-host amounts that explain the net payout. Match that payout to the bank credit, or document its timing or other difference.
Reconcile cash and cards to statements
Compare each in-scope bank and credit-card account in QuickBooks to the corresponding statement for the same period. A Plaid feed may help collect transaction activity, but it does not replace the statement reconciliation or supporting source documents.
Account for every received item
Each received source row must be matched to a recorded item, identified as a duplicate or timing update, or placed on an exception list. Pending-to-posted changes, missing property assignments, duplicate imports and unsupported items are resolved or held—not silently discarded or guessed.
Review before close delivery
Ali reviews proposed classifications, property assignments, reconciliations and unresolved questions before finalizing the bookkeeping package. AI may assist with extracting or organizing data; it does not independently decide tax treatment or publish unreviewed entries.
Hand off the evidence with the reports
The close package identifies the period and agreed scope, reports delivered, reconciliations completed, open exceptions or client questions, and items a CPA or EA may need to evaluate. The underlying records remain in the client’s agreed systems.
When a record is unclear
We ask the owner or hold the item for clarification rather than silently choosing a tax position, inventing support or forcing a reconciliation. Material cleanup, unusual property activity, multi-entity transactions and jurisdiction-specific tax questions are scoped or referred to the client’s appropriate professional.
What the standard does not claim
Bookkeepology is not a CPA firm. A completed bookkeeping reconciliation is not an independent audit or assurance opinion. The client’s CPA, EA or attorney determines tax, legal and filing treatment.
Make the source records easier to close.
Use the owner checklist to gather the agreed platform reports, statements, receipts and property updates.
Open the STR month-end checklist