Guides
The bookkeeping problems that stall a small service business, and how to fix each one.
Every guide shows the fix three ways: in any bookkeeping software, in Prosper if you work with your own CPA, and with TidyMonth if you'd rather hand the monthly work off.
How to Catch Up on Bookkeeping When You're Months Behind
A month-by-month method for catching up on bookkeeping: find the last month you can trust, get every transaction in, work oldest to newest, reconcile as you go. Plus how Prosper and TidyMonth handle it.
7 min read
Stripe Paid Out Less Than Your Sales. Here's How to Book It
Why a Stripe payout never equals your sales total, how to record gross sales, fees, and refunds in any bookkeeping software, and how Prosper and TidyMonth handle processor deposits.
6 min read
Money Moved Between Your Own Accounts. Did Your Books Call It a Sale?
How transfers between your own bank and card accounts end up booked as income or expenses, how to find and fix them in any bookkeeping software, and how Prosper and TidyMonth handle both sides of a transfer.
6 min read
Your Books Say You Made Twice As Much. How Income Gets Counted Twice
How an invoice payment and the matching bank deposit both end up recorded as income, how to spot doubled revenue in any bookkeeping software, and how Prosper and TidyMonth flag possible duplicates for review.
6 min read
Business Purchase, Personal Card. Personal Purchase, Business Card. How to Book Both
What to do when business and personal spending get mixed across your cards: owner's draws, owner contributions, reimbursements, and the receipts that make each one defensible. Plus how Prosper and TidyMonth handle the questions only you can answer.
7 min read
Your Accounts Reconcile. Your Profit and Loss Still Looks Wrong. Here's Why
Reconciliation proves your cash balance, not your categories. Six checks to run when the bank matches but the profit and loss doesn't make sense, in any bookkeeping software. Plus how Prosper and TidyMonth review classification, not just balances.
6 min read
How to Categorize Amazon Purchases When One Order Has Three Purposes
An Amazon charge tells you where you shopped, not what you bought. How to get the itemized receipt, split one order across categories and owner's draw, and keep the evidence attached. Plus how Prosper and TidyMonth handle merchant ambiguity.
6 min read
What Your Accountant Actually Needs From You at Tax Time
The records a CPA needs from a small service business at year end: reconciled accounts, the three core reports, statements, owner money, big purchases, and an honest list of open questions. How to assemble it in any software, and how Prosper's CPA packet and TidyMonth's year-end package do it.
7 min read
The Client Paid. Why Does the Invoice Still Show Open?
Why a paid invoice keeps showing as unpaid: the payment, the deposit, and the invoice are three separate records that have to be linked. How to trace the chain and fix it in any bookkeeping software, and how Prosper and TidyMonth keep the three together.
6 min read
Is the Credit Card Payment an Expense Too?
The purchases on your business card are the expenses. Paying the card bill is a transfer. How credit card payments get counted as a second expense, how to find and fix it in any bookkeeping software, and how Prosper and TidyMonth treat the card as an account.
6 min read
What a Finished Month of Bookkeeping Should Show You
How to know whether a month is actually done, whether you did the books yourself or paid someone: reconciled accounts, no uncategorized items, transfers matched, owner money in equity, and a visible list of what's still open. Plus how Prosper and TidyMonth show the status.
6 min read
Old Balances, Stale Rules, and the Junk That Builds Up in Your Books
Where the strange balances in your books come from: stale receivables and payables, opening balance equity, forced reconciliations, and bank rules that quietly went wrong. How to find the source of each in any bookkeeping software, and how Prosper and TidyMonth keep every entry traceable.
8 min read
Not sure which problem you have? The Books Check shows which month your books are reliable through and what needs attention.
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