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Behind on your books

Behind on your bookkeeping? Here is how to catch up

Tax season doesn't wait for your books to be ready. If you are a freelancer, gig worker or sole proprietor with months (or a year) of unsorted bank statements, here is what catching up actually costs, and a self-serve way to do it without hiring a bookkeeper.

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How it works

  1. 1

    Gather every statement for the period you are behind

    Every bank and credit card statement for the months (or the year) you have not sorted yet. PDFs, photos and scans all work.

  2. 2

    Upload or email them all at once

    Drag them into Arkrel, or forward them to your own email-in address. There is no limit on how many statements you send.

  3. 3

    Confirm merchants once

    Every transaction is grouped by merchant. Confirm a merchant once and the rule applies to every matching transaction in the whole backlog, not just one row at a time.

  4. 4

    Get your year and a tax-ready report

    A My year page with everything sorted, a profit and loss, Schedule C totals, and likely deductions, ready for you or your accountant.

What catching up usually costs

  • A bookkeeping firm typically charges $300 to $500 for a catch-up if you are 1 to 3 months behind, and $3,500 to $8,000 or more if you are a year or more behind, since price scales with both how far behind you are and how complex the books are.

    https://etisson.com/blog/catch-up-bookkeeping-pricing

  • A separate cost-guide breakdown shows the same pattern: catch-up bookkeeping runs roughly $150 to $1,200 or more per month behind, depending on complexity, so a backlog of a year or more routinely reaches into the thousands of dollars before a single tax form is filed.

    https://sdocpa.com/catch-up-bookkeeping-cost-guide

Checked 2026-09-30.

Questions

How far behind can I be?
There is no limit. Upload or email every statement for however long you have been behind, and Arkrel sorts the whole backlog the same way it would sort one recent month.
What if I am missing a statement?
Most banks let you download past statements from their website going back a few years. Upload whatever you have; a missing month is still something you can add later.
Do I need bookkeeping experience to do this myself?
No. You confirm merchants by category (a one-time decision per merchant), the same decision a bookkeeper would make, and the rule remembers it going forward.
What does a bookkeeper charge to catch up my books?
A bookkeeping firm typically charges $300 to $500 for a catch-up if you are 1 to 3 months behind, and $3,500 to $8,000 or more if you are a year or more behind, since price scales with both how far behind you are and how complex the books are.
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