What is full service bookkeeping?

Full-service bookkeeping is the most comprehensive tier of financial management that a business can outsource, effectively running the entire back office function related to transactional data.

It goes well beyond the basic tasks of categorizing receipts and reconciling bank accounts, providing a “set it and forget it” solution for business owners who want to completely offload the Bookkeeping Services Jersey City burden of their company’s finances.

A full-service bookkeeper acts as a financial quarterback, coordinating all inputs to ensure the books are not just correct, but perfectly structured for tax preparation, compliance, and strategic review.

What Full-Service Bookkeeping Typically Includes

Full-service packages bundle all the essential transactional and compliance duties into a single monthly fee.

1. The Core Fundamentals (The Basics)

These are the foundational tasks required for accurate financial records:

General Ledger Management: Recording, classifying, and posting all financial transactions using the double-entry method.

Bank and Credit Card Reconciliation: Monthly comparison of bank statements with internal records to ensure 100% accuracy and identify discrepancies.

Monthly Close: Finalizing all records, making necessary adjusting journal entries, and closing the books at the end of each period to ensure reports are reliable.

2. Cash Flow and Working Capital Management

These tasks directly impact a company's day-to-day liquidity:

Accounts Payable (A/P): Entering vendor bills, scheduling payments (often using bill-pay software), and ensuring all vendor obligations are met on time.

Accounts Receivable (A/R): Generating and sending customer invoices, tracking payment due dates, and applying customer payments to the correct outstanding invoices.

Expense Management: Implementing systems for employees to submit expense reports, ensuring all spending is properly documented and categorized.

3. Compliance and Payroll Services

Full-service bookkeepers manage complex compliance tasks that carry stiff penalties if handled incorrectly:

Payroll Processing: Running payroll, calculating wages, ensuring correct federal, state, and local tax withholdings, and filing required payroll tax reports.

Sales Tax Filings: Calculating, tracking, and remitting sales tax to the relevant taxing authorities based on the business’s sales and location.

Form 1099/T4 Tracking: Managing records for independent contractors throughout the year and preparing the necessary year-end forms (like 1099s in the U.S. or T4As in Canada).

4. Reporting and Tax Support

A key benefit of the full-service approach is the delivery of timely, ready-to-use financial data:

Financial Statement Generation: Producing the three primary statements every month: the Income Statement (P&L), the Balance Sheet, and the Statement of Cash Flows.

Tax Preparation Ready: Organizing all financial data, documents, and reports into a clean, digital package that can be handed directly to the business’s CPA or tax Bookkeeping Services in Jersey City, eliminating costly cleanup fees during tax season.

Audit Support: Maintaining a system of documentation and records that makes the business "audit-proof" and assisting in gathering information if an audit occurs.