You’re busy. So we handle your books each month—reconciling, categorizing, and reviewing. By the end of the month, you get a clear picture of your finances. No math headaches.
Starting from scratch? We’ll set up QuickBooks the right way. Need to learn it? We’ll show you how to use it without making you feel dumb. Real talk. Real help.
Books a mess? It happens. Old accounts, missing info, duplicate charges—we’ve seen worse. We fix it and make everything make sense again.
If you’re in Seattle and using QuickBooks, we’ll help you get the most out of it. Whether it’s setup, cleanup, or figuring out why something’s off, we’re here for it.
You get bills. We organize and pay them. No missed due dates, no late fees, no forgetting the electrician you hired last month.
Waiting to get paid? We create and send your invoices, keep track of what’s outstanding, and follow up when folks are slow to pay.
We help you create invoices, send them out, and keep everything organized. Whether you’re billing hourly or flat-rate, we’ll make it simple.
Every transaction is matched to your bank account. No more wondering if a charge got missed or if your balance is off.
We do the same thing for credit cards. Every swipe gets tracked. Every payment gets logged. You’ll know what was spent and where.
No more mystery charges. We sort every expense into the right category so you can see where your money goes and claim every write-off you’re allowed.
Profit & loss, balance sheet, cash flow—we send reports that show what’s really going on with your business. And we explain them in plain language.
At the end of each month, we make sure everything’s locked in. Bank accounts, credit cards, invoices—all checked and balanced so you’re ready for what’s next.
Need to pay employees or contractors? We handle all the payroll stuff—taxes, forms, direct deposit—so you don’t have to stress about messing it up.
Sales tax rules are confusing. Especially across states. We figure out what you owe, file it, and keep you on the right side of the law.
Got contractors? We track what you’ve paid them and send out 1099s at the end of the year. Done and done.
We don’t file taxes directly, but we make sure your books are ready. We work with your tax pro to get everything organized and accurate—no missing info, no back-and-forth.
The end of the year shouldn’t feel like a panic attack. We prep everything you need—clean reports, categorized expenses, and summaries that make sense to your accountant (and you).
Still stuck in Excel or using paper? We’ll move you to the cloud—QuickBooks Online, Xero, whatever works best. Easy to access, easy to share.
Fell behind? You’re not the only one. Whether it’s two months or two years, we’ll catch it up without the guilt trip.
Flat-rate bookkeeping for small businesses starting at $200/month — no hourly billing, no surprise invoices. See how outsourced bookkeeping compares to in-house costs and get a free custom quote.
Want to understand your numbers without becoming an accountant? We do one-on-one sessions to teach you the basics. We explain it like a friend, not a finance textbook.
Sometimes we host short workshops (in person or online) to teach folks how to manage cash flow, read reports, and avoid common money traps. No jargon. Just helpful stuff.
This one’s fancy-sounding, but here’s what it means: we help you speed up how fast money moves through your business. Faster payments, less stuck inventory, tighter cash flow.
This is our sweet spot. Family-owned shops, freelancers, side hustles—if you’re running a small business, we’ll help you stay on top of your books without making it complicated.
Restaurants are wild. Cash tips, rotating staff, inventory that walks out the door. We help you track it all and keep margins in check.
Sales, returns, inventory, daily close-outs—we help retail shops stay organized and ready for tax season, audits, or growth.
Selling on Amazon, Shopify, Etsy, or somewhere else? We sync your platforms, clean up merchant deposits, and track fees so your books reflect reality.
You’ve got projects, not paychecks. We help you track deposits, labor, change orders, and job costs so you’re not losing money on underbids.
Grants, donations, restricted funds—it’s a whole different world. We help nonprofits stay compliant, track every dollar, and keep reports ready for board meetings, audits, and funders. Whether you’ve got one program or ten, we’ll help you keep it all straight.
Most of our clients aren’t looking for perfection. They just want someone to take the weight off and give them real answers. We do that—with no stress, no judgment, and no confusing spreadsheets.
We work with folks in Seattle WA, Portland OR, Memphis TN, and all across the country. If you’re ready to stop fighting with your books and start feeling in control, we’re here.
Why Bookkeeping Matters for Small Business Financial Health
Small business owners who manage their own books spend an average of 10 to 20 hours per month on financial tasks — time that translates to $6,000 to $15,000 in lost productivity annually, according to industry estimates from CSI Accounting. For businesses that also handle their own billing, that figure climbs to 25 hours per month.
According to the 2024 Small Business Credit Survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Banks, 51% of small firms reported uneven cash flow as a major financial challenge. Accurate, real-time bookkeeping is the most direct remedy: it converts raw transaction data into actionable cash flow information that business owners can use to make decisions, not just react to problems.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the median annual salary for an in-house bookkeeper was $49,210 in 2024. Outsourcing bookkeeping to a professional firm costs most small businesses between $300 and $600 per month — a savings of 80% to 90% compared to hiring full-time staff, according to Neat.
The IRS uses automated data-matching algorithms to flag irregularities in small business filings. Schedule C filers with gross receipts over $100,000 face audit rates of 1.5% to 2% — significantly higher than corporations — according to IRS 2023 filing data. The most common triggers include misclassified expenses, duplicate income entries, and commingled personal and business transactions.
Professional accountants report spending 20% to 40% of their time correcting DIY bookkeeping errors during tax preparation, at correction rates of $150 to $300 per hour. Handling your own books can cost more than outsourcing once you factor in time, missed deductions, and cleanup fees — totaling between $10,000 and $30,000 per year for many small businesses, per Neat’s analysis.
CentsIQ eliminates these risks. Every transaction is categorized correctly the first time. Every month ends with reconciled accounts. And every year-end package is clean enough that your CPA can go straight to filing — no corrections, no delays.
Professional bookkeeping services for small businesses typically range from $300 to $600 per month for businesses with under 500 monthly transactions, based on 2025 pricing data from NerdWallet and QuickBooks. CPA firms charge $150 to $300 per hour for the same work. Independent bookkeepers charge $30 to $60 per hour.
CentsIQ’s bookkeeping services start at $350 per month — flat-rate, no hourly billing, no surprise invoices. Pricing scales with transaction volume and payroll complexity. Most clients are fully onboarded within 48 to 72 hours.
CentsIQ specializes in bookkeeping for small businesses across a wide range of industries. Each industry has distinct financial patterns, compliance obligations, and reporting requirements that generic bookkeeping services often miss.
Restaurants and food service businesses require daily sales reconciliation, tip reporting, food cost tracking (industry benchmark: 28% to 35% of revenue), and prime cost management (industry target: below 65% of sales). Construction and contractor businesses need job costing, progress billing, lien waiver tracking, and WIP (work-in-progress) schedule management. E-commerce businesses selling on Amazon, Shopify, or Etsy require platform fee reconciliation, merchant deposit matching, and multi-state sales tax compliance following the South Dakota v. Wayfair (2018) Supreme Court decision that extended nexus obligations to remote sellers.
Nonprofits operate under fund accounting standards that require separate tracking of restricted and unrestricted funds, grant reporting, and Form 990 preparation support. Real estate investors need depreciation schedules, mortgage interest tracking, repair vs. improvement classifications under IRS Section 263, and 1099 filing for contractors. Retail businesses require inventory valuation, shrinkage tracking, and daily close-out reconciliation.
CentsIQ provides on-site and virtual bookkeeping services to small businesses in King County and greater Seattle, WA, Portland, OR, and Memphis, TN, as well as remotely across the United States. Washington State has no personal income tax but imposes a Business and Occupation (B&O) tax on gross receipts — a compliance obligation that requires accurate revenue tracking. Oregon imposes a Corporate Activity Tax (CAT) on businesses with Oregon commercial activity above $1 million. Tennessee’s Franchise and Excise Tax applies to most business entities and is based on net worth and earnings.
Understanding the specific tax obligations in each state is part of what CentsIQ brings to every client engagement. Clean books are not just about organization — they are the foundation of defensible compliance.
CentsIQ begins every new client relationship with a free 45-minute consultation to assess your current books, identify gaps, and define a scope of work. Most clients are fully onboarded within 48 to 72 hours. There are no long-term contracts.
Call (425) 465-8239, email contact@centsiq.com, or schedule a free consultation online.