How to Clean Up Your Books in QuickBooks (Even If You Haven’t Touched Them All Year)

Don’t panic, you can still catch up before tax time.

If your QuickBooks Online file has been sitting untouched all year, you might be tempted to give up or push it off again. But catching up your books, even 12 months’ worth, is absolutely doable (and it doesn’t have to be painful).

Whether you're a solo operator or a growing service-based business, here’s how to get your QuickBooks back on track before the year wraps up.

Step 1: Connect or Reconnect Your Bank and Credit Card Accounts

If your bank feeds aren’t set up or have been disconnected start here:

• Go to Banking > Link Account in QBO

• Connect your business checking, credit cards, and any loan accounts

• QBO can usually pull in up to 90 days of data automatically

• For older transactions, you may need to manually upload CSV files from your bank’s website

Pro tip: Don’t connect personal accounts, unless you’ve been running everything through one. If so, be ready to separate out personal transactions.

Step 2: Download and Upload Missing Transactions

If QuickBooks didn’t capture the whole year, you can manually import data:

• Download CSV files from your bank or credit card site for each missing month

• Go to Banking > Upload Transactions > Drag & Drop the CSV file

Make sure to match columns properly: Date, Description, and Amount.

Step 3: Categorize All Transactions

This is where most of the cleanup happens.

• Go to Banking > For Review

• Assign each transaction to the correct Chart of Accounts category

• Use rules in QBO to speed things up (example: “Walmart = Office Supplies”)

Mark any personal or unclear transactions as “Ask My Accountant” — that way they’re flagged for review without messing up your reports.

Step 4: Reconcile Each Account

Reconciling ensures your books match your actual bank and credit card statements.

To reconcile in QBO:

• Go to Accounting > Reconcile

• Choose an account

• Enter the ending balance from your bank statement

• Check off all matching transactions

If everything matches, your difference should be $0.00. If not, double-check for missing or duplicate entries.

Step 5: Review Your Financial Reports

Once your accounts are reconciled, head to Reports and check:

• Profit & Loss Statement (P&L) — to see your total income, expenses, and profit

• Balance Sheet — to check assets, liabilities, and equity

• Uncategorized Transactions — to make sure nothing got skipped or misfiled

You’ll finally be able to see how your business really did this year.

Step 6: Prepare for Tax Time

Now that your QuickBooks file is clean:

• Make sure all receipts for major purchases are saved (especially over $75)

• Run Year-End Reports and export a copy for your tax preparer

• Share accountant access directly in QBO, so they can pull what they need
  (Go to Settings > Manage Users > Invite Accountant)

Bonus: Don’t Let It Happen Again

Going forward:

• Set aside time weekly or monthly to review and categorize transactions

• Reconcile accounts monthly

• Consider hiring a bookkeeper to keep everything running smoothly

QuickBooks works best when it’s used consistently, not just once a year.

Feeling Overwhelmed?

If you’re staring at months of uncategorized chaos in QBO, don’t worry! I specialize in year-end catch-up for small service-based businesses.

Whether you need a one-time cleanup or monthly help going forward, I’ve got your back.

Contact us by click here

or send us an email at David@RuckandReconcile.com

Check out our services here

Learn more about Ruck and Reconcile here

And as always, thanks for reading and we’ll see you next week!