When you apply for a loan, the first thing lenders look at isn’t your sales pitch or your future projections—it’s your numbers. If your books aren’t in order, even the best business idea won’t get funded. That’s why preparing loan-ready financials is critical. Getting this right can save weeks of back-and-forth and increase your chances of approval.

A QuickBooks Clean-up is the process of reviewing, correcting, and organizing your company’s financial records inside QuickBooks. Over time, errors can creep in—duplicate transactions, miscategorized expenses, missing reconciliations, or outdated vendor and customer accounts. A clean-up ensures your books are accurate, up-to-date, and ready for tax filings, financial reporting, or business decisions.

A payroll audit (sometimes called an employment tax audit) is typically triggered when the IRS or your state’s Department of Revenue suspects inconsistencies in how you’ve reported and paid payroll taxes. The most common red flags include mismatched wage reports, unpaid or late payroll taxes, misclassified workers, and large or unusual changes in reported payroll from one year to the next.

A trial balance is a simple accounting report that lists all of your business’s accounts — assets, liabilities, equity, income, and expenses — along with their ending balances at a specific point in time.

Payroll taxes are one of the most important compliance obligations for small business owners. Missing a filing deadline or underpaying can lead to costly penalties and interest. Understanding which IRS forms to file, when to file them, and how to submit payments is essential to staying compliant and avoiding unnecessary stress.

If multiple people access your company’s QuickBooks file, you’re putting your financial Security at risk without proper user controls. Setting up QuickBooks Users with defined permissions helps you: Protect sensitive financial data Prevent accidental or unauthorized transactions Track who made what changes Maintain clean audit trails for accountants, lenders, and auditors