What does a QuickBooks diagnostic review find?
Most owners have never had anyone independently check the account itself, only the reports it produces. A P&L can look perfectly normal sitting on top of books that would not survive a close look. Here is what actually turns up when someone does look.
We no longer sell a paid diagnostic review. Today this same look at your books happens before we quote, after a free 30-minute call, and a cleanup, if you need one, is quoted on its own.
Six things we find almost every time
These are not rare or dramatic problems. They are the ordinary, everyday ways a QuickBooks file drifts from reality when nobody is checking it against the actual bank.
A growing Ask My Accountant pile
Transactions get accepted into the feed and parked in Uncategorized or Ask My Accountant because nobody was sure what they were. Months later the pile is large enough that the P&L underneath it cannot be trusted.
Duplicates from the bank feed
A transaction gets added from the feed instead of matched to the one already entered by hand or by an app like A2X. Now it exists twice, income or expense is overstated, and undoing it is harder than avoiding it would have been.
Owner draws booked as income or expense
Money moved to or from the owner personally gets coded as a sale, a loan, or a random expense instead of equity. Taxable income becomes a number that never actually happened.
Sales tax sitting in income
Tax collected from customers gets recorded as revenue instead of a liability owed to the state. It inflates what the business looks like it earned, and it is not the business's money to begin with.
Capitalized wrong
Equipment or startup costs expensed all at once when they should be depreciated over time, or the reverse. Either way the return is wrong and the error follows the depreciation schedule for years.
Accounts that were never reconciled
The QuickBooks balance and the real bank balance have quietly drifted apart, sometimes by a small amount, sometimes not. Every report built on top of an unreconciled account inherits the same gap.
What the report actually contains
Not a summary paragraph. A written findings report that names every issue found, in your actual file, plus a recorded video walkthrough so you can see us point at the specific transactions and hear the reasoning, pause, and rewind. It is yours to keep whether you sign on for anything else or not.
If what we find is small, the report says so and there is nothing else to do. If it is large enough that the fix is really a rebuild, that is a cleanup, and it gets scoped and quoted with the report rather than assumed.
What it costs, and what it is not
The simplest way to find out where your own books stand is a free 30-minute call with a CPA. Tell us what feels off, and we will tell you honestly what is working, what is broken, and what it would take to fix it. No pitch deck, no obligation. Book a free 30-minute call.
Answers before you ask.
What does a QuickBooks diagnostic review actually check?
It goes past the P&L and balance sheet into the account itself: whether every account actually reconciles to the real bank and card statements, how transactions are categorized, whether anything was capitalized or expensed incorrectly, whether sales tax collected is tracked as a liability instead of sitting in income, and how much has piled up as uncategorized or Ask My Accountant.
How long does a QuickBooks diagnostic take?
When we look at your file before quoting, it takes about a week from the time we get read-only access. You get the findings, a recorded walkthrough and the quote together. It is not a separate paid product.
What happens if the diagnostic finds my books need a full cleanup?
The findings say so plainly, and the cleanup is quoted on its own, right there with them. Nothing is assumed and nothing is added without you seeing the number first.
Is it worth a look if I think my books are already fine?
Yes, and it starts with a free 30-minute call. Most owners who think their books are fine have never had anyone independently check the account itself, only glanced at the reports it produces. A clean-looking P&L can still sit on top of accounts that were never reconciled.
Do I have to pay for a review before you take me on?
No. It starts with a free 30-minute call with a CPA. We look at your books before we quote one flat monthly fee, and if your books need a cleanup first, that is quoted on its own before any work starts. We no longer sell a paid diagnostic review.
Before you guess what shape your books are in
Have two CPAs go look.
Not sure where your books stand? Book a free 30-minute call with a CPA: what is working, what is broken, and what it would take to fix it. No pitch deck, no obligation.