Small Business · Jacksonville, FL
Your Bookkeeper Quit? Here's What to Do in the Next 30 Days
By Remi Matteo · Matteo Bookkeeping · Jacksonville, FL
TL;DR
- Lock down access to your accounts and files before anything else.
- Find out exactly how current your books actually are, not what you assume.
- Gaps of a month or two are easy to fix. Longer gaps just need catch-up bookkeeping.
Whether your bookkeeper gave two weeks notice, ghosted you entirely, or you finally let them go after one too many mistakes, the result is the same problem: your books just stopped moving, and you are not entirely sure how bad the gap is. Here is what to do, in order, over the next 30 days.
Lock down access first, this week
Change passwords on your QuickBooks or accounting software, your bank's online access if they had it, and any file-sharing folders they used. This is not about assuming bad intent. It is basic hygiene any time someone with financial access leaves, and it should happen immediately, not after you find a replacement.
Get everything they had, not just what they hand over
Ask for login credentials, any spreadsheets or working files outside the accounting software, and a rundown of anything in progress. If they are unresponsive, log into QuickBooks or your accounting platform directly and check the activity log to see what was actually done and when it stopped.
Find out how current your books actually are
Do not assume. Open your profit and loss report and check the date of the most recent reconciled transaction. It is common to discover the books stopped being truly current months before the person actually left, because things had already started slipping.
Get a second opinion on the quality, not just the gap
A bookkeeper who left on bad terms may not have left clean work behind, even for the months they did complete. Miscategorized transactions and unreconciled accounts are common enough that it is worth having someone new review the last few months, not just start fresh from today.
Decide on a replacement before the gap grows
The longer the books sit untouched, the more expensive and time-consuming the eventual fix becomes. If there is any gap at all, whatever your replacement finds first is a catch-up project, not a normal monthly engagement, and it should be priced and scoped that way from day one.
This is one of the most common reasons people call
A bookkeeper leaving, whether by their choice or yours, is one of the most frequent reasons Jacksonville business owners end up needing catch-up bookkeeping. It is not a sign you did anything wrong. It is a normal business transition that just needs to be handled with a clear process instead of panic. If you are wondering whether it is worth paying someone monthly at all versus trying to keep up with it yourself going forward, our post on the hidden costs of DIY bookkeeping and AI bookkeeping vs. a human bookkeeper both cover that decision.
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