Full-service bookkeeping means your books are handled completely so you don’t have to think about them. The specifics vary by provider, but certain components should always be included.

Transaction categorization is the foundation. Every transaction from your bank accounts and credit cards gets assigned to the correct expense or income account. For a retail business, this is straightforward. For a contractor working with a contractor bookkeeper in American Fork, it means making sure that lumber purchase hits materials on the right project instead of getting dumped into a generic expense account.

Bank reconciliation happens monthly. Your bookkeeper matches every transaction in your accounting software against your bank statement to catch errors, duplicate entries, and anything that doesn’t belong. Credit card reconciliation follows the same process for each card you use in the business. This is where problems get caught before they compound.

Monthly financial statements are the deliverable you actually see. At minimum you should receive a profit and loss statement showing revenue minus expenses for the month and year to date. You should also get a balance sheet showing what you own, what you owe, and your equity position. Some providers include a statement of cash flows or other reports depending on your needs.

For contractors and tradespeople, full-service should include construction job costing. This means every expense gets tracked to specific projects so you can see profitability at the job level. Without job costing, your books might be technically accurate but they won’t tell you which projects are making money and which are losing it.

Payroll is typically a separate service with its own pricing. Tax preparation is almost always separate because it happens annually and usually involves a CPA. Accounts receivable and accounts payable management might be bundled in or offered as add-ons depending on the provider. CFO-level work like cash flow forecasting and financial analysis is a premium service beyond standard bookkeeping.

The real value of full-service is that you’re not doing any of this yourself. You connect your accounts, answer questions when needed, and receive clean books with useful financial statements every month. Your job becomes reviewing the numbers and using them to run your business.