The Truth About Messy Books (& How to Fix Them for Good)


Reader, we need to talk.

We all know that a messy Chart of Accounts is bad—but honestly, it’s just the first symptom of much bigger bookkeeping problems.

As a bookkeeper, you know that business owners rely on accurate data, but what happens when the Chart of Accounts is a disaster, or the books are riddled with errors? Unfortunately messy books lead to bad financial decisions, as we've seen happen all too often.

But fear not! Brass Jacks is here to help!

Introducing....

The Bookkeeping Clean-Up Series is a two-part training designed to transform you into a bookkeeping clean-up specialist. Whether you're working on fixing long-standing financial messes or optimizing an accounting system for efficiency, this series will give you the skills to take on any challenge.

Part 1: Chart of Accounts Clean-Up

The foundation of clean books starts with a well-organized Chart of Accounts (COA). In this session, you’ll learn how to clean up the COA for better financial reporting and smarter bookkeeping.

What You’ll Learn:

  • How to determine whether to merge accounts or replace them—and how these choices impact financial analysis.
  • When to add a new account vs. using other tracking methods like jobs or classes.
  • Should you fix the books or start fresh? Understanding when a COA is beyond saving.
  • Cleaning up more than just accounts—lists, subaccounts, and hidden redundancies.
  • The power of using other database tools instead of overloading the COA.
  • Why financial statements should never exceed two pages and how to streamline them.
  • Implementing the “No New Accounts Without Approval” rule to maintain order.
  • Protecting your COA in QuickBooks Online (QBO) and QuickBooks Desktop to prevent future chaos.

Part 2: Accounting File Cleanup

Once the COA is in order, it’s time to dig deeper. This session will teach you how to diagnose and fix problems in a bookkeeping system—ensuring errors don’t keep reappearing.

What You’ll Learn:

  • How to check file size to assess database health.
  • Identifying when accounts were last reconciled and why it matters.
  • Diagnosing data quality: How bad is it, really?
  • The importance of pre-tax prep clean-up—don’t let CPAs do all the work with journal entries alone.
  • Going beyond temporary fixes—pulling the roots out instead of just cutting the weeds.

This series will teach you how to clean up the books for good. As a bookkeeping clean-up specialist, you'll be able to offer diagnostic and clean-up services to your clients.

Cleaning up books isn’t just about fixing past mistakes—it’s about creating a system that prevents future problems. Clients will pay a premium for expert clean-up services, and with these skills, you’ll position yourself as the go-to bookkeeping professional for clean, accurate financial records.

Don’t just work with messy books—fix them for good.

💡 Enrollment opens next week! Join the waitlist for first access & special pricing:

Rooting for you!
JR & JS

P.S. Know a fellow bookkeeper who needs this? Forward them this email—they’ll thank you later! 😉

Brass Jacks Bookkeepers

Hi, we're JR + JS and we provide people with the tools they need to become highly skilled bookkeepers. Our signature course: Bookkeeping Foundations is the kitchen sink of bookkeeping. #bookkeeping Check out the resources we offer below and sign up for our newsletter!

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