For accounting firms
Overflow cleanup projects
Overflow cleanup projects give Canadian accounting and bookkeeping firms a fixed-scope way to hand off backlog work: months of unreconciled books categorized in order, a written adjustments log for every correction, and a clean handoff package your firm can present under its own name, priced before the project starts.
Engagement tracker
Illustrative client · August 2026
CAD
- Client file access set up under your firm's nameDone
- Monthly books prepared to your review standardDone
- Review notes cleared and loggedIn progress
- Reports sent to your partner for sign-offNext
- Year-end workpapers staged for your preparerNext
Illustrative. An example of the document, not a client's figures.
Backlog that outgrows your bench
A newly acquired book, a client whose books have sat untouched for two fiscal years, or a T2 season that leaves last quarter's cleanup unfinished: each of these piles up faster than a firm's existing staff can chip away at without dropping current clients. A fixed-scope project keeps that pile from bleeding into billable time.
Pricing set before anyone opens a file
Before any transaction gets touched, we walk through the backlog with your team: how many months, which accounts, which platform (QuickBooks Online, Xero and Sage 50 are the three most common in Canadian practices). That conversation produces one fixed number, agreed up front, so the engagement cannot quietly balloon past what it was worth taking on.
Working the backlog oldest first
We start with the earliest unreconciled month and move forward, so each period's closing balance is verified before it becomes the next period's opening balance. Duplicate bank-feed imports, personal charges booked to the business account, GST/HST applied to the wrong line: whatever surfaces gets written into an adjustments log naming the period, the correction and the reason for it, rather than getting fixed silently.
A package with your name on it
What lands on your desk at the end is a reconciled set of books, a profit and loss and balance sheet spanning the cleanup period, and the adjustments log itself, formatted for you to hand straight to the client. One thing we leave alone: whether a T2 or GST/HST return already filed on the old numbers needs amending. That call belongs to your firm and whichever EFILE registrant handles the client's filings.
What usually comes next
Once the backlog is cleared, clients often move into either ongoing white-label bookkeeping or a standing seat on a dedicated staff pod, so the same gap does not reopen a year later.
Questions
Frequently asked questions: Overflow cleanup projects
How do you price a cleanup project?
We scope the backlog with your firm first, agreeing the months and accounts involved, and quote a fixed price before starting.
Can this run at the same time as T2 season?
Yes. Firms often route cleanup projects through us specifically so tax-season staff time is not spent on backlog work.
Do you decide if a client needs to amend a filed return?
No. We document what the cleanup reveals in the adjustments log; whether to amend a filed T2 or GST/HST return is a decision for your firm and your client's own EFILE registrant.
What exactly is included in overflow cleanup projects?
Backlog months sorted into categories and reconciled in order, oldest first, and a written adjustments log documenting every correction and its reason. This work runs inside QuickBooks Online or Xero, whichever your business already has in place, and it rolls into your regular monthly close rather than sitting off to the side as a separate, unreconciled process.
What happens to our overflow cleanup projects records if we switch providers?
Everything stays inside your own QuickBooks Online or Xero account, so the full history transfers with the subscription, not with Finbryn. You can hand overflow cleanup projects to another provider or bring it in-house at any point without losing a reconciliation or having to rebuild the file first.
How is a cleanup project scoped?
We review the backlog with you, agree the number of months and accounts involved, and quote a fixed scope before starting.
Can this run alongside your dedicated pod work?
Yes. Firms often route one-off overflow through project work while a dedicated pod handles ongoing files.
How do we get started with overflow cleanup projects?
Getting started with overflow cleanup projects begins with a short review of your current records and software access. Once that is done we confirm scope and timing in writing, and ongoing work begins on the schedule agreed with you.
What if our records for overflow cleanup projects are not up to date?
If your records are behind, we scope a catch-up first so overflow cleanup projects starts from a clean, reconciled base. That catch-up is priced and timed separately from the ongoing engagement, so you always know what each part costs.
Related services
- For accounting firmsWhite-label bookkeepingMonthly bookkeeping produced under your firm's own name and templates, so your clients see your brand while our team handles sorting transactions into categories, reconciling and reporting behind it.
- For accounting firmsBusy season tax prep supportPreparation-support capacity for firms during filing season: source documents put in order, workpapers built and draft returns assembled for your credentialed preparers to review and sign.
Industries
Next step
Talk to the team that would run your books
A short call covers your setup, your software and what a first month would look like. You get a written scope and price after it.