Special situations
Multi-year catch-up
A UK backlog rarely stops at one bad quarter. Finbryn rebuilds several years of Xero or QuickBooks Online records against bank, card and processor statements in one scoped engagement, with a written adjustments log and agreed opening balances, so ongoing monthly bookkeeping and any VAT or Corporation Tax filing start from figures that actually hold.
Bank reconciliation summary
Illustrative client · August 2026
GBP
| Account | Difference | Status | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating account··4821 | 184,220.16 | 184,220.16 | 0.00 | Reconciled |
| Reserve account··0937 | 60,000.00 | 60,000.00 | 0.00 | Reconciled |
| Company card··1006 | (12,418.52) | (12,418.52) | 0.00 | Reconciled |
| Card processor clearing | 8,905.40 | 8,905.40 | 0.00 | Reconciled |
| Payroll clearing | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | Reconciled |
Last weekly runFri 28 Aug, every account agreed to its statement.
Two open itemsTwo card receipts requested from you, marked on the card account until they arrive.
Illustrative. An example of the document, not a client's figures.
Rarely just one missed month
A UK limited company that calls about a multi-year catch-up has almost never drifted for a single quarter. A backlog of two or three years, sometimes more, is common, and by then the bank feeds were never reconciled and the chart of accounts no longer matches how the business actually trades day to day. There is no shortcut around the source documents: every bank, card and payment-processor statement across the full backlog gets pulled and reconciled directly, rather than trusting whatever was typed in at the time.
A log that can be traced, not just a tidy result
What matters is not just that a figure ends up correct, it is that the path to it is written down: what changed, why, and which period it touches. When HMRC, a lender or an investor later questions a number on a prior VAT return, that log is the difference between tracing it to a specific fix and simply asking the business to trust a report that looks clean. Once the whole backlog reconciles, opening balances are agreed with you so the ongoing monthly cadence starts from something solid rather than another guess.
The £90,000 line, found late
A catch-up frequently surfaces the exact month turnover crossed the £90,000 VAT registration threshold on a rolling 12-month basis, often well before anyone realised registration should already have happened. Getting that historic figure right now, rather than when a VAT or Corporation Tax filing depends on it, is what stops the scramble later; the filing itself still goes through a registered agent or your appointed adviser, never through Finbryn.
Where the paper trail itself is thin, this pairs with records reconstruction before either can really finish; see how it works for how intake runs.
Questions
Frequently asked questions: Multi-year catch-up
How many years of UK bookkeeping can you catch up at once?
As many as you have statements for. We scope the engagement by backlog period once the accounts and the volume involved are reviewed.
Will a catch-up change figures we already reported to HMRC?
Only where the records show an error, and every change goes into a written adjustments log you can review.
Do you handle an overdue VAT or Corporation Tax filing as part of a catch-up?
We prepare the books and the supporting figures; a registered agent or your appointed adviser handles the actual filing.
How do you prioritise which year to reconstruct first in a multi-year catch-up?
We generally start with the most recent complete period so it can be finalised and any pressing filing addressed first, then work backwards, since the most recent year is usually the one with the most immediate consequence if it stays unreconciled.
Will a multi-year catch-up flag if we owe additional Corporation Tax from an earlier year?
Yes, if reconstructing an earlier period reveals a Corporation Tax liability that was understated or never calculated, we flag it clearly so you and a credentialed signer can decide on the right next step, including whether HMRC's voluntary disclosure process applies.
How many years can you catch up at once?
As many as you have statements for. We scope the engagement by backlog period once the accounts and the volume involved are reviewed.
Will catch-up work change numbers you already reported?
Only where the records show an error, and every change is recorded in a written adjustments log you can review.
Do you handle overdue tax filings as part of a catch-up?
We prepare the books and the supporting schedules; a credentialed signer or registered filing partner handles the actual filing.
What is included in multi-year catch-up?
Multi-year catch-up covers every backlog year sorted into categories and reconciled to bank, card and processor statements and a written adjustments log covering each correction made to prior periods. The exact scope is agreed and set out in writing before work starts, so you know precisely what is and is not covered before the first deliverable arrives.
Related services
- BookkeepingCatch-up and cleanup bookkeepingMonths or years of books brought up to date and reconciled, with a written record of every adjustment, so monthly bookkeeping can start from a clean base.
- Special situationsRecords reconstructionRebuilding a business's financial history from bank statements, receipts and other source documents when the original books are incomplete, lost or unreliable.
Industries
- Ecommerce (Amazon and Shopify)Bookkeeping for online sellers on Amazon, Shopify, Etsy and their own storefronts, built around clean payout and sales tax data.
- Startups and VC-backed companiesBookkeeping and reporting for early-stage, venture-backed companies watching burn, runway and investor reporting closely.
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.