What it costs, on the page. Not after three calls.

Because the number depends on things we cannot see from here: how many transactions run through the books each month, how many accounts have to reconcile, and whether payroll is involved. The tiers tell you the range you are likely in. We confirm the actual figure after we have opened your file, and it goes in writing before you commit to anything.

Cleanup is quoted separately from the monthly package, always. Folding it into the monthly would hide what each one costs and leave you paying for a catch-up long after it was finished. You see two numbers, and the cleanup one ends.

Because the work is genuinely different and so is the way the organization thinks about size. A non-profit needs fund and grant tracking and statements a board can read, and it measures itself in annual revenue rather than transaction count. Pricing it on the same axis as a dental practice would put most organizations in the wrong tier.

Bookkeeping records what already happened. Fractional CFO work is the conversation about what to do next: what changed this month and why, what the cash flow forecast looks like, and what a new chair or a new hire does to your numbers before you sign for it. It is the part that changes decisions rather than documenting them.

You probably do not, and that is fine. Most people guess high. Bring the file to the first call and we will tell you which tier you actually land in, including when the answer is a smaller one than you were expecting.