Outsourced accounting and bookkeeping. Off your desk for good.

Outsourced accounting, in plain terms

Outsourced accounting is when an outside team runs your accounting function instead of an in-house hire. Bookkeeping is one part of it — recording and reconciling. The rest is what makes the books usable: AR, AP, payroll, and a close on a fixed date. It runs $1,000–$4,000/month as a flat retainer, and is backed by a money-back guarantee through the first monthly close or 30 days, whichever is longer.

• Bookkeeping is one part of it — recording and reconciling.
• The rest is what makes the books usable: AR, AP, payroll, and a close on a fixed date.
• A bookkeeper records what happened. An accounting team runs the process.
• Two very different scopes get sold under similar names. The difference shows up in what is still on your desk at month end.
• Not your tax preparer. No returns, no attest or audit work — that stays with your CPA.

What lands every month

On the date we agreed, every month: reconciled bank and card accounts, a closed ledger, an AR aging with follow-up status, a payables schedule showing what you approved and what went out, payroll run with the filings behind it, a profit and loss statement, and a balance sheet. Same items, same date.

• Reconciled books, closed on a fixed date
• Every bank, card, and loan account tied out
• AR aging, with follow-up status on anything past 30 days
• Payables schedule — what you approved, what was scheduled, what cleared
• Payroll run, with the filings behind it
• Profit and loss statement
• Balance sheet

Who approves what

Walden prepares. You approve. Bills arrive, get coded to the right account, and sit in a queue with the backup attached. You approve the payment inside your own platform, under your own login. We do not hold signing authority on your accounts.

• Invoice arrives and is coded — Walden: Runs; you: —
• Bill queued for payment, backup attached — Walden: Runs; you: —
• Payment is approved — Walden: —; you: You approve
• Approved payment is scheduled — Walden: Runs; you: —
• Payment reconciled to the ledger — Walden: Runs; you: —
• Who can approve, and above what amount — Walden: We advise; you: You decide
• Signing authority on your accounts — Walden: None; you: Yours

What outsourced accounting costs

$1,000 to $4,000 a month, flat. Three things move the number: how many transactions run through the business, how many accounts and entities have to be reconciled, and how many people are on payroll. Not hours worked. Cleanup of a backlog is quoted once, separately, before the monthly work starts.

Flat means flat. The number does not move because a month was busy, and there is no hourly creep at the end of a quarter. No long-term contracts. Every engagement is backed by a money-back guarantee through your first monthly close, or 30 days, whichever is longer.

• In the retainer: Bookkeeping and reconciliation, AR follow-up, AP intake and scheduling, payroll processing, the monthly close on a fixed date, and your P&L and balance sheet.
• Not in the retainer: Tax returns and attest work — those stay with your CPA — and cleanup of whatever came before us, which is quoted once and billed once.

A bookkeeper, an accounting team, and a CFO are three different hires

A bookkeeper records transactions. An outsourced accounting team runs the whole recurring function — bookkeeping plus AR, AP, payroll, close, and reporting. A fractional CFO works forward: pricing, hiring, debt, and the forecast underneath them. Most owner-led businesses need the second before they need the third.

Most people arrive here thinking they need a CFO and find out they need the close fixed first. A forecast built on books that are two months behind is a guess in a spreadsheet.

When it is time to outsource accounting

Five triggers, and any one of them is usually enough: the close is late or unpredictable; you are still chasing invoices and scheduling bills yourself; payroll feels high-stakes; the books cannot support a lending, pricing, or hiring decision; or the work has outgrown a part-time bookkeeper without justifying a full-time finance hire.

• The close is late, or you do not know when it lands. You are making March decisions on January numbers.
• You are still doing the chasing. Invoices, bills, and vendor follow-up keep pulling you out of the work you are actually good at.
• Payroll is a stress event. Correct amounts, on time, with the filings behind them, should not require your attention twice a month.
• The books cannot answer a real question. A lender, a buyer, or a pricing decision needs numbers you do not fully trust.
• You need more than a bookkeeper and less than a hire. The work is real, but it is not forty hours a week.

Six questions to ask any outsourced accounting provider

Ask these of us and of everyone else you are considering, and get the answers in writing: What is in the recurring scope? What date does the close land? Who approves payments, and under whose login? How is cleanup scoped and priced? How fast do you respond, and from whom? What happens when I need more than bookkeeping?

• What exactly is in the recurring scope? A good answer is a list, not a category. "Full-service bookkeeping" is not a scope. Ours: Bookkeeping and reconciliation, AR follow-up, AP intake and scheduling, payroll, a fixed-date close, P&L and balance sheet.
• What date does the close land? A good answer is a date. "Within a few weeks of month end" means you cannot plan around it. Ours: A close date agreed at onboarding, the same date every month.
• Who approves payments, and under whose login? A good answer separates preparation from approval and names whose credentials are used. Ours: We prepare and schedule, you approve, inside your platform under your login. We hold no signing authority.
• How is cleanup scoped and priced? A good answer separates one-time cleanup from the recurring fee before you sign. Ours: We look at the books first, quote cleanup once, and start the monthly work from a clean base.
• How fast do you respond, and who responds? A good answer names the person, not the queue. Ours: Same day, from the people who close your books.
• What happens when I need more than bookkeeping? A good answer tells you where the boundary is instead of pretending there isn't one. Ours: Control and Advisory are separate services with their own scope and price. We will tell you when you have crossed the line.

Frequently asked questions