Your books should be reconciled monthly. Bank accounts, credit cards, loans, and any other accounts that receive statements need to match what’s in your accounting software. If your bookkeeper can’t tell you when reconciliations were last completed or if you find unreconciled accounts going back months, that’s a problem.

Financial reports should arrive on time and make sense to you. A good bookkeeper provides a profit and loss statement and balance sheet regularly. You should be able to look at these reports and understand whether your business made money last month, how much cash you have, and what you owe. If the numbers seem off or your bookkeeper can’t explain variances, the categorization might be wrong.

Categorization should be accurate and consistent. Office supplies should always go to office supplies, not randomly scattered across different accounts each month. Equipment purchases should be capitalized properly, not expensed when they shouldn’t be. This consistency matters because it affects your tax return and your ability to compare months to each other.

Tax time reveals the truth. When you hand your books to your accountant or tax preparer, they shouldn’t need to spend hours cleaning up messy records or asking basic questions. If your accountant frequently complains about the state of your books or finds significant errors, your bookkeeper isn’t doing the job right. A San Diego bookkeeper who knows their stuff will deliver books that are ready for tax season without drama.

Communication matters too. A good bookkeeper flags unusual transactions, asks clarifying questions when something doesn’t look right, and keeps you informed about your financial picture. You shouldn’t feel confused about what’s happening in your own books.

Watch for red flags like reconciliations that are months behind, reports that are consistently late or missing, expenses that don’t match what you know you spent, unexplained adjustments, and a general sense that you have no idea where your money is going.

The simplest test is whether you trust your numbers. If someone asked you right now how much profit you made last month or how much cash you have, could you answer confidently? If not, either your bookkeeper isn’t delivering or they aren’t communicating the results to you. Quality monthly bookkeeping should give you that confidence. If you don’t have it, something needs to change.