How we work
Our process
What to expect from your first contact through your first monthly close, along with answers to common questions.
Getting started
From the first message to the first close, most clients take two to four weeks. The only thing we need from you is access and answers.
Initial inquiry
A few lines about where the books stand. A bookkeeper replies within 30 minutes, Mon to Fri, 8am to 6pm ET.
A free 30 minute call
Video or phone. We ask about your accounts, your software, your payroll and how far back the books go. There is nothing to prepare in advance.
A written proposal
Usually within two business days. Scope, your exact flat monthly rate, any catch-up as a fixed fee. No setup fee. Nothing is billed until you sign it.
Setup
Signed NDA first. Then your Financial Cents portal, software access at a level you control, statements collected, and opening balances checked. Two to four weeks to a first reconciled close.
The 10th, every month
Documents in by the 5th, books closed by the 10th, a summary from your bookkeeper. Billed the 1st, due the 3rd, month to month.
Our standards
Every one of these is in your proposal. None of them costs extra.
A consistent team
Your file is handled by a small, dedicated team. No offshore staff, no rotation, no account manager in between. The people who close your books are the people who answer your questions.
NDA before anything
A signed non-disclosure agreement comes before portal access, before software access, before we see a single statement.
Your software, your access
We work in your QuickBooks or Xero file, at a user level you choose. Documents move through the encrypted portal, never email. Access ends on the last day of service.
Money never touches JMH
Bills are paid from your accounts on your approval. Payroll runs in your own Gusto account. We hold no funds and are not a reporting agent for any agency.
Nothing is guessed
A transaction we cannot place goes on a short question list in one thread. It is never dropped into a category that looks close enough.
No tax work, ever
No returns, no estimates, no filings, no tax advice. Your CPA gets a year-end package built to file from, and we will talk to them directly if you want.
Frequently asked questions
If your question is not here, ask us directly.
Every plan is a flat monthly fee. Solo starts at $199 a month, Essentials at $249, Growth at $599, and Portfolio at $999. Real estate plans run $199 to $999. Each starting price covers the accounts, transactions and entities listed on the pricing page; your exact rate is fixed in a written proposal after a free 30 minute call. There is no setup fee on any plan. Full pricing.
Solo suits a business on one bank account and one card with no employees. Essentials suits owner-operators with a few accounts and straightforward books. Growth fits businesses with a team, bills, invoices and payroll. Portfolio is for multiple entities or books that need lender and investor reporting. Real estate agents and landlords have four plans of their own. On the call we recommend the lowest plan that fits, and say what would change our mind.
No. Onboarding is included in every monthly plan: the NDA, portal setup, software access and a review of your chart of accounts. If your books are behind, we quote the catch-up work in writing before the first close. A standalone QuickBooks Online or Xero setup, with no monthly plan, is from $499.
On the 1st of each month, due by the 3rd. One flat invoice for the rate in your proposal. Fees exclude sales taxes and third-party software subscriptions, which are billed to you by Intuit, Xero or Gusto.
No. Every plan, including Portfolio, runs month to month and can be cancelled by either side with 30 days written notice. Catch-up projects and standalone software setups are one-time flat fees with no ongoing commitment.
Quick questions about your books, under 15 minutes in business hours, are part of every plan. Scheduled advisory sessions, for reading your reports, cash flow, budgeting or software, are $65 an hour in 30 minute blocks, in business hours or evenings and weekends by arrangement. Growth includes 1 hour a month and Portfolio 3. Advisory is bookkeeping and business-finance only, never tax advice; tax questions go to your CPA.
Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm ET, and we reply within 30 minutes during those hours. Outside them, an advisory session can be arranged for an evening or weekend; everything else is answered first thing the next business morning.
By the 10th, provided your statements and receipts are in the portal by the 5th. Bank feeds run automatically; the 5th is for anything that does not. The close comes with a short note on anything that changed and a list of anything we could not place without you.
Yes, on Growth and Portfolio. Bills are entered and scheduled for your approval and paid from your own accounts. Invoices are sent and followed up. You get an aging report every week in both directions. JMH never holds your funds.
Yes. A standalone setup is from $499, and setup is included in onboarding on any monthly plan. It covers the chart of accounts, bank and app feeds, opening balances and a walkthrough for the owner. If you are on neither product, that is normal and we will tell you which fits.
Almost certainly. We take on catch-up and clean-up work, including multi-year backlogs. It is quoted separately as a fixed project fee, in writing, from $150 per month behind with a $450 minimum, and the monthly plan begins once there is a clean starting balance.
Usually two to four weeks from a signed proposal to the first reconciled close. The timeline depends on the state of your existing records and how quickly we get access to your accounts and statements.
That is fine. Catch-up projects and software setups are one-time with no ongoing commitment, and every monthly plan runs month to month with 30 days notice. Some clients hire us to clean up and hand back a file they then keep themselves.
No. JMH does no tax work of any kind and submits nothing to the IRS or any agency. We work alongside your CPA and hand them a year-end package built to file from. If you do not have a CPA, we can point you to one.
Every engagement starts with a signed NDA. Documents move through the encrypted Financial Cents portal, never email. Access to your accounting software is granted at a user level you control and revoked on your last day of service. Access to your file is limited to the bookkeepers assigned to it.
QuickBooks Online and Xero; our bookkeepers are QuickBooks ProAdvisors and Xero Certified. If you are on something else, or on nothing, we will look and tell you honestly whether to stay or move. Payroll runs in Gusto only.
Yes. The work is remote by design: your software, the encrypted portal, email and the occasional video call. We are based in Centreville, Virginia, and work with clients across the country on the same terms.
Ready to get started?
Tell us where the books stand. We reply within 30 minutes in business hours, then a free 30 minute call, then a written proposal.