How Alicat Solutions Works
No black holes. No year-end scramble. Just accurate books every month, a clear annual rhythm, and a CPA-supervised team that answers when you reach out. Here's the whole picture — from the first cleanup to year-end tax prep.
THE YEAR
The Client Experience, Start to Finish
Every account moves through the Every account moves through the same five phases. The first two get your books accurate and current. The last three keep them that way — and turn them into something you can actually use.
Account
Setup
A diagnostic review of your QuickBooks Online file and last tax return, plus setup of your AliCat client portal — one place for documents, reports, and questions.
Remediation
If your books are behind or out of balance, we fix it. Cleanup makes the balance sheet accurate; catch-up completes prior months, with check-ins every two weeks.
Not every account needs this phase.
Monthly Maintenance
The core of the relationship. Every month we categorize transactions, reconcile accounts, record payroll, submit sales tax, and deliver your P&L.
Financial Review
Numbers are only useful if someone looks at them. Year-over-year performance, a balance sheet review, and clearing anything uncategorized.
Annual Tax Prep
At year-end we prepare your 1099s and finalize your books, then hand your tax preparer clean, tax-ready financials.
We don't file income tax returns.
Like the Sound of This?
Everything above is your day-to-day once you're a client. Getting there is the easy part — a quick intake form, a discovery call, and a proposal built around your business.
THE RELATIoNSHIP
Your Year With AliCat, Quarter By Quarter
Bookkeeping isn't the same task twelve months in a row. The work shifts with the calendar — heavy on tax prep early and late in the year, steady maintenance in between. The chart shows the shape of the year; here's what each quarter actually involves, and the dates worth having on your radar.
The year opens under deadline. We issue your 1099s by January 31, then finalize and lock the prior year — every account reconciled, the balance sheet tied out. Your tax preparer receives clean, tax-ready financials and the supporting forms, so the return moves faster and costs you less. (We prepare the books; we don't file returns.)
Filing dates worth knowing1099s — Jan 31 · S-corp & partnership returns — Mar 15 · Individual & C-corp — Apr 15
The engine room of the year. The monthly rhythm runs clean — we categorize transactions, reconcile accounts, run payroll, file sales tax, and deliver your P&L by the 15th. For owners who want a sharper view, fractional CFO support turns those numbers into pricing, hiring, and cash-flow decisions.
Quarterly estimatesQ1 — Apr 15 · Q2 — Jun 15. Your books stay current, so what you owe is never a guess.
Mid-year, we step back from the transactions and look at the business. A year-over-year review shows what's working, where margins are slipping, and where the money actually goes — then we talk through next year's plans, big purchases, and whether your current structure still fits.
One date to noteQ3 estimates — Sep 15. This is the quarter bookkeeping becomes a decision-making tool, not just compliance.
We don't wait for January. December financials are drafted early and we run a preliminary annual review, so nothing's a surprise at close. We collect contractor W-9s now, so next year's 1099s go out on time — no Q1 scramble.
Before the books closeWe clear uncategorized items, confirm payroll totals, and flag any entries needed before year-end. Q4 estimates — Jan 15.
Two things never change, all year long: your financial statements arrive by the 15th business day of every month, and your questions get answered within one business day. CPA-supervised, every step.
CPA-supervised bookkeeping
Want this kind of clarity for your business?
Accurate books every month, a clear annual rhythm, and a team that actually answers. If that's what you've been missing, let's talk — a discovery call is the first step.
