Houston bookkeeping. The CPA alternative.

Steven Palmieri, a Tax CFO and the Entrepreneur's CFO, is who you reach when you call. We close the month with you, and we still answer when a summer week goes quiet.

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You came looking for the books to be kept, for payroll to be set up, and for the tax return to be prepared. You also get the monthly close, the reconciliations, the financial statements, and a set of numbers you can read. The statements we hand you after a closed month are the same figures a lender or a partner can read without a second translation. The point of doing it during the year is that you can still change a decision before December ends.

A signed cover, when a lender wants one, is prepared by a firm that can sign it. We clean the books so that cover has a closed year under it. A refund stays unnamed until the year is closed and the return is prepared.

Open months match the bank before the return starts. The payday button stays on the provider account you already operate. The person who closes the month can also talk about the return. Ask who picks up in July, and expect a person. A cover that needs a signature is prepared where signing is allowed. We will say which of those five is the first one to do.

The close, the payroll setup, and the return stay in one practice so July is not a handoff.

Name the month

Some owners call a large firm and meet a team. Some call a small shop and hope the same person is there next season. Some want one person who will still pick up. Each shape has a price you can see and a price you feel in the hours you spend chasing an answer.

July is when the worry shows up in a real week. Is March already tied to the bank, and will the person who tied it still answer when the office goes quiet.

Owners compare three ways of buying this help by who still answers after the handoff. Whoever closed March should still be the person who can talk about the return in July. The fee is a separate conversation.

We can all appreciate the fajita that started in a tortilla factory on Navigation Boulevard. The plate is the easy part of that night. The deposit is the part we want already sitting in the books.

Thursday in the Museum District is the free afternoon we can all appreciate, when several museums open their doors at once. The art can wait until evening. Friday's bank match cannot, and that is the worry we carry into the week.

When a spring list of equipment shows up, we ask whether the books already name the same assets, because a list that does not match the close gets guessed. Payday is still set up before the date on the calendar, quiet week or loud week.

Old months get cleaned up until each one agrees with the bank. This month gets categorized, reconciled, and left in a form you can read. Before December you can still choose owner pay and what you buy.

A finished year is not required before the first note on this practice. You need the last month you already trust, and an honest note about how far behind the rest are. The work starts there, or we say it should not start yet.

The monthly close is the week the bank, the cards, and the books are made to say the same thing. Reconciliations are the lines we tick until the difference is zero or the difference is named. Financial statements are what we hand you after that week, and the reports are those same numbers pulled for a lender, a partner, or for you. Payroll setup is the provider account, the pay items, and a first payday that runs on the service you already use. The return is prepared from the closed months, and the choices still open before the year ends are owner pay, a purchase, and whether a retirement contribution still fits. We keep that list in the order the work happens, so a January note is about the month and a November note is about the year. A month you already trust is enough to start the list. If the earlier months are still open, we name how many weeks the catch-up takes, and you can say yes or no before any of that work starts.

The roof at the ballpark slides open on the first mild night, and every Texan leans in with the Astros. Pride in that inning is simple. We still ask whether the week's deposits were entered before the first pitch.