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Sample deliverable

A sample assessment, start to finish.

The written deliverable for Harbor Row Bookkeeping, a six-person firm we made up to show the format. Every system, person, number and recommendation below is fictional. Yours would record your firm.

Assessment · Harbor Row BookkeepingFictional
  1. The firmSix people, about 70 monthly clients, QuickBooks Online and Xero
    2 workflows
  2. System mapEleven systems and nine connections, three of them run by hand
    11 systems
  3. Keep, cut, fixTwo tools cut, five connections fixed, the rest kept
    2 cut
  4. IssuesRanked by hours lost and client risk against effort
    7 ranked
  5. PlanThree phases, each with a fixed price and date
    3 phases
Fictional firm · numbers typical for its size

Sample assessment

Six people, about seventy monthly clients.

Fictional. Harbor Row Bookkeeping does not exist. Its numbers are typical for a firm this size and are here to show what the document covers.

People

  • Dana, owner, reviews every file before it goes out
  • Sam and Priya, senior bookkeepers
  • Luis and Maya, bookkeepers
  • Jo, client coordinator, runs onboarding and chasing

Clients

  • About 70 monthly bookkeeping clients
  • 52 on QuickBooks Online, 18 on Xero from a book bought in 2025
  • 12 with payroll through Gusto
  • 24 receive a monthly report pack

What we walked through

  • Month-end close for a typical client, with Sam and Luis
  • Onboarding the last three new clients, with Jo
  • The firm's three questions: whether to move the Xero clients, why month-end runs into the second week, and which Zaps still matter

System map

Eleven systems, nine connections, three of them run by hand.

Every tool, what it holds, who owns it, and how work moves between them.

Clients in
IgnitionProposals and engagement lettersOwner: Dana
GmailWhere client documents and replies arriveOwner: Everyone
Master client listA Google Sheet of client details, services and start datesOwner: Jo
Practice
KarbonJobs, checklists and client contactsOwner: Dana
ZapierNine Zaps, four with no known purposeOwner: No owner
Books
QuickBooks Online52 client filesOwner: Bookkeepers
Xero18 client files, the acquired bookOwner: Sam
DextReceipt capture for 64 clientsOwner: Priya
HubdocReceipt capture for 6 clientsOwner: No owner
Out
GustoPayroll for 12 clientsOwner: Priya
Google SheetsMonthly report packs for 24 clients, built by handOwner: Luis and Maya
ConnectionsFictional
  1. Ignition → KarbonA signed proposal creates the client and its jobs. Native connection, working.
    Sync
  2. Karbon → QuickBooks OnlineThe client file is created by hand from the sheet. Names differ in 9 of 52 files.
    By hand
  3. Banks → QuickBooks OnlineFeeds run for every file.
    Sync
  4. Banks → XeroOne bank's feed dropped in July and nobody was told. Six files reconciled from PDF statements since.
    Broken
  5. Dext → ledgersEvery receipt lands in one holding account. Bookkeepers re-code about 300 lines a month.
    No rules
  6. Gmail → KarbonClient replies are logged in Karbon when someone remembers.
    By hand
  7. Zapier, nine ZapsFour have no known purpose. One still emails a bookkeeper who left in March, with client documents attached.
    Unknown
  8. Ledgers → Google SheetsReport packs rebuilt by hand each month for 24 clients, about 20 hours.
    By hand
  9. Gusto → ledgersPayroll journals post to the right file for all 12 payroll clients.
    Sync
Teal runs on its own · blue needs a person · outlined is broken or unknown
Fictional firm. Owner means the person who notices when a system stops, which is why two of them have none.

Keep, cut, fix

What stays, what goes, what gets fixed.

One verdict per tool and connection, with the reason. Nothing is cut until the work it does has somewhere to go.

Keep

  • QuickBooks Online: 52 files and a team that knows it
  • Xero, for now: moving 18 files costs more than a year of running both
  • Karbon: set up well, used for a third of what it can do
  • Ignition: the one connection that already works
  • Dext and Gusto: the tools are fine, the rules are not

Cut

  • Hubdoc: the same job as Dext for 6 clients, two licenses for one task
  • Four Zaps nobody can explain: paused now, deleted after a clean month
  • The master client sheet, once Karbon is the single client record
  • The second e-signature tool, used for two clients

Fix

  • Karbon to QuickBooks Online: one client record, created once
  • The Xero bank feed, with an alert when any feed stops
  • Dext publishing rules for the top 40 suppliers
  • One month-end checklist in Karbon instead of three versions
  • Report packs pulled from closed figures, not rebuilt by hand

Issues, ranked

Seven issues, ranked by impact against effort.

Impact counts hours lost each month and risk to a client. Effort is how hard the fix is. Phase is where it lands in the plan.

  1. 01

    A bank feed dropped in July and nobody was told

    Six Xero files have been reconciled from PDF statements for five weeks. Nothing checks whether feeds are running.

    Impact
    High
    Effort
    Low
    Phase
    1
  2. 02

    Every new client is set up twice, by hand

    Jo creates the client in Karbon, then again in QuickBooks Online from the sheet. Nine files carry a different name in each system, so reports go to the wrong folder.

    Impact
    High
    Effort
    Low
    Phase
    1
  3. 03

    Month-end runs three different ways

    Three versions of the checklist are in use. Each bookkeeper closes a file in their own order, so Dana re-checks everything at review and the close runs into the second week.

    Impact
    High
    Effort
    Medium
    Phase
    2
  4. 04

    Receipts land in one holding account

    Dext publishes every receipt to a holding account. Bookkeepers re-code about 300 lines a month that rules could place.

    Impact
    Medium
    Effort
    Low
    Phase
    1
  5. 05

    Nine Zaps, four with no owner

    Four Zaps have no known purpose. One still emails a bookkeeper who left in March, with client documents attached.

    Impact
    Medium
    Effort
    Low
    Phase
    1
  6. 06

    Report packs rebuilt by hand

    24 packs built in Google Sheets each month from exports, about 20 hours, with figures sometimes copied before the file is closed.

    Impact
    Medium
    Effort
    Medium
    Phase
    2
  7. 07

    Two capture tools for one job

    Hubdoc covers six clients that Dext could. Two licenses, and two places to look for a receipt.

    Impact
    Low
    Effort
    Low
    Phase
    1

Scoped plan

Three phases, each with a fixed price and date.

Each phase is quoted on its own. The firm can stop after any of them and keep what was built.

01Fix what is broken

Estimated two weeks. The fixed price and dates are set in the proposal.

  • Reconnect the Xero feed and reconcile the five-week gap
  • An alert to the firm and to us when any feed or sync stops
  • One client record: a Karbon client creates the QuickBooks Online file
  • Dext rules for the top 40 suppliers, reviewed with Priya
  • Four unknown Zaps paused, then deleted after a clean month
  • Six Hubdoc clients moved to Dext, Hubdoc cancelled

02Build month-end

Estimated four weeks, starting when phase one is signed off.

  • One month-end checklist in Karbon for every file, with Dana's review as a step
  • A board showing every client file: done, stuck, and why
  • Report packs built from closed figures and published only after sign-off
  • Walkthrough with the team, and a runbook for each flow

03Keep it running

Monthly retainer. Scope and response times are written into it.

  • Every feed and flow watched, with alerts to us first
  • Monthly summary: what ran, what failed, what we changed
  • Quarterly review, where the Xero question is revisited
  • Changes within the retainer: new rules, new clients, new fields

Let’s look at the hand-offs

Tell us where the work slows down.

Book a 20-minute call and tell us which tools your firm uses and where the work gets stuck. We will say whether an assessment makes sense.

Book a call

or email connect@cudalo.com

Have these ready for the call.
  1. The systems your firm uses
  2. The process you want to improve
  3. What your team does manually today

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