Diane has been great getting my books all cleaned up and properly set up. She’s very responsive, detailed, and thorough. Thanks for all your help! Highly recommend!
Free callBook your free call
Pick a time on my calendar or have me call you. Either way you get an honest read on your books, and the price in writing before I start.
A free call with Diane Jones
Google sends you a confirmation with the details once you book. Calendar not loading? Open it in a new tab, or just call me at (417) 323-2629.
Have me call you
Tell me where to reach you
Your name and a number is all I need. I’ll call you back within 15 to 20 minutes during the day. If you’d like a price range on that call, send me three to six months of recent bank and credit card statements first.
What happens after you send this
- You’ll hear from me directly. I’ll call you back within 15 to 20 minutes during the day.
- We take a free look at your file. Thirty minutes on Zoom or the phone, or in person around Springfield. Send me three to six months of recent bank and credit card statements first. I tell you plainly what shape it’s in and give you a price range on that call, and I’ll say so if I’m not the right fit.
- We go through the proposal together. On Zoom, or in person if you’re close by. I’d rather look at the number with you than read it to you over the phone. After that I’ll email it to you, and you just reply to approve the price.
- You get the price in writing before I touch anything. A fixed project quote for a cleanup, a flat monthly fee for monthly work, $85 an hour for consulting. You can take it to your CPA or sit with it for a while, and it’s fine to say no.
A Form 990 on extension is due November 16, 2026. Your CPA needs reconciled, fund-level books to finish it, and that’s the part I do.
Filed an extension for 2025? Those returns are due October 15, 2026. Your CPA needs a reconciled 2025 file before then, and the sooner I see it the more room we both have.
1099s for your subs and vendors are due February 1, 2027, and they’re built from a full year of entered payments. If 2026 is behind, the last weeks of the year are the time to catch it up.
1099s for your subs and vendors are due February 1, 2027, the same day your payroll provider sends W-2s. If the 2026 books aren’t entered yet, that’s the first thing I’d fix.
S corporation and partnership returns are due March 15, 2027. Your CPA needs a reconciled 2026 file to file on time.
Individual returns are due April 15, 2027. A reconciled 2026 file is what your CPA needs to file, or to file the extension with real numbers.
Before we talk
Send me statements first and you leave the call with a price range
Three to six months of recent bank and credit card statements, just the regular monthly ones, for every account. That’s what shows me an average month, and it’s what I build your price range from. The pricing page explains what goes into a flat monthly fee and a fixed project quote.
Most people just call. We talk for a few minutes about your business and where the books stand, and if it makes sense to go further, I start the process on that call, so there’s no phone tag and no emailing back and forth. Can’t talk right now? Put your name and number in the form and I’ll call you myself.
How this goes, start to finish
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We set a time
If you booked online you’ll get a confirmation with the details for our call. If you called, we pick a time on that call, or just keep going right then.
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You send me statements first
Three to six months of recent bank and credit card statements, every account, not just the busy ones. I can’t put a number on a file I haven’t looked at, and that’s what the statements are for. If you carry inventory or run the business on other software, tell me that too.
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The free 30-minute call
On Zoom or on the phone, whichever suits you. I go through what you sent, ask about payroll, sales tax, inventory, and what software you’re on, and then I give you an estimated price range right there on the call.
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The proposal, and we go through it together
If the range works for you, I write the proposal up. Then we go through it on Zoom, or in person if you’re near Springfield. I’d rather look at the number with you than read it to you over the phone. After that it comes to you by email, and you reply approving the price.
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Engagement letter, access, and I start
A formal engagement letter goes out for signature, and the first invoice with it. You give me accountant access to your bookkeeping file and read-only access to every bank and credit card account, and we set up the Google Drive folder we’ll share. Then I get to work.
What I’ll ask on the call
The form just covers the basics. On the call I’ll go through the rest of this list, which comes straight off my intake sheet. Rough answers are fine. Some of these are add-on services rather than part of the monthly fee, and I’ll say which as we go.
- How the business is set up. Sole proprietor, LLC, S corp, partnership, or nonprofit.
- When taxes were last filed. And whether your CPA is waiting on the books.
- Your accounts. Bank accounts, credit cards, PayPal or other payment apps, loans, and leases.
- How invoices go out and get paid. Through your bookkeeping software, another system, or by hand.
- How bills get paid. Bill pay, checks, cards, or autopay.
- Payroll. Who runs it, how many people are on it, and how often.
- Inventory. If you carry any, and how you track it.
- What software you run. QuickBooks Online or Desktop, another bookkeeping platform, a point of sale, a property system, or spreadsheets.
- Sales tax. Whether you collect it and how often you file.
- What prompted the change. The thing that made you look for a bookkeeper now.
Have a question before you set up the free call?
You’ll usually have your answer in a few minutes on the phone, whether it’s what to send ahead of time or if I work with businesses like yours.
A Form 990 on extension is due November 16, 2026. Your CPA needs reconciled, fund-level books to finish it, and that’s the part I do.
Filed an extension for 2025? Those returns are due October 15, 2026. Your CPA needs a reconciled 2025 file before then, and the sooner I see it the more room we both have.
1099s for your subs and vendors are due February 1, 2027, and they’re built from a full year of entered payments. If 2026 is behind, the last weeks of the year are the time to catch it up.
1099s for your subs and vendors are due February 1, 2027, the same day your payroll provider sends W-2s. If the 2026 books aren’t entered yet, that’s the first thing I’d fix.
S corporation and partnership returns are due March 15, 2027. Your CPA needs a reconciled 2026 file to file on time.
Individual returns are due April 15, 2027. A reconciled 2026 file is what your CPA needs to file, or to file the extension with real numbers.
I’ll call you back within 15 to 20 minutes during the day.