Balanced Integrity

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Chesapeake, VA
Balanced Integrity

I love bringing order to chaos. Bookkeeping isn’t just numbers. It’s the story behind them.

Every set of books shows where a business has been & where it’s headed. I enjoy bringing clarity to that story & helping owners feel confident in their decisions. I am a QuickBooks Online ProAdvisor with over 12 years of bookkeeping experience, including the past nine years as an Accounting and Payroll Assistant for a CPA and Tax Accountant in Virginia Beach. As he approaches retirement, I’ve star

ted transitioning into my own bookkeeping business while continuing to work part-time for him. My focus is on helping clients who use QuickBooks Online or are looking to transition to it. I hold current ProAdvisor certifications and have training and experience in thorough QuickBooks Online clean-ups. My priorities include:
• Error-free transaction categorization
• An organized and properly structured Chart of Accounts
• Accurate reconciliation of all asset and liability accounts

In short, my goal is to deliver accurate and reliable financial reports, such as Balance Sheets and Profit & Loss Statements, ensuring readers can trust and confidently rely on them.

09/03/2026

🚩 Red Flag #4: Things You Own or Owe Are Missing From the Balance Sheet

For example, does your business own:
Vehicles
Major equipment
A building or other significant assets

And does your business owe money on:
Vehicle or equipment loans
Business loans
Lines of credit

If you know these things exist but can't find them anywhere on your Balance Sheet, that's a bookkeeping red flag.

Your Balance Sheet should help show what your business owns, what it owes, and the owner's equity in the business.

Missing assets or liabilities can mean you're not seeing the complete financial picture.

Don't worry about understanding every line on your Balance Sheet. Start with what you already know.

If you have three company vehicles, can you find the related assets?

If you're making payments on two business loans, can you find those liabilities?

And do the balances look reasonable?

🚩 If something you KNOW exists in your business is nowhere to be found on your Balance Sheet, it's worth investigating.

Your financial reports shouldn't just contain numbers. They should reflect the reality of your business.

👉 Pull up your Balance Sheet. Does it tell the same story as your business?

08/31/2026

🚩 Red Flag #3: “Uncategorized” and “Ask My Accountant” Keep Growing

Not sure where a transaction belongs?

Putting it in Uncategorized Expense or Ask My Accountant temporarily isn't necessarily a problem.

The red flag is when transactions go there…and never leave.

These accounts are meant to be temporary parking spots, not permanent homes.

When large numbers of transactions pile up there, you may not have an accurate picture of where your business is actually earning or spending money.

For example, if $12,000 is sitting in Uncategorized Expenses, what was that $12,000 actually for? Advertising? Subcontractors? Equipment? Software? Repairs?

That information matters. not just for tax preparation, but for understanding the cost of running your business.

Run your Profit & Loss and look for:
✔️ Uncategorized Income
✔️ Uncategorized Expenses
✔️ Ask My Accountant
✔️ Other vague or catch-all categories with large balances

A few recent transactions waiting for clarification? Probably not a big deal.
Dozens or hundreds accumulating month after month? 🚩 That's worth investigating.

Clean bookkeeping isn't just about putting every transaction somewhere.

It's about putting it in the right place so your reports give you information you can actually use.

👉 Take a look at your Profit & Loss. Do you have money hiding in one of these accounts?

08/27/2026

🚩 Red Flag #2: Your Accounts Haven't Been Reconciled in Months

Check your reconciliation history for each bank and credit card account.

When was the last completed reconciliation?

Last month? Six months ago? Never?

You log into QuickBooks or Xero, categorize the transactions in your bank feed, and get that number down to zero.

Done, right? Not quite.

Categorizing transactions from the bank feed is not the same as reconciling your account.

Reconciliation is the process of comparing what's recorded in your accounting software to your actual bank or credit card statement to make sure everything is accounted for.

Without regular reconciliations, your books could contain:
✔️ Missing transactions
✔️ Duplicate transactions
✔️ Deleted or changed transactions
✔️ Incorrect beginning balances
✔️ Payments or deposits recorded incorrectly

And those problems can flow right into your Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet.

If your accounts haven't been reconciled, it's hard to know whether the financial reports you're using to make business decisions are accurate.

👉 When was the last time your business accounts were reconciled?

08/24/2026

🚩 Red Flag #1: Your Bank Balance and Book Balance Are Way Off

Open your accounting software and compare the balance showing for your bank account with the actual balance at your bank.

They don't have to match exactly. Outstanding checks, deposits in transit, and timing differences can create legitimate differences. But a large difference you can’t explain is a bookkeeping red flag.

It could mean:
✔️ Transactions are missing
✔️ Transactions have been duplicated
✔️ Something was deleted or changed
✔️ Deposits or payments were recorded incorrectly

One of the first questions to ask is:

When was the account last reconciled? The bank feed helps bring transactions into your books. Reconciliation helps verify that what is recorded in your books agrees with what actually happened at the bank.

Clean books aren't just about getting transactions categorized.

They're about having numbers you can trust.

Go take a quick look. How does your bookkeeping balance compare to your actual bank balance?

08/19/2026

Enjoyed the Better Business Bureau - Greater Hampton Roads meet and greet this morning. Great to get to know other accredited business professionals.

08/14/2026

Hampton Roads Business Owners:

As an Ambassador for the Alignable Alliance of Coastal Virginia, I invite you to join us for B2B networking at our Coastal Connections: Midday Conversations meetup on Wednesday August 19 at 11am at Surf Rider Kempsville (995 Providence Square Shopping Center, Virginia Beach).

We ask you to leave your sales pitch at the door. We want to get to know YOU and know WHO you’d like to meet – who’s your ideal customer?

This event is perfect if you want to:
✔ Meet local professionals in a low-pressure environment
✔ Build referral relationships
✔ Expand your business network
✔ Learn more about Alignable and how to get more networking ROI

Please sign up for a free Alignable account and register for this event here: https://bit.ly/4gBq29l

The event is free to attend. We do encourage you to purchase food or a beverage to support our host location.
_______________________________
Never heard of Alignable? Alignable is an online platform for business owners designed to help identify, build, and strengthen the relationships that lead to referrals, introductions, collaboration and opportunities. Not another social media platform to endlessly scroll. It’s a place to intentionally grow your business network.

Alignable is free to join for business owners who believe in the power of relationships and the value of referrals. Learn more at www.Alignable.com.

Find me on Alignable: https://bit.ly/bib-Alignable

Relationships NOT TRANSACTIONS are the currency of small business success.

08/12/2026

Would Your Books Pass a Bookkeeping Health Check?

There are certain red flags I look for when reviewing QuickBooks or Xero, from unreconciled accounts and unusual balances to old invoices, loan balances, payroll liabilities, and more.

I put together a behind-the-scenes look at what a bookkeeper actually reviews during a Bookkeeping Health Check.

👉 Read the full article: https://www.balancedintegrityllc.com/post/what-does-a-bookkeeper-look-for-during-a-bookkeeping-health-check

08/10/2026

𝗧𝗮𝘅-𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻. 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻-𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴.

Making business decisions without knowing your actual financial position is like driving down a dark country road at night with your headlights turned off.

You can keep moving, but every turn is a guess. You may not see the next curve or the obstacle in the road until it’s too late.

𝗛𝗼𝗽𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆.

Clean, accurate books turn the headlights on.

Knowing whether you can afford to hire, buy equipment, pay yourself more, or expand your business and making those decisions with confidence is a business owner’s superpower.

Are your books giving you that kind of clarity?

Or are you still driving in the dark?

Schedule a Bookkeeping Health Check today: https://tidycal.com/balancedintegrity/businesschat

07/30/2026

We talk a lot about the importance of having 𝗧𝗮𝘅-𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀, but we should also talk more about having 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻-𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀. They go hand in hand.

𝗧𝗮𝘅-𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀
✔ Your accountant/tax preparer gets what they need.
✔ Fewer surprises at tax time.
✔ Cleaner tax preparation.

𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻-𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀
✔ Better financing opportunities.
✔ Confident hiring decisions.
✔ Purchasing decisions backed by data.
✔ Cash flow planning.
✔ Business growth with fewer surprises.

If you have up to date, clean, accurate bookkeeping, you are well on your way to having both. If you don't, you are missing out on an enormously powerful decision making tool.

𝗖𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀. 𝗖𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀. 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀.

How confident are you when it comes to your current business bookkeeping?

Let’s start with a Bookkeeping Health Check. https://tidycal.com/balancedintegrity/businesschat

07/27/2026

This QuickBooks Online (QBO) Cleanup Specialist Certification was one of the toughest certifications I've earned, but it was so worth it.

I worked for a tax accountant for over nine years, and almost every time he was in someone's QBO account, he would make comments about the mess left behind by their "QuickBooks ProAdvisor" bookkeeper. When I started my business two years ago, I made a vow to myself that I would never be that bookkeeper.

Part of the requirements for this certification was not only having my work reviewed by my peers but also reviewing the cleanup work of others and providing feedback to help them become the best bookkeepers they can be as well.

I am grateful to Margie and the Akadian Accounting Education team for all the encouragement, support, and high standards they have shared throughout this journey.

I love cleaning up messy books!

Using QBO? I offer free Bookkeeping Health Checks - Schedule one today - https://tidycal.com/balancedintegrity/businesschat

Address

Chesapeake, VA
23323

Website

https://tidycal.com/balancedintegrity, http://www.BalancedIntegrityllc.com/

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