I got tired of watching good businesses run on shoeboxes.

REPLACE THIS SECTION WITH YOUR REAL STORY. Google weighs demonstrated expertise heavily on financial topics, and this page is where it's assessed. Because you're not claiming a license, experience has to do the work instead: how long you've kept books, how many businesses, which industries, what you've seen go wrong. Specifics are what make this credible, "I've cleaned up books for 40+ contractors" beats any adjective. Two to four honest paragraphs.

I keep books for small businesses in Queens, NY, mostly contractors, creative studios, and one-person professional practices. The work is less about spreadsheets than people assume. Most of it is untangling a year of decisions that were made quickly, under pressure, by someone who was busy doing the actual job they get paid for.

The pattern almost never changes. A business is profitable on paper and still stressed about money, because invoices go out late, follow-ups don't happen, and nobody knows what's actually outstanding. Then March arrives and there's a box of receipts. None of that is a character flaw, it's what happens when the systems were never set up in the first place.

So that's what I write about here: the small, boring, permanent fixes. Setting up recurring invoices. Automating the follow-up so you never have to send the awkward email. Categorizing expenses as they happen instead of in a panic. None of it is complicated. It just has to be done once, deliberately.

What I believe about this work

Whoever keeps your books should make you need them less, not more. If I set your system up well, you'll spend less on me, and you'll call me for the things that actually deserve a second pair of eyes, like whether to take on a big contract or how to plan for a quarter that's going to hurt.

Software should be the boring part. I recommend tools on this site, and I'm transparent when there's a partnership behind that recommendation. But I recommend the same tools to paying clients whether or not there's a referral involved, and I say plainly when something isn't a good fit. Full disclosures here.

What I am, and what I'm not

I'm a bookkeeper and tax preparer, not a CPA. I'll say that plainly because you deserve to know exactly who you're hiring, and because the difference matters for some things and not for others.

What that means in practice: I keep books, build systems, prepare returns, and know small-business tax well enough to keep you out of trouble and find deductions you've been missing. What I don't do is certify financial statements or represent you in an IRS appeal. If your situation needs either, I'll tell you and point you to someone who can. I'd rather send you across the street than take work I shouldn't.

UPDATE THIS AS YOUR CREDENTIALS CHANGE. Add your PTIN once you have it (required to prepare returns for pay), and your AFSP Record of Completion once earned, that one also gets you listed in the IRS public Directory of Tax Return Preparers, which is worth linking to from here. If you pass the EA exam, this whole section gets rewritten: "Enrolled Agent" is a real federal credential with unlimited IRS representation rights, and it belongs in your page title, your byline, and your wordmark. Also list any professional memberships (NATP, NACPB), those are open to non-licensed preparers and signal seriousness. BEFORE LAUNCH. VERIFY WITH NYSED OFFICE OF THE PROFESSIONS what an unlicensed person may call themselves in New York advertising. "CPA" and "public accountant" are restricted; plain "accountant" is a gray area. This site uses "bookkeeper" and "tax preparer" throughout, which are safe, but confirm before you publish, and don't let anyone talk you into softer language on this.