LLC BOOKKEEPING THAT PROTECTS YOUR LIABILITY SHIELD

Depends on whether you can keep personal and business transactions cleanly separated and stay current on quarterly estimated taxes. If you can, you might be fine with a CPA reviewing things at tax time. If you've ever swiped your business card for groceries, run business income through a personal account, or missed a quarterly tax deadline, you need a bookkeeper. The cost of getting it wrong (pierced corporate veil, missed deductions, late tax penalties) is much higher than the cost of monthly bookkeeping.

Mostly the legal and compliance layer. With a sole proprietorship, your business and personal finances are legally one and the same, so the accounting is simpler but you have no liability protection. With an LLC, you have liability protection only if your books prove the business is actually separate. That means dedicated business accounts, owner draws documented as draws (not expenses), and a chart of accounts that reflects your tax classification. The transactions might look similar day-to-day, but the structure has to be tighter.

Significantly. An LLC taxed as a sole prop or partnership has owner draws but no payroll. An LLC that elects S-Corp status has to run the owner on W-2 payroll with a reasonable salary, then take any additional profit as distributions. That means setting up payroll (Gusto, ADP, or similar), tracking salary separately from distributions, calculating estimated taxes on both, and coordinating with your CPA on what counts as reasonable comp for your role. We handle the bookkeeping side of all of that. The actual S-Corp election (Form 2553) is your CPA's call.

Yes, for LLCs taxed as C-Corps. PA RCT-101 is the Pennsylvania Corporate Net Income Tax return, and it's required for LLCs that have elected C-Corp tax status. We prep the supporting financial statements and reconciliation work your CPA needs to file the actual return. Most LLCs are taxed as pass-through entities (sole prop or partnership), in which case RCT-101 doesn't apply. We'll confirm your tax status during the diagnostic call and tell you what filings actually apply to your situation.

K-1s document each partner's share of the LLC's income, deductions, and credits, and they're required if your LLC is taxed as a partnership. We track each partner's capital account throughout the year (contributions, distributions, share of profits and losses) and prep the K-1 backup at year-end. Your CPA files the actual PA-65 partnership return and issues the K-1 forms. We make sure they have everything they need to file accurately and on time.

Yes, and we'd actually prefer to. Setting up QuickBooks correctly the first time is way easier than cleaning up a mess later. We build a chart of accounts that matches your LLC's tax classification (sole prop, partnership, S-Corp election), connect your business bank and credit card accounts, set up the rules and automations that prevent personal-business commingling, and walk you through how to use it. New LLC setup is part of the onboarding for our monthly bookkeeping plans.

Our plans start at $399/month for Essentials, which covers monthly reconciliation, P&L, Balance Sheet, and tax prep support. Growth at $599/month adds payroll support and quarterly advisory calls (best for LLCs with elected S-Corp status). Scale at $1,199/month includes fractional CFO services for established LLCs with multiple entities or higher complexity. If your books need a one-time cleanup before going monthly, we quote that separately as a flat fee. No hourly billing, no surprise invoices.

Yes. We have several clients running 2 to 5 LLCs (commonly real estate investors with separate LLCs for each property, or contractors running operating and holding companies). Each LLC gets its own QuickBooks file, its own chart of accounts, and its own monthly bookkeeping. We coordinate at year-end to make sure inter-company transactions are documented correctly and your CPA gets clean books for every entity. See our multi-entity management page for more detail.

Pennsylvania now requires LLCs (and other business entities) to file an Annual Report with the PA Department of State. The filing fee is $7. The 2025 deadline for LLCs is September 30. Full enforcement (administrative dissolution for non-filers) starts in 2027. We track this for clients and remind you when the filing is due so you don't lose your LLC status because of a $7 form.

Yes. That's actually a common starting point. We quote a one-time cleanup based on how many years are messy and how much transaction volume is involved. After the cleanup, we move you to a monthly plan so the books stay clean going forward. Most multi-year LLC cleanups run between $1,500 and $5,000 as a flat fee. You'd know the exact cost before we start.