The Complete DFW Finance Guide for Growing Businesses

Layer one: bookkeeping that closes on a date

Everything above this layer depends on it. Bank and card feeds reconciled to statements, revenue recognized consistently, vendors coded the same way every month, and a close that lands on a committed date rather than whenever someone gets to it. If your books arrive six weeks late, no reporting or advisory work sitting on top of them is worth paying for. The practical test is simple: can you open last month's profit and loss today and explain every line without opening the bank?

Layer two: the close, review, and reporting package

This is the layer most growing DFW businesses skip. It covers the close calendar, second-person review before statements go out, balance sheet accounts supported by schedules rather than plugs, and a reporting package a lender will accept without rework. Multi-entity owners feel the absence first, because intercompany activity and consolidated reporting fall apart quickly without a named owner of the process.

Layer three: fractional CFO work

Once the numbers are trustworthy, the forward view becomes possible: a 13-week cash forecast maintained against actuals, budget versus actual with variances explained, margin and pricing review, and scenario planning around a lease, a hire, a piece of equipment, or a line of credit. In North Texas this usually becomes worth paying for somewhere between $3M and $30M in revenue, or earlier if the structure is complicated.

QuickBooks Online cleanup: the reset button

A cleanup is what you do when the file itself is the problem: undeposited funds stacking up, an unreconciled bank account, a chart of accounts nobody maintains, negative inventory, or an owner-draw account absorbing anything unclear. Fix the file before layering reporting on top of it, or you will produce polished statements built on unreliable data. A cleanup without an ongoing monthly close usually needs repeating within a year or two.

How to sequence this in practice

Start where the break is. If the close is late, fix bookkeeping. If the close is on time but you do not trust it, add review and controls. If you trust it and still cannot decide, add CFO work. If none of the above sticks because the file is a mess, run the cleanup first. Working in this order avoids the common and expensive mistake of buying advisory hours before the underlying data can support them.

What this guide does not cover

The Aligned Ledger is not a CPA firm. We do not prepare tax returns, process payroll, pay bills on your behalf, or perform attest services. Our work sits alongside your CPA and your payroll provider: we maintain the books, the close, and the reporting they and you rely on. Being explicit about that boundary up front is the fastest way to know whether we are the right fit.

Common questions