The Turnkey CFO Blog
Practical bookkeeping, cash flow, and financial-clarity guidance for small business owners — written to help you make better decisions about your money.
How to Read Your Small Business Financial Statements Without an Accounting Degree
Seven myths about small business financial statements, corrected with a $1.2M services-business walkthrough of the P&L, balance sheet, and cash flow statement.
In-House vs Outsourced Bookkeeping: What One Company's Real Numbers Showed
In-house vs outsourced bookkeeping, traced through one Austin company's real numbers: the loaded cost of a W-2 hire, the hidden risks, and how to compare.
How to Know If Your Business Is Financially Healthy: Run These Six Checks
How to know if your business is financially healthy: six checks you can run using numbers already in your books, each with a pass, warning, or act threshold.
Church Financial Management Services: What They Cover and Who Actually Needs Them
Church financial management services explained: what each level covers, a four-question decision framework for pastors and boards, and what stays in-house.
Finding Bookkeeping Services Near Me: Why Location Matters Less Than Fit
Searching bookkeeping services near me? Here are 7 things that actually decide fit — industry knowledge, your software stack, response time, and Texas-specific filings.
The Monthly Church Board Financial Report Template Every Treasurer Should Hand the Elders
A church board financial report template that fits on one page: giving trend, fund balances, cash runway, and the variances your elders will actually ask about.
The Small Business Tax Preparation Checklist: Everything Your CPA Needs Before Filing
A small business tax preparation checklist built from one real reconciliation: every document, account, and adjustment your CPA needs before your return is filed.
Church Treasurer Resigned What to Do in the First Two Weeks
Church treasurer resigned? What to do in the first two weeks: secure access, check payroll filings, reconcile the books, and verify restricted fund balances.
The Church Fund Balance Report: What It Shows and How to Read It
Your church fund balance report, not the bank balance, shows what you can actually spend. A worked example separating restricted, designated, and general funds.
How to Run Payroll for a Church: A Run-Today Audit for Clergy, Staff, and Contractors
How to run payroll for a church, audited line by line: dual-status clergy, W-2 staff, and 1099 contractors — with what a pass and a fail look like for each.
How to Manage Church Finances: A Practical Guide for Pastors, Treasurers, and Finance Teams
How to manage church finances week to week and year to year: counting controls, fund tracking, board reporting, clergy pay rules, and annual filing deadlines.
Tracking Designated Giving in QuickBooks: Designated vs. Undesignated Funds
Tracking designated giving in QuickBooks comes down to two methods. Here's the class + net-asset structure that keeps building and benevolence funds defensible.
Church Financial Management Guide: Myths That Cost Small Churches Money and Trust
A church financial management guide that debunks the myths costing small churches money and trust — fund structure, the giving-to-deposit chain, and board reporting.
How to Choose a Bookkeeper for Your Small Business (Without Guessing)
How to choose a bookkeeper for your small business: a nine-step walkthrough covering scope, close cadence, software, cleanup, access, and a trial month.
Behind on Bookkeeping What to Do: A Step-by-Step Plan to Get Fully Caught Up
Behind on bookkeeping and unsure what to do? A start-to-finish catch-up plan: how far back to go, recovering old records, and handling tax filings safely.
How to Pay Yourself as a Small Business Owner: A Decision Tree for LLC and S-Corp Owners
How to pay yourself as a small business owner: a decision tree covering owner's draw vs. reasonable salary, the real S-corp threshold, and the books setup.
Small Business Payroll and Contractor Compliance: 7 Rules That Decide How Bad an Audit Gets
Small business payroll and contractor compliance turns on the 1099. How worker classification, Section 530 relief, and the new $2,000 threshold really work.
Profit vs Cash Flow Small Business: Why Your P&L Looks Great but the Bank Account Is Empty
Profit vs cash flow small business: why a profitable P&L leaves your bank account empty, plus the four cash traps and a diagnostic you can run this week.
Small Business Financial Reports: The Three Numbers That Should Change How You Run the Month
The three small business financial reports every owner should read monthly — P&L, balance sheet, cash flow — and what each reveals about hiring and cash.
Church Payroll and Clergy Taxes: The Rules That Trip Up Most Churches
Church payroll and clergy taxes confuse most boards. Learn housing allowance, SECA vs FICA, dual tax status, and how to run clergy pay right in Gusto or QBO.
Designated Funds Church Accounting: Rules, Restrictions, and How to Track Them
Designated funds in church accounting are widely mishandled. Learn which gifts are truly restricted, the IRS control rule, and how to track funds in QuickBooks.
How to Catch Up on Bookkeeping: The Run-This-Today Audit
Learn how to catch up on bookkeeping with a run-today audit. Each item shows what a pass vs. a fail looks like, plus the deadlines and penalties that pile up while books sit undone.
Fund Accounting for Churches: The Questions Pastors and Treasurers Actually Ask
Fund accounting for churches explained through the real questions treasurers ask: what it is, how it differs from business books, and how to track funds in QBO.
Small Business Payroll Basics: How Payroll Really Works — and the Stack That Keeps It Sane
Small business payroll basics explained: pay frequency, payroll taxes, filings, contractor vs employee, and the Gusto + QuickBooks stack that runs it without chaos.
Church Bookkeeping Services: The Complete Guide for Churches and Ministries
Church bookkeeping services explained: fund accounting, designated giving, clergy payroll rules, and board-ready reports — plus the myths that get ministries in trouble.
Small Business Accounting Services Austin: What an Outsourced Bookkeeping Partner Actually Does
Small business accounting services Austin, walked through one owner's first 90 days with an outsourced bookkeeping partner: close, payroll, AP/AR, CPA handoff.
Catch-Up Bookkeeping: How to Fix Months (or Years) of Behind Books
Catch-up bookkeeping done right: the exact step-by-step process to reconstruct months or years of behind books, what to gather, how long it takes, and what 'done' looks like.
QuickBooks vs Hiring a Bookkeeper: How to Decide What Your Business Actually Needs
QuickBooks vs hiring a bookkeeper — a clear decision framework for small business owners. Walk the if/then branches and choose software, a person, or both.
Outsourced vs In-House Bookkeeping for Small Business: 7 Trade-Offs That Decide It
Outsourced vs in-house bookkeeping for small business, decided honestly: 7 trade-offs across cost, control, and scale, and exactly when each one wins.
1099 Filing Deadline 2026: What Small Businesses Need to Know
The 1099 filing deadline 2026 lands on Monday, February 2. Here's who needs a 1099, the dates that matter, penalties for missing them, and how to stay clean.
How to Read a Profit and Loss Statement: The Four Numbers That Actually Drive Decisions
Learn how to read a profit and loss statement using one real, fully worked example, plus the four numbers that quietly drive every decision an owner makes.
Finding a Bookkeeper Near Me: An Owner's Buying Guide
Searching 'bookkeeper near me' and not sure who to trust? An Austin founder walks through what local really means and how to vet a bookkeeper for your industry.
The Pastor's Guide to Church Financial Management: A Run-It-Today Audit
A run-it-today church financial management audit for pastors and boards — covering fund accounting, money handling, clergy payroll, donor compliance, and reporting.
Small Business Bookkeeping Austin: A Local Owner's Guide
A straight-talking Austin owner's guide to small business bookkeeping: franchise tax, no state income tax, sales tax, and the local rules that trip people up.
QuickBooks Online for Churches: Setup, Classes, and Fund Tracking
QuickBooks Online for churches has no true fund accounting, but classes and projects can mimic it. Here's the exact setup to track restricted funds cleanly.
Church Bookkeeping Guide for Pastors: Clean Books, Clear Funds, Trustworthy Reports
A plain-English church bookkeeping guide for pastors: how fund tracking works, what belongs in the monthly board report, and when to bring in outside help.
How to Do Bookkeeping for Small Business: The Owner's Playbook for Clean Books in 2026
A founder's playbook for how to do bookkeeping for small business: the setup, the monthly close rhythm, the numbers that matter, and where DIY breaks in 2026.
Church Bookkeeping: A Complete Guide to Fund Accounting and Compliance
A practical church bookkeeping guide for administrators: fund accounting, designated giving, clergy payroll, the monthly close, and the reports your board needs.
1099 vs W-2 Contractor: How to Classify Workers Correctly
1099 vs W-2 contractor confusion costs owners thousands in back taxes and penalties. Learn the IRS test, real service-business examples, and how to fix it.
Small Business Bookkeeping: The Complete Guide for Owners in 2026
A plain-English small business bookkeeping guide for 2026: what it really is, the monthly close rhythm, the right tools, the reports that matter, and when to get help.
Bookkeeping for Churches: The Complete Guide for Pastors and Boards
A plain-English guide to bookkeeping for churches: fund accounting, restricted gifts, clergy pay, board reporting, and when to bring in outside help.
Cash Flow Management for Small Business: An Owner's Practical Guide
A practical guide to cash flow management for small business owners — read your cash position, build a 13-week forecast, and make confident weekly decisions.