Pre-revenue months
The books still close, and the statements show where the money went by category.
Services · Desk one
Outsourced bookkeeping services, done in your own software.
Excello's outsourced bookkeeping services keep the books for startups and small businesses: every transaction categorized, each account reconciled and the month closed within five business days, inside the QuickBooks, Xero or Odoo you already own.
Software pulls in and matches transactions every day. ACCA, CA and CMA-trained experts review and categorize them every week, or every business day on Growth and Scale, and your statements arrive with each close.
From $150 a month. Catch-up work quoted separately.
- The rhythm
- Transactions matched daily
- Categorized by an accountant weekly or daily
- Questions answered within one business day
- Books closed within five business days
Who outsourced bookkeeping is for
What is included in outsourced bookkeeping services
Full scope
Every engagement covers the full monthly cycle: matching, categorization, reconciliation, payables and receivables, the close and your financial statements. The table below is the complete scope, how often each part happens and what you hand over.
| What Excello does | How often | What you supply | What you get back |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transaction matching | Daily, by software | Read-only bank and card feeds, plus Ramp or Brex access if you use them | Bank and card lines pulled in and matched as they post |
| Categorization | By an accountant, every week or every business day by plan | Answers on the few transactions only you can identify | Every transaction coded to your chart of accounts, so nothing piles up for the close |
| Bank and card reconciliation | Every week or every business day, and to each statement at the close | Statements where a feed does not cover the full period | Each account reconciled to its closing statement, with any open item named and explained |
| Accounts payable tracking | Every week or every business day | Vendor bills, forwarded or dropped in a shared folder | A current list of what is owed, to whom and when it is due, with payments matched as they clear |
| Accounts receivable tracking | Every week or every business day | The invoices you issue, or access to Stripe and invoicing in your software | Open invoices by customer, with overdue ones flagged; aging reports on the Scale plan |
| Month-end close | Monthly, within five business days | Answers on any flagged transactions | A closed period and a completed close checklist |
| Monthly financial statements | With every close | Nothing extra | Profit and loss, balance sheet and cash flow statement |
| Questions between closes | Ongoing | An email or a message | An answer from the accountants on your books, within one business day |
| Year-end package | Once a year | Nothing extra | Twelve closed months and full-year statements, ready for your tax return, whoever prepares it |
What is virtual bookkeeping?
Definitions
Online bookkeeping services for startups
A startup's books look different from an established company's, and the difference isn't size. Spending is spread across cards, subscriptions and contractors before revenue exists, and the people asking to see the numbers are often outside the business. Online bookkeeping for startups has to hold up when someone else looks closely.
Spending across tools
Ramp and Brex card activity, Stripe fees and contractor payments through Deel are coded the same way every month.
When someone asks
A lender or investor wants the last twelve months. They're already closed, so you send them.
Before a raise or an audit
Closed periods, reconciled accounts and a documented close checklist are what diligence checks first.
Growth without rework
The chart of accounts is set up once, so new hires, a card program or a second entity don't mean recoding history.
Books behind already
Catch-up work is quoted separately and reconciles back to a clean starting point you sign off.
How to choose the best bookkeeping service for startups
A buyer's checklist
Judge any provider on the same seven questions: who does the work, whose software it runs in, how the close is signed off, when it is closed, what happens to your data, what costs extra and how fast questions are answered. Ask every provider, including Excello.
| What to ask | What to check | What a good answer sounds like |
|---|---|---|
| Who actually does the bookkeeping? | Whether accountants review the work and sign off the close, or software runs unchecked | "Accountants review your books every week and sign off each close." |
| Does it run in my own accounting software? | Whether you keep your QuickBooks, Xero or Odoo file, or have to migrate onto theirs | "Your subscription, your file, your admin login. We are added as a user you can remove." |
| How is the close signed off? | Whether there is a checklist and a review step, or the month is simply called done | "A completed close checklist, a review, and the period locked." |
| When is the month closed? | A stated number of business days, not "shortly after month end" | "Closed within a stated number of business days, and you hear early if anything will delay it." |
| What happens to my data if I leave? | Whether you own the ledger or receive an export of theirs | "The file is already yours. Our user access is removed and nothing else changes." |
| What is in scope, and what costs extra? | Whether catch-up work, extra accounts or a new entity change the price mid-year | A written scope, a stated trigger for a price change, and catch-up work quoted before it starts. |
| Who answers my questions, and how fast? | A stated response window, not a shared inbox | "The accountants on your books, within one business day." |
Comparing the best virtual bookkeeping services comes down to getting those answers in writing. If you're choosing the best bookkeeping service for small startups, weigh the software question most heavily: it's the one that's expensive to reverse later.
What outsourced bookkeeping costs
Pricing
How it works
Onboarding within one week
Your first month is handled within one week of signing. Here is the sequence.
-
Step 01
Scoping call
Your volume, accounts and how far behind the books are, then a written scope and price with any catch-up work as its own line.
-
Step 02
Access and setup
You add Excello as a user in QuickBooks, Xero or Odoo. Feeds connect read-only and the chart of accounts is reviewed and set up.
-
Step 03
Every week, or daily
Transactions matched daily and categorized every week, or every business day on Growth and Scale. You get a short list of the ones only you can identify, and answers within one business day.
-
Step 04
Every month
Accounts reconciled and the month closed within five business days, with your statements delivered at the close.
Leaving is simple: the ledger is already yours, so your close checklists are handed back and our user access is removed.
Related services
Bookkeeping can be taken on its own. When you want more from the same team, the other services build on the same closed books.
Fractional CFO
What to do about what the books show: cash forecasts, models and planning.
Fractional CFOPayroll
Pay runs prepared and checked in Gusto, Rippling or Deel, and posted straight to the ledger.
PayrollTax
US, UAE and UK returns, prepared from closed books.
TaxFor the software side of how this work gets done, see bookkeeping automation. Based in the UAE? See accounting and bookkeeping services in Dubai.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to switch off QuickBooks or Xero?
No. Excello works inside the QuickBooks, Xero or Odoo file you already own, added as a user you can remove at any time. You keep the subscription, the history and the admin login.
Who actually does the bookkeeping, a person or the software?
People. Software pulls transactions in and proposes how to code them every day, and accountants review and categorize them weekly, or every business day on the Growth and Scale plans. Every close is reviewed and signed off by an accountant before your statements go out.
What do you need from me each month?
Vendor bills and receipts, forwarded or dropped in a shared folder, plus answers on the short list of transactions only you can identify. Everything else arrives through the connections set up during onboarding, so there is nothing for you to compile.
How long after month end are my books closed?
Your books are closed within five business days of month end. Your profit and loss, balance sheet and cash flow statement arrive with the close, and if anything will delay it, such as a missing statement or an unanswered question, you hear before the date.
Can you clean up books that are months behind?
Yes. Catch-up work is quoted separately from the monthly fee, based on how many months are outstanding and the transaction volume in them. The books are reconciled back to a clean starting point, and you sign off on it before the first regular month begins.
What does outsourced bookkeeping cost?
Excello's outsourced bookkeeping services start at $150 a month for the full monthly cycle in the scope table. The price depends on transaction volume, the number of accounts, how far behind the books are, and whether payroll or tax is added.