What Is a Diagnostic Review and Why Do One?

If you suspect your books are a mess, you are not alone. Most business owners do not know how bad it is, what fixing it would cost, or where to start. That uncertainty keeps you stuck. The 75-Point Diagnostic Review exists to end that uncertainty with a concrete diagnosis, a concrete plan, and a concrete price.

When You Know Something Is Wrong

Most business owners who reach out already know something is off. They may not know what to call it or how bad it is. But the numbers do not feel right, or the person handling the books is gone, or tax season is coming ,and the CPA sent a message that is making you nervous.

That is exactly the situation the Diagnostic Review was built for. It is the starting point we use to get a clear picture of where your books actually stand before any other work begins.

The three situations Amber sees most often when a new client reaches out:

• There is a time gap. The bookkeeper stopped working, and nobody has touched the books since.
• Someone was inside QuickBooks who did not really know what they were doing, and you already suspect the damage.
• Your CPA flagged a problem and said the books need to be cleaned up before the tax return can be filed.

Any one of those situations means the same thing. You do not have a reliable picture of your own business. You cannot trust what the reports are telling you. You cannot move forward until someone tells you exactly where things stand.

That is what the Diagnostic Review gives you.

What the Diagnostic Review Actually Is

The Diagnostic Review is a systematic, 75-point examination of your QuickBooks file. It goes through every section of your books and identifies what is correct, what is wrong, and what needs to be fixed. This service starts at $499 and can cost as much as $899 depending on business complexity.

Here is the sequence Amber works through:

• QuickBooks settings and feature configuration
• Balance sheet: banks, assets, liabilities, loans, credit cards, equity, and owner draws
• Profit and loss: revenue setup, product and service list, expense categorization
• Accounts receivable and accounts payable
• Customer list, vendor list, and product and service list
• Payroll

Eight or nine times out of ten, real problems turn up in that review. The scope varies. Sometimes it is a few months of catch-up bookkeeping. Sometimes it is a more involved cleanup that goes back a year or more.

The most common issues Amber finds:

• Bank transactions recorded in the wrong category or on the wrong report
• Bank, credit card, and loan accounts that are not reconciled correctly. Reconciliation is not as simple as most people think.
• Invoices that are open when they should be marked paid, or recorded in a way that creates duplicate revenue

Most people believe reconciling is easy. It is one of the things Amber finds wrong most often.

What You Get When It Is Done

After the review, Amber produces a written PDF report. It explains the top three issues in plain language. It breaks down every section of the 75-point review.

One thing worth knowing: the report tells you what is wrong and what will be fixed. It does not teach you how to fix it yourself. That is intentional. Amber is not there to hand you a checklist and send you on your way. She is there to do the work.

The consequences of getting this wrong are not small. When bank transactions land in the wrong place, your expense reports are inaccurate. When invoices are not recorded correctly, your revenue gets duplicated. When reconciliation is off, your balance sheet does not reflect what your business is worth. All that flows directly into your tax liability.

The Two Paths Out

After the report is delivered, your business can go in one of two directions.

The review tells us exactly what QuickBooks cleanup is needed and how far back it goes. Amber builds a fixed-price project scope based on everything the review found. Whether that means a few months of cleanup or a full multi-year catch-up, the price is fixed before any work starts.

That price goes into a pricing proposal with a DocuSign service agreement. The project is paid in three installments: one at the start, one at the midpoint, and one at the end. No surprises. No open-ended billing.

Sometimes the books are clean. When that is the case, you get the best possible news and move straight into a monthly maintenance package. No catch-up work needed.

Concrete diagnosis. Concrete plan. Concrete price. No guessing, no wondering, no shooting in the dark.

The Cost of Flying Blind

A business owner called recently and mentioned their bookkeeping had not been touched in four months. Four months of transactions. No revenue data. No expense data. No idea what the profit margins looked like. Quarterly taxes were coming due.

How do you make any real business decision without knowing those numbers?

The pain points that bring business owners to a Diagnostic Review are not rare. They look like this:

• Running out of money and not understanding why.
• Not knowing your profit margins.
• Reports that do not look right, but you cannot explain why.
• A tax return that cannot be filed until someone cleans up the books.
• No time to do the bookkeeping yourself, and knowing you are making mistakes.
• A bookkeeper you fired or stopped trusting.

Most business owners who reach out for a Diagnostic Review are not being proactive. They are already in pain. The longer the pain goes on, the harder the cleanup gets.

Who This Is Not For

The Diagnostic Review is not a good fit for a brand-new business that has never had any bookkeeping done. If there is nothing to examine, there is nothing to diagnose. We also cannot review QuickBooks Desktop files.

What to Do This Week

If you read through that list of pain points and recognized yourself in any of them, the right first step is to book a free discovery zoom meeting with Amber.

When you hire us to do a Diagnostic Review, you will walk away knowing exactly when your books fell apart, how much there is to fix, what fixing it will cost. No guessing. No wondering. Get a clear picture of where things stand and a plan to move forward.

Frequently Asked Questions

 

What does the 75-Point Diagnostic Review cost?

The Diagnostic Review is a fixed-price service. You will see the exact cost before any work begins. There are no hourly overages and no surprise invoices.

How long does the Diagnostic Review take?

Most reviews are completed within a few weeks, depending on size and scope of the project,  of receiving access to your QuickBooks file. Amber will give you a clear timeline when you request the review.

What if my books turn out to be fine?

That happens. When the review finds nothing wrong, you skip straight to a monthly maintenance package. No cleanup work, no extra cost.

Do you review QuickBooks Desktop files?

No. Amber reviews QuickBooks Online files only. If you are currently on QuickBooks Desktop, reach out, and we can talk through your options.

What happens after the PDF report is delivered?

Amber builds a fixed-price cleanup scope based on everything the review found. That scope goes into a pricing proposal with a DocuSign service agreement which we will discuss in a Zoom meeting. Work begins once the first installment is paid.

The Bottom Line

If your books are behind, inaccurate, or simply untouched for months, you are making business decisions without real numbers. That is not a minor inconvenience. Inaccurate expense reports, duplicated revenue, and a balance sheet that does not reflect reality all feed directly into your tax liability.

The 75-Point Diagnostic Review gives you a concrete diagnosis, a concrete plan, and a fixed price to fix it. You will know exactly what is wrong, how far back it goes, and what the next 60 to 90 days will look like before any work starts.

Related:

–How Much Does Bookkeeping Cost For A Small Business in 2026 –

Once your books are clean, the next question most business owners ask is what a bookkeeper does every month. That video answers it in plain language.

Ready to find out exactly where your books stand?

Request your 75-Point Diagnostic Review at ambersbookkeeping.com.

 

Written by Amber Malone, founder of Amber’s Accounting & Bookkeeping, a QuickBooks Online specialist since 2016