# Catch-Up Guide

## Before You Start

Before beginning, determine:

1. **How far back are we going?** Decide on a [start date](https://accountants.kick.co/managing-clients/entity-management/editing-entity-start-and-end-dates) based on the client's needs — this is typically the start of the earliest unfiled tax year, or the date they stopped maintaining books.

{% hint style="info" %}
This becomes the entity's bookkeeping start date in Kick. Set it to the first day of the catch-up period, not today's date. This is the most common setup mistake for catch-up clients — the start date controls what Kick treats as historical and affects reconciliation behavior.
{% endhint %}

2. **What data do we have?** Gather bank statements, credit card statements, and payroll provider reports for the entire catch-up period. PDFs, CSVs, and scanned paper statements all work.
3. **Is there a prior system?** If the client has usable data in a prior accounting system (QBO, Xero, etc.), consider [migrating](https://accountants.kick.co/setting-up/migration) their historical data rather than rebuilding from raw transactions.
4. **Set up the client workspace first.** [Add the client](https://accountants.kick.co/start-here/add-your-first-client), create any [additional entities](https://accountants.kick.co/setting-up/multi-entity/adding-and-removing-entities), and import the [Chart of Accounts](https://accountants.kick.co/setting-up/chart-of-accounts/import-your-chart-of-accounts) from the client's prior system before importing transactions. This ensures transactions land in the right accounts from the start. See the [Setup Guide](https://accountants.kick.co/kick-best-practice-guides/setup-guide) for the full setup sequence.

***

## Step 1: Connect Accounts & Import Historical Data

The goal is to get every transaction for the catch-up period into Kick — with no gaps. Do not proceed to subsequent steps until every account's transaction history is fully loaded.

**What to do:**

1. Connect bank and credit card accounts via [Plaid](https://accountants.kick.co/setting-up/integrations/connect-accounts). Plaid typically pulls 6–24 months of history depending on the institution.
2. For data older than Plaid's lookback, unsupported banks, or for accounts that were closed during the catch-up period, use the [Universal Importer](https://accountants.kick.co/setting-up/universal-importer) to upload PDFs or CSVs.
   1. Feel free to "data dump" during this step — drop in all CSVs and PDFs for all historical periods. Kick will sort it out for you.
3. Set up direct integrations for [Stripe](https://accountants.kick.co/setting-up/integrations/payment-processors), [Gusto](https://accountants.kick.co/setting-up/integrations/gusto), [PayPal](https://accountants.kick.co/setting-up/integrations/payment-processors), [Ramp](https://accountants.kick.co/setting-up/integrations/ramp), and [Mercury](https://accountants.kick.co/setting-up/integrations/mercury) where applicable.
4. If you imported historical data and later connect a live Plaid feed for the same account, [merge them](https://accountants.kick.co/setting-up/integrations/manage-integrations) into a single account to avoid duplicates.

{% hint style="info" %}
**No gaps.** Make sure there are no gaps in statement coverage across the catch-up period. Reconciliation in Step 3 will catch gaps, but it's faster to get it right here. Partial data leads to duplicate work later.
{% endhint %}

***

## Step 2: Verify Opening Balances

If you're starting from a specific date, you’ll need opening balances that reflect the client's financial position as of that date.

**What to do:**

1. If migrating from a prior system, verify opening balances on the [Balance Sheet](https://accountants.kick.co/reports/balance-sheet) against the prior system's trial balance or the last filed tax return.
2. If starting fresh with catch-up (no prior financials), opening balances are zero and will build as you import transactions.
3. If the client has a prior balance sheet (i.e., their books were accurate at some point), import opening balances as of the day before the catch-up period starts. This gives you a clean starting point. 
   1. Kick has an opening balance importer accessible from Accounting → [Balance Sheet](https://accountants.kick.co/reports/balance-sheet) → **Import balances** — use it to load prior-period balances directly rather than creating manual journal entries.
4. If opening balances need adjustments, you'll have the opportunity to create them during [reconciliation](https://accountants.kick.co/close-workflows/reconciliation).

{% hint style="info" %}
**Key check:** Once opening balances are set, they become the anchor for everything else. If these are wrong, every subsequent period will be off.
{% endhint %}

***

## Step 3: Reconcile All Historical Periods

[Reconciliation](https://accountants.kick.co/close-workflows/reconciliation) during catch-up is sequential — you cannot reconcile March until February is reconciled, because February's ending balance is March's starting balance.

**What to do:**

1. Navigate to Accounting → [Reconciliation](https://use.kick.co/reconciliation).
2. Start with the first month of the catch-up period. Upload statements for each period — Kick supports multi-period reconciliation, so you can upload an entire year (or years) of statements at once.
3. Reconcile each bank account to the ending statement balance for that month, then each credit card account.
4. Statements must be uploaded in sequence with no gaps. You can't reconcile January, February, and April without March.
5. Resolve every exception before moving to the next month. Don't carry unresolved items forward — they create cascading problems.
6. Mark the period as reconciled and move to the next month. Repeat until all periods are reconciled up to the current month.

***

## Step 4: Review and Resolve Transfers

Before categorizing, check that [transfers](https://accountants.kick.co/bookkeeping-workflows/transfers) between accounts are properly matched across the entire catch-up period. With historical data, there are often many unmatched transfers. A missed or incorrect transfer match is one of the most common causes of catch-up reconciliation failures.

**What to do:**

1. Check the [Balance Sheet](https://accountants.kick.co/reports/balance-sheet) for non-zero clearing account balances: Bank Transfer Clearing, Payment Transfer Clearing, Credit Card Clearing.
2. [Match unmatched transfers](https://accountants.kick.co/bookkeeping-workflows/transfers) manually, or investigate why they're unmatched (the other account may not be connected or may not have been imported yet).
   1. The easiest way to do this is to navigate to [Transactions](https://accountants.kick.co/bookkeeping-workflows/transactions) → reveal the **Matched transfer** column using [Views](https://accountants.kick.co/collaboration/views) → filter for Transfer, Credit Card Payment categories → filter for Match: Is not matched.
3. For recurring transfers, set up [Transfer Rules](https://accountants.kick.co/bookkeeping-workflows/rules) to match them automatically. This is especially valuable for catch-up since the same pattern likely repeats across many periods.
4. Check every transfer. Review all transfers between accounts for the period before proceeding.

{% hint style="info" %}
**Target:** All clearing accounts at $0. Non-zero balances may mean transfers are still unmatched or miscategorized.
{% endhint %}

***

## Step 5: Batch Review Transactions

Leverage filters and sorting to review the most critical transactions in batches.

**What to do:**

To review **similar transactions** →

1. Open the [Transactions](https://accountants.kick.co/bookkeeping-workflows/transactions) page, toggle to the General Ledger Review [View](https://accountants.kick.co/collaboration/views), sort Bank description alphabetically by clicking on the column header.
2. Select transactions in bulk (see [Keyboard shortcuts](https://accountants.kick.co/reference/keyboard-shortcuts)) to update [categorization](https://accountants.kick.co/bookkeeping-workflows/categorization), [counterparties](https://accountants.kick.co/bookkeeping-workflows/counterparties), [classes](https://accountants.kick.co/bookkeeping-workflows/classes), etc. for all historical periods.
   1. Kick will ask you if you'd like to make changes to similar transactions. Click **Review** when you see this pop-up and **Assign** to confirm the bulk update. Kick will learn from these changes over time.
3. For recurring transactions, ensure your updates are always applied consistently by creating [Rules](https://accountants.kick.co/bookkeeping-workflows/rules).

To review **uncategorized transactions** →

1. Open the [Transactions](https://accountants.kick.co/bookkeeping-workflows/transactions) page, toggle to the General Ledger Review [View](https://accountants.kick.co/collaboration/views), filter for Category → Uncategorized.
2. Assign categories to transactions that do not need to be confirmed with your client.
3. If you need client input, generate a [Task](https://accountants.kick.co/close-workflows/tasks) from the transactions to request more info.

To review **material transactions** →

1. Open the [Transactions](https://accountants.kick.co/bookkeeping-workflows/transactions) page, toggle to the General Ledger Review [View](https://accountants.kick.co/collaboration/views), click the Amount column to sort largest cash in → largest cash out.
   1. Click Amount again to reverse the sorting.
2. Alternatively, use the Amount filter to review transactions above a materiality threshold.
3. Confirm categorization, taking particular care to review Contributions, Distributions, Transfers, and Revenue.

To review transactions **without a counterparty** →

1. Open the [Transactions](https://accountants.kick.co/bookkeeping-workflows/transactions) page, toggle to the General Ledger Review [View](https://accountants.kick.co/collaboration/views), filter for Counterparty → No counterparty.
   1. Add additional filters for scenarios where all transactions require a counterparty (e.g. General Ledger = Contract Labor).
2. Assign a [counterparty](https://accountants.kick.co/bookkeeping-workflows/counterparties) to each transaction, making bulk updates to selected transactions when possible.

To review **personal accounts** →

1. Open the [Transactions](https://accountants.kick.co/bookkeeping-workflows/transactions) page, toggle to the General Ledger Review [View](https://accountants.kick.co/collaboration/views), filter for Entity → Personal.
2. Move business transactions that occurred in personal accounts to the relevant entity, and assign the appropriate category.
   1. See [Personal to Business](https://accountants.kick.co/bookkeeping-workflows/personal-to-business) for additional guidance.

***

## Step 6: Payroll Reconciliation

If the client had payroll during the catch-up period, verify that payroll entries are complete and accurate for each period.

**What to do:**

1. Compare payroll-related transactions in Kick against the payroll provider's period summaries.
2. Confirm wages, taxes, employer contributions, and other deductions are recorded correctly for each period.
3. Make adjusting [journal entries](https://accountants.kick.co/close-workflows/journal-entries), as needed.
4. For Gusto-integrated clients, follow the [Payroll reconciliation guide](https://accountants.kick.co/close-workflows/payroll) to reconcile the Gusto payroll liability account.
   1. Gusto integration data is available for all historical periods. Reach out to the Kick team to sync data older than 24 months for your clients.
5. For year-end periods, reconcile to the W-3 or annual payroll summary reports.

For recurring payroll adjustments, create [recurring entries](https://accountants.kick.co/close-workflows/journal-entries/create-recurring-entries).

***

## Step 7: Post Adjusting Journal Entries

For each period in the catch-up window, post any necessary manual adjustments. Some examples include:

1. **Depreciation:** If the client has fixed assets, depreciation needs to be posted for each historical period.
   1. Similarly, amortization should be booked for any intangible assets.
2. **Loan interest:** Verify that interest and other loan expenses are booked correctly for all historical periods.
3. **Accruals:** Record adjustments to accounts payable, accounts receivable, deferred revenue, and prepaid expense accounts, if your client is on an accrual basis.

For entries that repeat each period, set them up as [recurring entries](https://accountants.kick.co/close-workflows/journal-entries/create-recurring-entries) — you can backdate the start date to post them across the entire catch-up period. 

***

## Step 8: Final Review

Before locking, review reports and make any final adjustments.

**What to do:**

1. Review the [Balance Sheet](https://accountants.kick.co/reports/balance-sheet) one more time — any stale items that require adjustment?
   1. For multi-year catchup, filter the report for the full date range (e.g. 1/1/2023 - 12/31/2025) and view columns By year to see annual data side-by-side.
   2. Confirm all clearing accounts are at $0, or have justified balances.
2. Review the [Profit & Loss](https://accountants.kick.co/reports/profit-and-loss) for each year — do revenue, expenses, and net income look reasonable?
   1. If the client uses [classes](https://accountants.kick.co/bookkeeping-workflows/classes), filter reports by class to confirm nothing is misallocated.
3. Export reports to Excel or PDF if you need to review offline or share with a third party before locking.

***

## Step 9: Lock & Transition to Recurring Close

Once each period is reviewed and finalized, [lock it](https://accountants.kick.co/close-workflows/locks). Then establish the ongoing workflow before the engagement ends.

**Lock completed periods:**

1. Navigate to your profile icon → Locks.
2. Lock each period as you complete it, starting from the earliest. Locking a month also locks all prior months, so work forward through the catch-up window.
3. Lock periods as you go rather than waiting until the end. This prevents accidental changes to periods you've already reviewed.
4. Once locked, clients with Member permissions have **view-only** access to the period.

**Transition to monthly close:**

1. Connect live [Plaid](https://accountants.kick.co/setting-up/integrations/connect-accounts) or direct integration feeds for all accounts going forward (if not already connected). If you imported historical data and then connected a live feed for the same account, [merge them](https://accountants.kick.co/setting-up/integrations/manage-integrations) into a single account.
2. Confirm all [rules](https://accountants.kick.co/bookkeeping-workflows/rules) are set up for ongoing use — the rules you built during catch-up will continue to apply to new transactions automatically.
3. [Invite the client](https://accountants.kick.co/setting-up/invite-your-clients) to their workspace with appropriate [permissions](https://accountants.kick.co/managing-clients/roles-and-permissions) if they haven't been added yet.
4. Transition to the [Close Guide](https://accountants.kick.co/kick-best-practice-guides/close-guide) workflow for ongoing monthly closes.