Your first 30 days with a DPC bookkeeper

Your first 30 days are mostly setup: two to three weeks of onboarding, then your first full monthly close, with your numbers arriving by the 15th.

What the first few weeks look like

Onboarding takes two to three weeks. Where you land in that range depends a lot on how quickly access and documents come in.

During onboarding, we set up your books on a DPC chart of accounts and set up how membership dues get recorded, so revenue and fees land in the right places. A chart of accounts is the list of categories every transaction gets sorted into. One built for DPC keeps membership dues apart from things like meds, labs and enrollment fees, so you can see each one on its own. If you want to see how we organize accounts, our DPC chart of accounts guide lays it out.

If your books are behind, we'll talk about that during onboarding.

What we'll ask you for

This is the part you can get ahead on. Here's the list I'd start gathering this week.

• Access to your business bank and credit card accounts
• The last several months of statements for each account
• Access to your membership platform, or its reports
• Your payroll reports, if you have staff
• Any loan statements, like an equipment loan or line of credit
• Your current books, if someone kept them before
• Your CPA's name and how to reach them

We'll want to know who your CPA is because they're the one who uses the books at year end. We don't do tax preparation or tax advice. We keep the books so your CPA can file from them without cleanup. If you're not sure where your CPA's job ends and ours begins, our post on bookkeeper vs CPA for DPC walks through it.

Don't worry if some of this is hard to find. Send what you have and we'll tell you what's missing.

Your first monthly close

Once setup is done, we move into the regular monthly rhythm. Every month we categorize every transaction, reconcile your accounts to the statements, record membership dues correctly, and send you your P&L and Balance Sheet by the 15th.

Your first close usually comes with more questions from us than later ones. We're still learning your vendors, your deposits, and the odd transactions every practice has. Expect a short list of items we can't identify from the bank description. The faster you answer, the faster you get your numbers. By the second or third month, the question list gets shorter.

If you're on our Monthly Financial Partner or Fractional CFO level, your monthly numbers also come with a performance review and a monthly call, where we track DPC metrics like revenue per member and panel trend.

What I'd do this week

If you've decided to work with a bookkeeper, ours or anyone's, start gathering the list above now. Make a folder for statements. Write down every account the practice uses, including the card you use for one or two subscriptions and forgot about. Note anything unusual from the past year, like a loan, personal money you put in, or a big equipment purchase.

That prep helps keep onboarding at the short end of the two to three weeks. It also means your first set of numbers starts from a cleaner base.

One more thing I'd do. Send your CPA a short note saying you're bringing on a bookkeeper, and ask whether there's anything they want handled a certain way. That answer is easier to act on at the start than at year end.

Common questions

Do I need to switch banks or software to work with you?
We'll talk through your current setup during onboarding. If something would get in the way of clean books, we'll tell you why and you decide.

What if my books are behind when we start?
We'll talk about where your books stand during onboarding and what your CPA needs.

Is there a setup fee?
Yes. Each level has a one-time setup fee on top of the flat monthly fee. Our pricing page has the details.