# Ledgers Online Review - Analysis for Mike ## Summary of Findings Mike, you are NOT being unreasonable. There are several legitimate issues here. --- ## Invoice Breakdown ### Invoice L-24609 (Jan 26, 2026) - $588 (incl GST) - Reorganizing QBO accounts - Completing account 10220 reconciliation - Bank Recs Amex Sept-Dec 2025 - Bank feeds, Amex as per emails - Email back re HST/Subcontractors - Bank feeds, coding (Amex, transfers, Stripe, Loan, etc) - Bank recs Nov-Jan 2026 for HST Hold, RBC Drip, Income Tax, Opex, Payroll accounts - Email re suspense - more info needed ### Invoice L-24821 (Feb 24, 2026) - $693 (incl GST) - Cleanup - bank feeds - Completing Oct-Dec transactions/update - RBC Chequing 969-4 Reconciliations Oct-Dec - Uncategorized expense - Vendor cleanup - subcontractors and VAs Oct-Dec 2025 - Reconciling AMEX - Balance sheet item queries - Preparing questions for the accountant ### Invoice L-24822 (Feb 24, 2026) - $315 (incl GST) - "Out of Scope" label - T4 Draft - Subcontractor excel - 2025 subcontractors sent to client for filing - T4/Shareholder processing ### TOTAL: $1,596 in ~2 months --- ## Issues Identified ### 1. NO LOCKED-IN MONTHLY RATE (SOW Violation) - Mike signed the SOW on Sept 30, 2025 - The SOW promised a 3-month assessment period after which a regular monthly fee would be established - It is now March 2026 - 5+ months in - and there is still no monthly rate - Mike explicitly asked about this on Jan 26: "It's my understanding at this point we should have already been able to 'lock-in' on a regular monthly fee, per the SOW" - **No response to this question was found in the emails** ### 2. STANDARD BOOKKEEPING BILLED AS EXTRA WORK Items on the invoices that should arguably be included in regular monthly bookkeeping: - **Bank feed cleanup/coding** - This IS bookkeeping. Coding transactions from bank feeds is the core of what a bookkeeper does monthly - **Bank reconciliations** - This is literally the #1 function of monthly bookkeeping - **Vendor cleanup** - Managing the chart of accounts / vendor list is standard maintenance - **Uncategorized expenses** - Categorizing transactions is... bookkeeping - **Reconciling AMEX** - Credit card reconciliation is standard monthly bookkeeping - **Email responses re: HST/Subcontractors** - Answering client questions should be part of the service The only items that could arguably be "extra" are: - Reorganizing QBO accounts (one-time cleanup, possibly fair) - Preparing questions for the accountant (debatable - depends on SOW) ### 3. KEVIN'S COMPETENCY ISSUES **Kevin admitted he's inexperienced:** - Feb 26, 2026: Kevin wrote to Maurizio: *"Thank you for all your help, I haven't filed in a couple of years so I am a little green on the process."* - Kevin's T4 draft had errors - he put EI amounts in Box 18 when Mike is EI exempt - Kevin proposed allocating a $4,708.66 discrepancy to the T5, which Maurizio (CPA) had to correct, calling it "incorrect" and explaining in detail why - Kevin is "new to your file" (his own words, Jan 26) - Jirina (backup) also didn't know how to code several Amex transactions and had to ask Mike ### 4. COMMUNICATION GAPS / SLA FAILURES **The Christmas gap:** - Dec 27, 2025: Mike emails Kevin asking about books being out of date - Jan 6, 2026: Mike follows up - books now 3 months behind - Jan 6, 2026: Tricia responds saying Kevin has been off with pneumonia - Nobody from Ledgers proactively informed Mike that Kevin was unavailable - No backup was assigned until Mike escalated - The SOW supposedly includes backup coverage **Unanswered emails:** - Mike's Jan 26 question about the monthly rate lock-in went unanswered - Multiple follow-ups needed to get responses on basic status updates ### 5. T4/T4A WORK BILLED AS "OUT OF SCOPE" (L-24822 - $315) - T4 preparation and subcontractor T4A filing could reasonably be expected as part of year-end bookkeeping - However, this depends on what the SOW specifically covers - The T4 work Kevin did was error-laden and had to be corrected by the CPA - **You're being charged $315 for work that was done incorrectly** --- ## Average Monthly Spend Based on the 3 invoices: - L-24609: $588 (Jan 26, 2026) - L-24821: $693 (Feb 24, 2026) - L-24822: $315 (Feb 24, 2026) - **Total: $1,596 over ~2 months = ~$798/month average** For context, typical monthly bookkeeping for a business of NMC's size ($712K revenue, <10 bank accounts, straightforward service business) should run **$300-$500/month** with a standard bookkeeper. --- ## Your Case to Ledgers Online ### What You Can Argue: 1. **The SOW promised a monthly rate after 3 months. It's been 5+ months. Where is it?** This is the strongest leverage point. They promised predictability and haven't delivered. 2. **Core bookkeeping functions are being itemized as extras.** Bank reconciliation, transaction coding, bank feed cleanup - these ARE monthly bookkeeping. They shouldn't appear as separate line items on top of a monthly fee. 3. **Quality of work has been poor.** Kevin admitted he's "green," made errors on the T4 that your CPA had to correct, and proposed an incorrect T5 approach. You shouldn't be paying premium rates for someone learning on your file. 4. **Communication SLA was violated.** Kevin was absent for ~3 weeks over Christmas with no proactive notification to you. Your books fell 3 months behind. The backup person wasn't activated until you escalated. 5. **You're being billed for incorrect work (L-24822).** The T4 had to be redone. If they're billing you $315 for "out of scope" work that was done wrong, that's not acceptable. ### Recommended Approach: **Step 1:** Request a meeting with Tricia (or whoever is the account manager / owner Wayne Zielke) **Step 2:** Present these points: - "Per the SOW, we're past the assessment period. I need a fixed monthly rate immediately." - "I've been invoiced $1,596 in two months. For a business my size, that's well above market rate." - "Several line items on these invoices are core bookkeeping functions that should be included in any monthly engagement." - "The T4 work was done incorrectly and had to be corrected by my CPA. I don't think it's fair to bill me for work that wasn't done right." - "When Kevin was out sick for 3 weeks, nobody told me. My books fell 3 months behind." **Step 3:** Ask for: - A credit or adjustment on L-24821 for the standard bookkeeping items (~$400-500 reduction) - A credit or waiver on L-24822 given the T4 errors - A firm monthly rate going forward (should be $350-$450 range for your business) - Written confirmation of backup coverage and communication SLAs **Step 4:** If they push back, you have a strong position to: - Escalate to Wayne Zielke (owner) - Request to be assigned a different, more experienced bookkeeper - Consider switching providers (with your books now caught up, transitioning would be straightforward)