Guides · QuickBooks health
QuickBooks file health check: score the file before choosing a fix.
A file that misbehaves can be repaired where it sits, rebuilt from source records, or moved to a different QuickBooks product. This rubric rates eight parts of a file from 0 to 2, so the choice rests on what the file contains rather than on how frustrating it has become. It works for QuickBooks Online and Desktop alike.
A self-assessment you can run with read access to the file, its bank statements and the last return your CPA prepared.
Quick answer
Follow the lowest scores rather than the sum. If integrity fails after a rebuild, file repair comes before anything else; if source records or opening balances score 0, reconstruct the books instead of patching them; if only product fit scores 0, repair in place and then migrate. A file with no zeros gets repaired where it sits.
Already sure the fault is in the software rather than the records? QuickBooks cleanup is the service page. Pricing for that job is in what a QuickBooks cleanup costs.
Before you score
Where to look in the file for each criterion.
Every score comes from something you can open and read, not from an impression of the file. Work with a backup or a read-only login, keep the bank statements and the last filed return beside you, and note what you saw next to each score so someone else could check it.
QuickBooks Online and Desktop keep this evidence in different places, and Desktop has file utilities Online doesn't. The differences between the two products are set out in QuickBooks Online vs Desktop.
Integrity
In Desktop, Verify Data on a copy of the file. In Online, whether summary and detail reports agree, and whether the agings match the receivables and payables balances.
History
The saved reconciliation reports for each account, and the audit log or audit trail for changes made after a period was reconciled.
Balances
The balance sheet at the last year-end against the filed return, plus the balance in every holding, suspense and uncategorized account.
Setup
The chart of accounts, the bank rules list, the connected apps, and the product version against what the business needs from it.
The rubric
Eight criteria, what each score means, and where a zero leads.
Score each row 0, 1 or 2. A 2 needs no work, a 1 needs work the current file can absorb, and a 0 decides the path on its own, whatever the other rows say.
| Criterion | Scores 2 when | Scores 1 when | Scores 0 when | A 0 points to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| File integrity | Desktop: Verify Data finds nothing. Online: summary and detail reports agree, and the agings match the receivables and payables balances. | Errors that one Rebuild Data pass clears, or report disagreements traced to specific transactions. | Errors that survive a rebuild, a file that won't open reliably, or reports that disagree for no traceable reason. | File repair first; reconstruct if the repair fails |
| Bank and card reconciliations | Every account reconciled to a recent statement, with nothing unexplained. | Some accounts behind, or small differences with a known cause. | Accounts left unreconciled for long stretches, or forced to agree with balancing adjustments. | Reconstruct the books |
| Opening balances | Agree with the balance sheet on the last filed return. | Differ, for a known and documented reason. | Differ with no trail, or nobody can say where they came from. | Reconstruct from the last filed return |
| Holding and suspense accounts | Undeposited funds, uncategorized and similar accounts empty, or holding only this month's items. | Balances that can be matched item by item to deposits or documents. | Months or years of items that match nothing. | Reconstruct the affected periods |
| Chart of accounts and lists | Fits the business; each account has one clear use. | Duplicates and dead accounts that can be merged or made inactive. | The structure has to be redesigned before any coding can mean something. | Repair in place, chart first |
| Source records underneath | Statements and source documents complete for every period in the file. | Gaps that can be reissued or requested. | Records missing for long stretches, with little to rebuild from. | Reconstruct, or financial reconstruction if little survives |
| Automation | Bank rules narrow and reviewed; each connected app posts once. | Over-broad rules, or a duplicate sync that can be switched off and unwound. | Integrations that have posted duplicates across many months and accounts. | Reconstruct the months the duplicates touched |
| Product fit | The product and version suit how the business works now. | Fits for now; a change is already planned. | A version that no longer gets support, a file too large to run well, or features the business needs that the product lacks. | Repair in place, then migrate |
Why not add the scores up? Because the criteria aren't interchangeable. A high total with a 0 for opening balances still needs its books rebuilt, while a modest total with no zeros means nothing is broken at the root, so the file can be put right where it is.
Figure data as a table
| Question | Repair in place | Reconstruct the books | Repair, then migrate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scores 0 in | Nothing, or chart and lists only | Reconciliations, opening balances, holding accounts, source records or automation | Product fit only |
| What happens | The file is fixed where it sits | Each month rebuilt and proven against its statements | Fixed in place, balances confirmed, then moved |
| Published fee | $850–$2,500 once | $1,800–$6,000 once, or reconstruction from $3,500 | $850–$2,500, then migration from $1,500 |
| Takes | Two to six weeks (file-only scope) | Two to eight weeks for a cleanup | Set in the written scope |
| Source: Everholt & Co. published ladder (pricing page) | |||
Decision tree
Three questions that turn the scores into a path.
Ask them in order. Each no stops the tree at a path; three yeses mean the file stays where it is and gets repaired there.
Integrity: does the file hold together?
No, even after a rebuild: file repair comes first, and if the file can't be recovered the books are reconstructed in a new one. Yes: go to question 2.
Records: can the history be trusted?
No, a 0 for reconciliations, opening balances, holding accounts or source records: reconstruct the books through a bookkeeping cleanup, or financial reconstruction when little of the history survives. Yes: go to question 3.
Product: does QuickBooks still suit the business?
No: repair in place, then migrate once the balances are confirmed, because a migration carries the file across as it stands. A Desktop version that no longer gets updates is one such trigger; see what changed when Desktop 2023 support ended. Yes: repair in place with a QuickBooks cleanup.
Two scopes, two ranges
Why the file-only fix and the books cleanup are priced apart.
A file-only QuickBooks cleanup at $850–$2,500 and a bookkeeping cleanup at $1,800–$6,000 are priced apart because they start from opposite assumptions. The file-only scope assumes the records underneath are sound: statements complete, opening balances agreeing with the last filed return, and months that were entered, just entered through a file that misposts, duplicates or strands payments. That work is mechanical and bounded, typically two to six weeks (file-only scope). A books cleanup assumes the entries themselves are wrong or unsupported, so each month is rebuilt and proven against its statements before anything else is touched.
This is why the rubric's record criteria, not the file's symptoms, decide which scope applies. A file can look chaotic and need only the file fix, or look tidy while the balances underneath are wrong. The QuickBooks cleanup cost guide and the bookkeeping cleanup cost guide cover what moves each figure within its range.
Scored examples
Two invented files, scored and routed.
The same rubric applied to two made-up files shows how one zero can outweigh a respectable total.
Illustrative example — not client data. Assumptions stated.
| Criterion | File A: Desktop, product change due | File B: Online, feeds left running |
|---|---|---|
| File integrity | 2 | 2 |
| Bank and card reconciliations | 1 | 0 |
| Opening balances | 2 | 0 |
| Holding and suspense accounts | 1 | 1 |
| Chart of accounts and lists | 1 | 2 |
| Source records underneath | 2 | 1 |
| Automation | 1 | 0 |
| Product fit | 0 | 2 |
| Total, for reference | 10 of 16 | 8 of 16 |
| Path | Repair in place, then migrate | Reconstruct the books |
- Both files are invented; neither describes a client.
- Each has one business entity, and each score follows the checks in the rubric above.
- File A's only 0 is product fit, so its path is repair in place and then migration; its 1s are absorbed by the file cleanup.
- File B's zeros sit in reconciliations, opening balances and automation, so its books are rebuilt, whatever its integrity score.
- The scope and fee for a real file are set in writing after the free books review.
FAQ · Updated October 2026
What owners ask before choosing a fix for the file.
Want the file scored for you instead? The free books review works through the same eight criteria on your file. More reading in all guides.
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Have the file scored before anyone touches it.
Share read access to the QuickBooks file and the statements behind it. We score it against the same criteria and tell you which path it needs, and why. What you get back is a scope and a fixed fee on paper; nobody names a price on the call.