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Everything in your bookkeeper job description, on a process you own.
Payroll, bills, invoicing, and a guaranteed monthly close, for a flat monthly fee. We log into your systems and gather everything ourselves, so you never shuffle paperwork. You get your books and the Playbook used to keep them, so knowledge never walks out the door.
Book a 30-minute call
- October books closedDay 8 of 10On track
- Bank and card feeds connected6 of 6On track
- Paperwork requested from you0None needed
- Playbook last updatedThis weekCurrent
The problem
Hiring a bookkeeper is slow, expensive, and fragile.
Finding the right person takes months. Training takes more. Then one vacation, one sick week, or one resignation puts you right back where you started, and everything they knew leaves with them.
Meanwhile, the books fall behind, and you learn what happened last month when it is too late to act on it.
What we do
Everything in the job description. None of the hiring.
- Books kept current. Bank and card accounts reconciled, every transaction categorized, and a monthly close you can count on.
- Payroll handled. Payroll processed and coordinated with your provider, every pay period.
- Bills and invoices. Vendor bills entered and paid on the schedule you approve; customer invoices sent and followed up.
- Taxes and year-end included. Sales tax filings, 1099s, and a clean year-end package for your CPA, all in the monthly fee.
- Statements you can read. Monthly financial statements with a short written summary and a review call.
You never send us anything
No shoebox. No emailed statements. No chasing reports.
During setup, you give us access to the systems your books depend on: your bank and card accounts, payroll, point of sale, vendor portals, and your accounting software. From then on, we gather everything ourselves.
We use each platform’s own accountant or view-only access, never your password. Read-only wherever possible, and you can revoke it anytime.
Your Playbook
Your process, written down, and yours to keep.
Every step of your bookkeeping is documented: your chart of accounts, how each system feeds the books, your vendor and payroll procedures, your rules for tricky transactions, and your close checklist. We keep it current as the process improves.
It belongs to you. If you ever leave us, it goes with you. Your process never lives in one person’s head again.
Monthly close checklist
- Confirm every bank and card feed is current, then reconcile each account to its statement.
- Post payroll from the provider report and tie it to the bank.
- Review uncategorized transactions and flag open questions for the owner.
- Check the sales tax liability against the filed return.
- Deliver the statements and written summary by the 10th business day.
The Close Guarantee
Closed by the 10th business day, or that month costs 25% less.
Your books are closed and your financial statements are delivered by the 10th business day of every month. If we miss that date, your fee for that month is reduced by 25%.
We can make that promise because we never wait on you for paperwork. Questions about individual transactions never hold up the close; we flag them for review and resolve them with you afterward.
If we lose access to a required system (a changed password, an expired bank connection, or a new account) and need you to restore it, the guarantee pauses until access is back. We will tell you the same day we find the problem.
The guarantee applies to accounts in good standing, and it begins with the first full month after onboarding and any cleanup are complete.
How it works
- Talk. A 30-minute call about your business, your systems, and what you need.
- Review. With read-only access, we review your books and show you exactly what we find, with a fixed quote.
- Set up. We set up access, clean up what needs it, move you to the cloud if you are on desktop software, and write the first version of your Playbook.
- Run. Your books stay current, and your close is done by the 10th business day, every month.
Pricing
Fixed monthly pricing. No surprises.
Plans start at $1,200 per month.
One flat fee based on the complexity of your business: payroll size, accounts, and locations. Sales tax filings, 1099s, and your CPA’s year-end package are included. No hourly billing. Software subscriptions are billed at cost. One-time setup, cleanup, and any move off desktop software are quoted up front after the books review.
Book a 30-minute callHiring versus Ledgekeep
| What is compared | In-house bookkeeper | Ledgekeep |
|---|---|---|
| Annual cost | About $72,000 fully loaded (full-time, Duluth area) | Starting at $14,400 |
| Time to start | Months of recruiting and training | Weeks |
| Paperwork you hand over | Statements, receipts, and reports | None; we gather it ourselves |
| Monthly close | Whenever it gets done | By the 10th business day, guaranteed |
| Vacation and sick days | Work stops | Work continues |
| If they leave | Start over | Nothing changes |
| Documented process | Depends on the person | Your Playbook, owned by you |
Full-time estimate based on the BLS median salary for bookkeeping clerks in the Duluth MN-WI metro area ($50,660, May 2025), adjusted for employer benefit and payroll tax costs (BLS, June 2026).
About
Built by someone who has run an accounting firm.
Ledgekeep was founded by Max Ducharme, who ran an accounting firm outside Philadelphia for over five years. He is a Six Sigma Black Belt who has spent his career building processes that work without heroics, and he now lives in International Falls.
We built Ledgekeep for business owners who want their books handled as a system, not a pile of receipts: documented, on schedule, and owned by the business.
We work in QuickBooks Online, Xero, and other modern cloud ledgers.
Frequently asked questions
Which software do you work with?
Any modern cloud ledger we can reach with our own user login, including QuickBooks Online and Xero. We work in your software; there is no forced switch if you are already in the cloud.
We use QuickBooks Desktop. Can you work with that?
We work only in cloud ledgers, and that includes Desktop running on a hosting provider. Moving you to the cloud is part of setup, quoted up front. You end up with no server to maintain and access from anywhere.
How is my data protected?
You own every account. We use each platform’s own accountant or view-only access, never your password, along with a password manager and two-factor authentication. You can revoke our access at any time.
What do you need from me?
Access to the systems your books depend on, granted once during setup. After that, we gather everything ourselves, and we hold a short review call each month.
Do you come on site?
No. The service is fully remote, built on direct access to your systems.
Do you prepare tax returns?
No. We file your sales taxes and prepare your 1099s, and we work alongside your CPA, giving them clean books and a year-end package.
How do we communicate?
By email and scheduled calls. Every question and answer is in writing, so nothing gets lost.
How does billing work?
One flat monthly fee, billed in advance. We prefer ACH autopay, and cards are accepted.
What if I want to leave?
Service is month to month with 30 days notice. Your books, your accounts, and your Playbook stay with you.
See what it would take to skip the hire.
Book a 30-minute call. We will learn how your business runs and tell you plainly whether we are a fit.