How it runs for auto repair shops and dealerships
A LedgerBPO catch-up team works the backlog in QuickBooks Online or QuickBooks Desktop, prepares sales-tax and Form 8300 schedules for each period and agrees a clean cut-off with your CPA before ongoing bookkeeping begins.
What is catch-up bookkeeping?
Catch-up bookkeeping is a one-time project that records and reconciles months or years of transactions that were never entered. The goal is a set of books where every bank, card and loan balance agrees with the statement and every period can be reported on. It ends when the backlog is current and reconciled, usually followed by ongoing monthly bookkeeping.
What we handle for auto repair shops and dealerships
- Closed repair orders and deals rebuilt by month and category from system exports
- Card batches, cash deposits and lender fundings matched for every back month
- Parts supplier statements reconciled with returns and cores tracked
- Floor-plan statements reconciled per unit for each back period
- Sales-tax, title-fee and Form 8300 schedules prepared per period for your preparer
The KPI that matters here
Each back month reconciled and signed off before the next month is started.
Auto compliance notes
State dealer rules and title work
Licensed dealers must remit sales tax on vehicle sales, submit title and registration applications within the state's deadline, often 30 days, and in some states charge no more than a capped documentation fee. We track sales tax, title fees and registration fees collected as liabilities per deal, reconcile them to what the DMV or tag agency was paid, and list any deal where the paperwork or the payment is late. Your compliance officer or attorney interprets the rules; we keep the schedule.
Floor-plan financing
Floor-plan lenders charge interest daily per unit, require curtailment payments as units age and reconcile their records to the lot at audit. We post interest and curtailments per unit, reconcile the lender's statement to the ledger every month, and flag any sold unit whose payoff has not cleared inside the contract window so a sold-out-of-trust position never goes unnoticed.
Parts inventory and core charges
Parts inventory must be counted, valued consistently and reconciled to the ledger, with obsolete stock written down under your CPA's policy. Core charges paid to suppliers are receivables until the core is returned, and supplier returns are receivables until credited. We track both by supplier so the balance sheet reflects what will actually come back.
Cash reporting and consumer financing
Dealerships must file IRS Form 8300 for cash over $10,000 and keep records supporting each finance contract. We list every 8300-reportable transaction from the deal file for your compliance officer to file, and we reconcile finance reserves and chargebacks from lenders to the contracts they relate to. We do not file the forms or give legal advice.
Auto software we work in
- QuickBooks Online
- QuickBooks Desktop
- Square
- Gusto
- Tekmetric
- Shop-Ware
- Mitchell 1
- Shopmonkey
- Dealertrack DMS
- CDK
- All 50 platforms
More for auto repair shops and dealerships
Other services for auto
Catch-up bookkeeping in other industries
Frequently asked questions
How long does catch-up take for a repair shop or dealership?
It depends on the months outstanding, repair-order and deal volume, and whether the shop system and DMS history is complete. A single-location shop with a 12-month backlog is typically a few weeks; a dealership with floor plan takes longer. Market benchmarks for catch-up work run $200 to $500 per back month (John Galt Finance), scaled for complexity.
Can you rebuild the books if repair orders were deleted or the shop changed systems?
Usually, yes. Card processor statements, bank deposits, parts supplier statements and the old system's export together let us reconstruct sales and cost by month, and we flag any period where a category is estimated rather than posted from a ticket. Your CPA sees the notes. Anything that cannot be supported is listed rather than guessed.
Will catch-up include the sales-tax and title schedules the state asks for?
Yes, for each period we prepare taxable and exempt sales by category, sales tax collected and remitted, and for dealerships a per-deal schedule of sales tax, title and registration fees collected and paid out. Your preparer handles any amended returns. Ongoing work then moves to the outsourced bookkeeping service for auto repair shops & dealerships.
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