Extra bookkeeping work: agree on the task, price and deadline first

“Could you also fix these older supplier invoices?” The request sounds small. But the team is finishing the agreed monthly work. Nobody has checked whether that older period, investigation or correction is included. A quick yes may change the fee, the review time and the delivery date. An automatic no may also turn away useful work.

There is another option: understand the request, check its effects, get a clear decision, then organize the work. A small bookkeeping practice does not need a committee. Name one person to handle requests and keep a short, consistent record. This article uses an original fictional request. It is not legal advice or a contract clause that suits every engagement.

Capture what is changing, not just who asked

Read the current agreement and latest accepted work plan. Identify which client business, period and result the request covers. “Sort out the accounts” is too vague to estimate. “Investigate eight supplier invoices from April and explain the proposed corrections” defines a job. The team can estimate it and the client can agree to it.

Record the request date, requester, reason and desired timing. Keep the original message with the record, but avoid copying unnecessary personal information into multiple places. Check whether the requester is authorized to agree to a service change. Being copied on an email or uploading a file does not automatically confer that authority.

• What was included before the request?
• What new period, entity, deliverable or responsibility is being added?
• What evidence is missing, and who will supply it?
• Which existing commitment could be displaced?

Separate clarification, correction and new scope

Not every additional conversation is chargeable work. A question explaining an agreed deliverable may be part of the service. Correcting a mistake made by the practice requires a different conversation from pricing a newly requested service. An unfamiliar transaction may also need investigation before anybody can determine whether it is covered.

Sort the request into one of four groups: included, needs clarification, proposed extra work, or work the practice lacks the skills or permission to do. These are suggested labels, not built-in Bookwits statuses. Write the reason for the choice. If the agreement is unclear, ask the person responsible for the engagement to resolve it. Do not treat silence as a decision in the practice's favour.

Keep urgent obligations visible. Waiting for agreement on extra work does not remove a legal deadline or give permission to work outside the mandate. Tell the responsible person about that conflict promptly. Seek appropriate professional advice when needed.

Estimate the whole impact before quoting

For the fictional eight-invoice request, the preparer estimates twelve minutes per invoice and the reviewer allows another twenty-four minutes. Eight times twelve is ninety-six; with review, the estimate is 120 minutes, or two hours. At an illustrative rate of $90 per hour, that is $180 before any separately assessed tax. These are invented planning assumptions, not a recommended market fee.

State what the estimate assumes: readable source documents, one business entity and no supplier dispute. Missing invoices, foreign-currency issues or a closed reporting period could change it. Decide whether to offer a fixed extra fee, an estimated range or another arrangement allowed by the agreement. An internal estimate is not an accepted quote.

Check capacity as well as money. If the reviewer is unavailable until Friday, a preparer free on Tuesday cannot promise a fully reviewed Tuesday delivery. Name the affected existing tasks and determine whether the client prefers a later additional deliverable, a revised priority or a narrower investigation. Do not silently delay another client's work.

Give the client a decision they can understand

Explain what you will provide and what is not included. Include the assumptions, how the fee is calculated, applicable taxes, required documents and timing. State who must approve and how the agreement requires them to do it. “Message received” is not permission to do the work and charge for it.

An original neutral message might read: “The April invoice investigation is outside the monthly period we are currently preparing. We propose reviewing the eight listed invoices and providing a correction recommendation, subject to receiving the source documents. The additional fee and timing are set out below. Please confirm whether you wish to proceed before we schedule this work.” Adapt it to the actual contract and facts; it is not a legal template.

Record whether the client approved, declined, requested changes or postponed the decision. No response means the decision stays pending. It is not a yes. If you replace an earlier proposal, clearly identify the accepted version. Keep the earlier decisions rather than several unexplained files all called “final”.

Coordinate the accepted work in Bookwits

Bookwits can help organize the work around this decision. Its Tasks module supports assignees, due dates, subtasks, comments and attachments. Assign someone to the investigation, attach the accepted instruction and list the documents needed. Documents can help keep supporting files with the client records. Do not show an unaccepted proposal as a promised delivery.

This is a suggested process, not a claim about extra product features. It does not require or imply a special change-request feature, automatic approval routing, legal validation or automatic invoicing. It also does not imply an accounting audit trail that cannot be changed. The practice must still confirm the client's authority, the agreed terms and the work done. Correct the ledger in the appropriate accounting system, not in a coordination task.

Close the request, then improve the original scope

Deliver the agreed output and identify anything not completed. Compare the estimate with actual effort, including review and avoidable waiting. If the investigation uncovers a larger issue, stop and reassess that new work rather than treating the first approval as unlimited permission.

Finish with a short note: what was agreed, what was delivered, who still needs to act and what should be billed. Repeated extra requests may mean the original agreement no longer fits the business. At an appropriate review, discuss changing the regular services instead of charging for the same exception each time. The aim is a clearer relationship, not a dispute over every client question.