Business Accounting & Bookkeeping
Day-to-day accounting and bookkeeping for New York businesses, coordinated with your entity structure and priced up front.
- Covers Books and statements
- Also handles Payroll and sales tax
- Best for New York businesses
- Pricing Agreed up front
What's included
What this service covers
- Recording income and expenses as transactions happen
- Reconciling bank and credit-card accounts
- Maintaining a current general ledger
- Financial statements, including a profit and loss statement and a balance sheet
- Payroll processing
- New York State and New York City sales tax filing
Every business generates a stream of financial activity: sales coming in, bills going out, payroll to run, and accounts that need to be reconciled before anyone can trust the numbers. Business accounting and bookkeeping is the ongoing work of recording that activity accurately and turning it into statements an owner, a lender, or a tax authority can actually use.
Fisher Stone offers business accounting and bookkeeping for New York companies alongside its legal work. You work directly with your point of contact by call, email, or text, with no call center and no handoffs between departments. Pricing is agreed up front after a short, free consultation of about 15 minutes, and because the firm also handles business formation, your accounting can be coordinated with your entity structure from the start.
What business accounting and bookkeeping covers
This service covers the day-to-day financial work a business needs to stay accurate and current. That includes recording income and expenses as transactions happen, reconciling bank and credit-card accounts, and maintaining a general ledger that reflects the actual state of the business. From that ledger, the firm produces financial statements, including a profit and loss statement and a balance sheet, along with payroll processing and New York State and New York City sales tax filing for businesses that collect it.
These tasks connect directly to each other. A sales tax filing depends on accurate sales records. A financial statement depends on a ledger that has been reconciled. Payroll depends on records that match what actually left the business account. Handling all of it together keeps the numbers consistent from one task to the next.
Bookkeeping vs accounting
The two terms describe related but different work, and the difference matters for what you should expect from each. Bookkeeping is the ongoing recording of transactions: entering sales, categorizing expenses, and reconciling accounts as activity happens. Accounting takes those recorded transactions and organizes them into statements and reports that mean something to the people who need to read them, whether that is the owner, a lender, or a tax authority.
Accounting depends on bookkeeping. A financial statement is only as accurate as the ledger it was built from, which is why the firm treats the two as connected parts of the same engagement rather than separate services.
| Bookkeeping | Accounting | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Day-to-day recording of transactions | Organizing and interpreting those records |
| Typical outputs | Categorized ledgers, reconciled accounts | Financial statements and reports |
| How often | Ongoing, usually monthly | Periodic, and at year end |
| Who uses it | The business internally | Owners, lenders, and tax authorities |
Financial statements and what they tell you
Once your books are reconciled, they produce two statements most businesses need on a recurring basis. A profit and loss statement shows what the business earned and spent over a period, so an owner can see whether the business is actually profitable and where the money is going. A balance sheet shows what the business owns and owes at a specific point in time, including cash, receivables, equipment, and outstanding debts.
Businesses need these statements on a recurring basis, not just once. A lender reviewing a loan application, a landlord reviewing a commercial lease application, or a partner considering an investment will ask to see them, and they need to hold up to that scrutiny. Reconciled accounts and a current general ledger are what make that possible.
Payroll and sales tax filing
For businesses with employees, bookkeeping extends to payroll: processing pay runs accurately and on schedule, and keeping the records that support them. For businesses that collect it, the same discipline applies to New York State and New York City sales tax, which has to be filed on a regular schedule regardless of how busy the business is.
Both obligations are easier to meet when the underlying books are current. A payroll run or a sales tax filing pulled from a ledger that is reconciled every month is a matter of confirming the numbers. A filing pulled from records that have not been touched since the last deadline is a much longer job, done under more pressure, with more room for error.
Why current books matter
When your ledger is reconciled every month instead of once a year, your payroll, your sales tax filings, and your eventual tax preparation all draw from records that are already accurate. That turns each deadline into a matter of confirming organized numbers rather than reconstructing months of activity against a due date.
Coordinating your books with your business structure
How a business is taxed and what it has to file depends on its legal structure, which is one reason accounting and legal work fit together well. A sole proprietorship, a partnership, an S corporation, and a C corporation are each taxed differently and each produce different obligations for your books. Setting up your accounting to match the entity you formed, from the beginning, avoids the harder job of untangling a year of records later because the two never lined up.
This coordination is most useful at two points: when a business is new and its books have not been set up yet, and when an existing business is reconsidering its structure. If you have not yet formed your entity, business formation covers choosing and filing the right one. If your business is already up and running and you have contracts, employment, or other legal questions alongside your accounting needs, see running a business. For the full range of accounting and tax services the firm offers, including tax preparation, visit the accounting and tax practice page.
How it works
How Fisher Stone handles your books
-
Start with a free consultation
Describe your business and where your books stand today in a short, free consultation of about 15 minutes.
-
Set up or review your books
Your point of contact sets up your bookkeeping if you are starting fresh, or reviews and reconciles your existing accounts if your business is already running.
-
Ongoing bookkeeping and statements
Your accounts are reconciled on a regular basis, producing current financial statements and keeping payroll and sales tax filings on schedule.
Why Fisher Stone
What you can expect on every matter
- 01Direct access to your attorneyWork with the attorney on your matter, not a call center. Reach them by call, email, or text.
- 02Flat-fee pricing, quoted up frontOne flat fee before any work begins, so you know the full cost of your matter in advance.
- 03No handoffsThe attorney you meet drafts your documents and sees your matter through to the end.
Questions
FAQs on Business Accounting & Bookkeeping
What accounting and bookkeeping services do you offer?
The firm handles recording income and expenses, reconciling bank and credit-card accounts, and maintaining a general ledger. From that ledger, it produces financial statements, including a profit and loss statement and a balance sheet, and handles payroll processing and New York State and New York City sales tax filing.
What is the difference between bookkeeping and accounting?
Bookkeeping is the day-to-day recording of transactions: entering sales, categorizing expenses, and reconciling accounts. Accounting takes those recorded transactions and organizes them into financial statements and reports that an owner, a lender, or a tax authority can use. Accurate accounting depends on accurate bookkeeping.
Do you handle payroll and sales tax?
Yes. For businesses with employees, the firm processes payroll on schedule. For businesses that collect it, the firm also files New York State and New York City sales tax on a regular schedule.
Do you help a new business set up its books?
Yes. For a new business, the firm sets up bookkeeping from the start rather than reconstructing records later. This is often coordinated with the entity you form, so your accounting and your legal structure work together from day one.
How is pricing handled?
Pricing is agreed up front after a short, free consultation of about 15 minutes. For defined work, that means a flat fee quoted before the work begins, so you know the cost in advance.
Can accounting be coordinated with forming my business?
Yes. Because the firm also handles business formation, your bookkeeping and accounting can be set up to match the entity you choose from the beginning. See business formation for the entity side of that process.
How do I get started?
Call (212) 256-1877 or reach out by email to schedule a short, free consultation. Your point of contact will review where your books stand and outline the work involved.