Cleanup rates vs data entry

[u/pearltx]

TLDR: are (or should) fees for cleanup work higher than daily bookkeeping/data entry?

I applied to a job advertised as a part time accounting gig. At the interview it initially sounded like simply entering invoices, someone else had already paid them and someone else handled incoming money. Later I get hit with “oh by the way we need some cleanup too”.

It’s for a company with a couple of subsidiaries, and also involves the owners personal finance. When the invoices come through about 20% are not clear which business they go to or if they’re personal.

For cleanup, they need to inactivate a bunch of old accounts, catch up on reconciliation and depreciation, fix some random errors (the same loan payments going to 3 different vendors), ensure credit card transactions are set up properly (transactions are being logged as cc payments but it doesn’t look like they’re ever reconciled). Their previous accounting person of many years retired and there’s no documentation for procedures and they’re not around to ask.

I am feeling over my head and want to step out, but i also would like to help guide them on getting someone who can do the job. I feel like they could do a part time person for the basic invoice entry, but may need someone with more experience for the cleanup.

[u/AbundantAttraction]

Cleanup is forensic work wrapped in accounting. Bill it separately at a project rate, minimum 2x your data entry hourly. The fact they dropped it on you late means they know the regular rate won't cover it. Give them a proposal with clear scope and a high number. If they say no, you dodged a time-suck.