Foundations Assessment
A full diagnostic review of your books, so every number that follows in an honest one.
Foundations Assessment
A full diagnostic review of your books, so every number that follows is an honest one.
When the picture isn't clear yet
Most people don't need this one. If your books exist and they read clean, they come over as they are. If you don't really have books yet, we build them properly the first time.
The Assessment is for the third case: books that exist, where the picture doesn't quite add up. Accounts nobody is sure were ever reconciled. A prior bookkeeper's work taken on trust. A tax return filed on numbers you couldn't explain if someone asked.
In that situation I look at the actual file before anyone commits to anything. Not a conversation about your file. Not a form where you estimate how far behind you are. The actual file, reviewed properly, by me.
This isn't a hurdle I've put in front of you. It's the only way I know to give you a number that's true. A quote given without looking is a guess, and guesses are how people end up committing to $3,000 of cleanup and discovering at week three that it was really $8,000.
You don't have to know how bad it is before you reach out. You don't have to work out whether you're behind enough, or complicated enough, or ready enough. That's what this is for. Not knowing is the normal reason people book it.
What the Assessment tells us
Where your books actually stand. What's accurate, what isn't, what's been missed, and what's been quietly wrong for a while.
What cleanup, if any, is needed, and what it will cost, in writing, before you commit to it.
Which Calm Books Circle tier fits your file, if you want ongoing bookkeeping afterward. Your tier is set by what your books actually take to close each month, never by your revenue and never by a conversation. For a file that needed an Assessment, this is where that gets settled.
You leave knowing where you stand and what your options cost. That's true whether you work with me afterward or not.
What I review
A complete diagnostic of your bookkeeping, across three areas.
Your file and its structure
- Overall setup and data integrity
- Opening balances and foundational accounts
- Whether your chart of accounts fits your business or fights it
- Whether your current platform is helping or getting in the way
Accuracy and compliance
- How transactions have been categorized
- Reconciliation status across every account
- Gaps, inconsistencies, and anything left unresolved
- Anything that could become a tax or compliance problem
Scope and complexity
- How far behind things genuinely are
- Transaction volume and what your file takes to close
- Whether previous work needs correcting before anything else can happen
- What it would take to get to books you can rely on
Nothing gets fixed during the Assessment. This is diagnosis, not treatment. Cleanup happens after you've seen the findings and decided how you want to proceed.
What you receive
A written findings report. The current state of your books in plain language: what's working, what isn't, which specific issues exist and why they matter, and how far behind things actually are.
Clear recommendations and real pricing. What work is needed, what it costs, how long it takes, and which tier fits if you want ongoing bookkeeping. Numbers, not ranges.
A review meeting. We walk through everything together. You ask whatever you want, including the questions you're worried sound uninformed. No pressure to decide anything on that call.
Why this prevents the expensive version
Two examples from my practice, both real.
"I thought my books were ready for ongoing support"
A business owner came to me ready to start monthly bookkeeping. They'd had a bookkeeper for over a year and believed everything was current.
Their file had 18 balance sheet accounts that hadn't been reconciled in 16 months. Their bookkeeper had been clearing bank feeds and reporting the work as done. No actual reconciliation had happened.
The difference is bigger than it sounds. Clearing feeds takes about thirty minutes and needs no accounting knowledge. Reconciling takes hours per account and requires knowing how to match statements, spot discrepancies, and verify what you're seeing.
They had been paying for professional bookkeeping and receiving something else entirely, with no way to tell. Correcting it cost $4,500.
"Reports are always late, but I figured that's how it is"
A law firm owner knew their office manager was struggling. Late reports, unreliable cash flow numbers. They kept hoping it would sort itself out.
The Assessment found transactions being deleted to "fix" errors, which kept severing the sync with their billing software and creating hours of manual rework. Sales were duplicated, inflating revenue. The books were wrong enough that the owner may have overpaid taxes.
Because they started here, they saw the full $8,800 scope before committing to any of it, and chose to proceed knowing exactly why. Without it, they'd have expected two or three thousand for a simple catch-up and hit a very bad surprise partway through.
Neither of these owners did anything wrong. They trusted someone who told them it was handled. That's not poor judgment, it's what happens when the person doing your books doesn't know what the work actually requires.
What it costs
Foundations Assessment
$750 flat
Diagnosis in writing, before anyone commits to anything.
- Complete diagnostic review of your books
- Written findings report
- Real pricing and clear recommendations
- A review meeting to walk through it all
- Five to seven business days
The $750 buys the diagnosis, and that's all it buys. It isn't a deposit, and it doesn't come off the cost of anything afterward. What you get for it stands on its own: an accurate picture of your books, in writing, and a real number for whatever comes next. That's worth having whether you hire me, hire someone else, or handle it yourself.
Payment is due in advance, everything is handled remotely, and turnaround is typically five to seven business days from when your exports arrive.
Start with the readiness check
How it works, step by step
1. You answer eight questions. The readiness check tells me what your books need first. If that's an Assessment, I'll say so and tell you why, and we'll talk it through before you pay for anything.
2. You sign the engagement letter. It sets out exactly what the Assessment covers and what it costs. Payment is due in advance.
3. I send your document list. Once you've signed, you get the full list of what I need: access to your accounting file, and copies of your bank statements for the period we're reviewing. It's specific, so you're never guessing at what to gather.
4. I review everything. Typically five to seven business days from when I have what I need.
5. You get your findings report. In writing, before we meet, so you have time to read it properly and come with questions.
6. We meet to walk through it. Everything I found, what it means, and what your options cost. No pressure to decide on the call.
What happens after
You'll have real options and no pressure to pick one on the spot.
Move ahead with cleanup. If your books need bringing current, that's Reset & Rebuild, scoped and priced by what the Assessment found. No surprises partway through, because the looking already happened.
Start ongoing bookkeeping. If your books are in good enough shape, you can move straight into Calm Books Circle at whichever tier your file calls for.
Keep running your own books. You'll have a clear picture of what needs attention. Journey Pathway is free, and it's where the teaching lives if you want support while you do it.
Sit with it. Take the findings and decide later, or never. The clarity is yours either way.
What I don't do
A few things I decline at every level of my practice, and I'd rather say so here than after you've paid:
- Sales tax you want handled for you. If you collect it and file it yourself, that's ordinary and I record it like anything else. What I decline is working out what's taxable, calculating what you owe, and filing.
- Inventory tracked in your books, meaning items and quantities and a balance that has to be valued. Buying supplies and posting them to costs is just categorizing, and that's fine.
- Physical products sold through an online cart.
- Job costing, with materials and labor broken out.
- Tax filing. I work directly with the CPA or tax preparer who files your returns, so your books and your filings stay in sync.
Selling online is not on that list. Courses, memberships, digital products, anything that runs through a checkout or a booking platform: that's ordinary, and it's most of who I work with.
If your business needs one of these, I'll tell you plainly and point you toward someone who does it well.
A note from Stacy
Hi, I'm Stacy Luft, founder of CEO Business Balance.
I built the Assessment because I kept watching people discover midway through a cleanup that their situation was far worse than anyone had understood at the start. Costs climbed, timelines slipped, and everyone felt bad about it.
Looking first fixes that. It protects you, because you know the real number before you commit to anything. It protects me, because I can give you a straight answer instead of finding out in week three. And it protects whatever we build afterward, because it starts with both of us seeing the same thing.
I've been working in financial operations since 1992. Whatever is in your file, I've almost certainly seen it before, and probably worse. The state of your books is information, not a verdict on you. It tells me what work needs doing. That's all it tells me.
Needing an Assessment doesn't mean you've done something wrong. It means you'd rather understand your situation than guess at it.
"In my world, being a CEO means being a Calm, Empowered Owner of your business, your numbers, and your decisions. The Foundations Assessment helps you step into that role with clarity and confidence."
Questions About the Foundations Assessment
Do I really have to do this before working with you?
No, and most people don't. If your books read clean, they come over as they are. If you don't have books yet, we build them. The Assessment is for files where the picture doesn't add up, because any number I gave you before looking at one of those would be a guess, and you're the one who'd live with a wrong guess. The readiness check is how we find out which of those you are, and it's free.
What if I don't know how far behind I am?
That's the normal reason people book this. You don't need to diagnose yourself first. If things feel unclear or hard to trust, that's plenty of reason to look.
How is this different from Reset & Rebuild?
This is understanding. Reset & Rebuild is doing the work. The Assessment tells us what state your books are in and what it would take to fix them. If cleanup is needed, Reset & Rebuild is that cleanup, scoped and priced by what I found here.
Will you fix anything during the Assessment?
No, this is diagnosis rather than treatment. Fixing as I go would mean charging you for work neither of us had scoped, and you'd never see the honest picture of where things started. Any cleanup happens after you've seen the findings and decided.
Why isn't the $750 credited toward cleanup?
Because a fee that vanishes into the next invoice is really a way of saying the first step had no value, and this one does. You're buying an accurate picture of your own business and a real number for what it takes to fix. Plenty of people stop there, and they got what they paid for.
What if I decide not to do anything afterward?
That's a legitimate outcome and it happens. You've bought an accurate picture of your own business, which has value whether or not you hire anyone. Some people take the findings and handle things themselves. Some sit with it for six months and come back.
Does this set my bookkeeping price?
Yes. If you want ongoing bookkeeping afterward, your Calm Books Circle tier is set here, based on what your file actually takes to close each month rather than what you earn. That's the honest way to price it, and it's why nobody gets quoted before I've seen their file.
What do you need from me?
Access to your accounting file, and copies of your bank statements for the period we're reviewing. You get the complete list once you've signed the engagement letter, so you're never guessing at what to gather. If you're already a client, there's nothing to send.
How long does it take?
Typically five to seven business days from when I have everything I need. The review meeting happens after you've had the findings report in hand, so you have time to read it and come with questions.
What if my business is small and straightforward?
Then you probably don't need an Assessment at all, and the readiness check will say so. Simple books usually come straight over. If something in your answers doesn't line up, I'll tell you what I noticed and why looking first would be worth $750 to you, and you can decide from there.
What if you find something bad?
Then you'll know, which is better than not knowing. I've been doing this since 1992 and there is very little I haven't seen. What's in your file tells me what work needs doing. It isn't a judgment about you.
Ready to know where you stand?
You've been guessing about your books long enough. You don't need to have it figured out before you reach out, and you don't need to know how bad it is. That's the whole point of looking.
Start with the readiness check
You don't need to be perfect or prepared to begin.
You just need to be willing to understand where you stand.