How far back does catch-up bookkeeping go?
To the oldest year with no return filed, or with a return the books do not support. The IRS asks for every return that is due, whether or not you can pay in full.
Catch-up and cleanup bookkeeping for Utah businesses
Excite Tax catches up and cleans up books for Utah businesses; IRC §6651 adds a late-filing penalty for every month a return is late, however far behind the books are.
Short answers
What is the difference between catch-up and cleanup?
Catch-up enters months that were never recorded. Cleanup fixes months that were recorded wrong: duplicated feeds, personal spending booked as expenses, loans booked as income. Most files that are behind need both.
Why not wait until tax time?
Because the penalty does not wait: IRC §6651 adds 5% of the unpaid tax for each month a return is late, up to 25%.
What do I need to start a catch-up?
Statements for every bank, card and loan account for every month, payroll reports, and whatever sales records exist.
How a catch-up runs
- Collect statements for every account, for every month, starting with the oldest open year.
- Enter the months in order and match each one to its statement before starting the next.
- Separate personal spending from business spending, and book it as an owner draw or a loan, not an expense.
- Close each year, then hand the books to whoever prepares that year's return.
Starting with the current month feels productive and leaves the years that carry penalties untouched. The oldest year goes first.
What the delay costs
5 percent of the amount of such tax if the failure is for not more than 1 month, with an additional 5 percent for each additional month or fraction thereof ... not exceeding 25 percent in the aggregate
Put plainly: 5% of the unpaid tax for each month or part of a month, up to 25%. The clock runs from the due date; fixing the books does not stop it, filing does.
S corporations and partnerships face a second penalty that applies even when no tax is owed, because it is counted per owner: $255 per shareholder per month on a late Form 1120-S, and $255 per partner per month on a late Form 1065, for up to 12 months.
Utah adds its own. A late Utah return owes the greater of $20 or 2%, 5% or 10% of the unpaid tax, stepping up with how late it is.
When a letter has already arrived
If the IRS has already written about a missing return, the notice needs an answer from someone authorised to represent you. Representation before the IRS is not a service Excite Tax offers; the books a catch-up produces are what that person will ask for.
Catch-up turnaround times and intake dates are pending confirmation and will appear here, with a reviewed date, once confirmed.
When to hand this to a preparer
Hand it over once the books are closed and the return is the next step, or sooner if a deadline is inside a month.
Excite Tax prepares this; a licensed CPA at TBD CPA LLC reviews and signs the return.
Sources
- 26 U.S.C. § 6651, Failure to file tax return or to pay tax · retrieved September 2026
- IRS, Filing past due tax returns · retrieved September 2026
- IRS, Instructions for Form 1120-S (2025) · retrieved September 2026
- IRS, Instructions for Form 1065 (2025) · retrieved September 2026
- Utah Code § 59-1-401 (effective 1/1/2026), Offenses and penalties · retrieved September 2026
Ranked and explained on the sources page.