The answer
Catch-up bookkeeping in California
California adds three deadlines a business behind on its books cannot answer: a quarterly CDTFA return, an $800 annual tax owed whether or not you made money, and an LLC fee that steps from $900 to $11,790 depending on a number that lives in the ledger.
A firm quotes $1,500 to $3,500 to rebuild a year and takes three to eight weeks. Titan reads your bank and card statements and returns closed, tied-out books for a fixed public price. Your first month is closed free, so you can read it first.
Titan, for comparison
- Up to 6 months behind$499
- Up to 12 months behind$999
- Up to 24 months behind$1,899
- Your first month, closed and tied out$0
01 / Market rates
What a California firm charges for cleanup.
Quotes for a business with roughly 50 to 300 transactions a month, starting from bank and card statements. Sales tax reconstruction and a city gross-receipts filing push every row up.
How far behind
Typical quote
Timeline
1 to 3 months behind
$300 – $500
3 – 8 weeks
1 to 3 months behind
4 to 6 months behind
$500 – $1,500
3 – 8 weeks
4 to 6 months behind
Twelve months behind
$1,500 – $3,500
3 – 8 weeks
Twelve months behind
Two years or more
$3,500 – $10,000+
3 – 8 weeks
Two years or more
San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego quotes land at the top of each range, and hourly cleanup work in those metros is commonly quoted above the national average. The work is the same work. The rate is a local labour rate.
02 / The California calendar
Ten dates, and what each one asks of your books.
Cadence rather than a single date, because a deadline that lands on a weekend or a holiday moves to the next business day. Check your own filing frequency with CDTFA and the FTB.
When
What is due
What it needs from the books
Apr 30 · Jul 31 · Oct 31 · Jan 31
CDTFA sales and use tax return, quarterly filers
Taxable sales for the quarter, which is a number in the ledger and not on the bank statement
Apr 30 · Jul 31 · Oct 31 · Jan 31
CDTFA sales and use tax return, quarterly filers
Taxable sales for the quarter, which is a number in the ledger and not on the bank statement
Jul 31
CDTFA return, annual filers
The July to June period in one return. Small accounts are assigned this frequency by CDTFA
Jul 31
CDTFA return, annual filers
The July to June period in one return. Small accounts are assigned this frequency by CDTFA
The 24th, monthly
CDTFA prepayment, larger accounts
Assigned by CDTFA based on reported liability. The quarterly return still follows
The 24th, monthly
CDTFA prepayment, larger accounts
Assigned by CDTFA based on reported liability. The quarterly return still follows
15th day of the 4th month
FTB Form 3522 — the $800 LLC annual tax
Owed by every LLC organized in or doing business in California, profit or none
15th day of the 4th month
FTB Form 3522 — the $800 LLC annual tax
Owed by every LLC organized in or doing business in California, profit or none
15th day of the 6th month
FTB Form 3536 — estimated LLC fee
The estimate is based on total California income for the year, then trued up on Form 568
15th day of the 6th month
FTB Form 3536 — estimated LLC fee
The estimate is based on total California income for the year, then trued up on Form 568
15th day of the 3rd month
Form 568 for an LLC taxed as a partnership, Form 100S for an S corporation
A P&L and a balance sheet for the full year, tied out month by month
15th day of the 3rd month
Form 568 for an LLC taxed as a partnership, Form 100S for an S corporation
A P&L and a balance sheet for the full year, tied out month by month
15th day of the 4th month
Form 100 for a C corporation, Form 568 for a single-member LLC owned by an individual
Same requirement, one month later, plus the $800 minimum franchise tax
15th day of the 4th month
Form 100 for a C corporation, Form 568 for a single-member LLC owned by an individual
Same requirement, one month later, plus the $800 minimum franchise tax
Every 2 years
Secretary of State Statement of Information for an LLC, $20
No financial data. Listed because it is the deadline people confuse with the tax ones
Every 2 years
Secretary of State Statement of Information for an LLC, $20
No financial data. Listed because it is the deadline people confuse with the tax ones
Last day of February
San Francisco annual business registration and tax form
Gross receipts for the prior year. From 2026 the registration renewal is combined into one form
Last day of February
San Francisco annual business registration and tax form
Gross receipts for the prior year. From 2026 the registration renewal is combined into one form
Last day of February
Los Angeles business tax renewal, due Jan 1 and delinquent after February
Gross receipts by city classification for the prior calendar year
Last day of February
Los Angeles business tax renewal, due Jan 1 and delinquent after February
Gross receipts by city classification for the prior calendar year
Sources: CDTFA filing dates, FTB due dates for businesses, the California Secretary of State, and the San Francisco and Los Angeles city finance offices, as published for 2026. Deadlines change. Your preparer confirms which apply to you.
03 / The fee that depends on the ledger
An $11,790 spread, decided by one number.
On top of the $800 annual tax, a California LLC owes a fee set by total California income for the year. The tiers are public. The income figure is the one a business behind on its books does not have.
Total California income
LLC fee
Under $250,000
$0
$250,000 to $499,999
$900
$500,000 to $999,999
$2,500
$1,000,000 to $4,999,999
$6,000
$5,000,000 and over
$11,790
Fee tiers under Revenue and Taxation Code section 17942, as published by the FTB for 2026. The fee is estimated on Form 3536 during the year and trued up on Form 568. We close the books. Your CPA reads them against this table.
04 / What California adds to a cleanup
Six things that make a California year slower.
The fee tier is a bookkeeping answer, not a tax opinion
The step from $900 to $2,500 sits at $500,000 of total California income. A year of uncategorized deposits cannot tell you which side of that line you are on. A closed year can, and your CPA decides what goes on the return.
Sales tax collected is not revenue
California businesses that collect sales tax hold it for CDTFA. Booked as income it inflates gross receipts, which is the same figure San Francisco and Los Angeles tax. We keep it in a liability account and show the remittances against it.
City gross receipts filings read the same P&L
San Francisco and Los Angeles both ask for prior-year gross receipts by classification. That is one query against a closed ledger and a week of guessing without one.
The $800 is owed whether or not you were profitable
Every LLC and every corporation doing business in the state owes it. Businesses behind on books often assume a loss year means nothing is due, and the notice arrives anyway.
Multi-district sales tax rates leave a trail
District taxes vary by city and county, so the amount collected does not track a single rate. Reconstructing what was collected from deposits alone is the part that takes a firm three weeks.
A lender in California asks the same three questions
A P&L, a balance sheet, and a cash flow statement for the trailing period. There is no California variant of a loan package, only a California deadline that arrives first.
05 / One line, three accounts
A CDTFA payment is not an expense.
Sales tax you collected was never yours, so remitting it is not a cost of doing business. Where this line belongs depends on whether the collection was booked in the first place, and the statement does not say. It becomes a flag.
2024-04-30
CDTFA EFT PAYMENT 1041 SACRAMENTO CA
4,182.60
Flagged
2200
Sales tax payable
Our guess — 88.0% confidence, clearing the first quarter
Our guess — 88.0% confidence, clearing the first quarter
6900
Taxes and licenses
If the tax collected was never booked as a liability
If the tax collected was never booked as a liability
1200
Prepaid taxes
If the payment is a prepayment for a later period
If the payment is a prepayment for a later period
One tap picks the account. The reports recompute and the flag count falls. Get this wrong across a year and gross receipts are overstated on the P&L and on a city filing that reads it.
06 / Titan's price
Public, fixed, and payable on this page.
Close one month free before you buy anything. Drop one statement and read the closed month, tied out to the ending balance your bank printed.
07 / Questions
The rest of what California owners ask.
- How much does catch-up bookkeeping cost in California?
- A bookkeeper or firm charges $300 to $500 for one to three months behind, $1,500 to $3,500 for a full year, and $3,500 or more past two years, after a discovery call and in three to eight weeks. Bay Area and Los Angeles quotes sit at the top of each range. Titan charges $999 for up to 12 months.
- Do you file my California returns?
- No. We do not file anything and we never will. We produce closed books, the reports, the full ledger and a preparer-importable handoff. Your CPA files Form 568, Form 100S or Form 100 and signs it.
- Can you tell me which LLC fee tier I am in?
- We can close your year and show total income with every figure traced to the source line. Reading that against the fee table is your preparer's call, and the table above is the public one from the FTB.
- I collect sales tax. Do you handle CDTFA returns?
- We book sales tax collected as a liability and show every CDTFA payment against it, so the balance at any date is readable. Preparing and filing the return is not something we do.
- Do you work with California banks and credit unions?
- Any US bank or card issuer, as a PDF or CSV export. That includes the California regionals and credit unions, Chase, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and the business cards most small shops carry.
- What if I am two years behind?
- Catch-Up 24 covers up to 24 months at $1,899. If your opening balance points at activity older than the statements you sent, we say so before you pay and price the extra months at the same public rate.
- Will my CPA accept this?
- That is who we design for. Every figure traces to the source line on the statement you uploaded, every categorization carries our confidence, and uncertain lines come back as flags rather than silent guesses. We are not accountants and we do not sign returns.
Read one month of your own books first.
One statement, one closed month, tied out to the figure your bank printed. No call, no card, no bank connection.
Read next
What catch-up bookkeeping costs
Real market rates for cleanup, what moves the number, and the three options priced side by side.
Bench shut down — what now
The shutdown in dates, what your export is actually worth, and how to rebuild the years behind you.
Reconstruct books from bank statements
The eight-step method, the tie-out that proves a month is finished, and the five errors that cost the most time.
Bookkeeping cleanup for contractors
A contractor chart of accounts, the six statement lines that get miscategorized, and what a trade shop gets quoted.
Shopify seller, behind on books
One payout taken apart, why the deposit is not your revenue, and the chart of accounts an online seller needs.
Catch-up bookkeeping in Texas
The May 15 franchise report, the no-tax-due threshold, and a year of deposits taken apart.