Charleston · Mt. Pleasant · West Ashley · Daniel Island

Books that balance. Businesses that grow.

Boutique monthly bookkeeping for Charleston small businesses. Clean books, on time, every month — so you can run the business instead of the spreadsheet. Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor. Flat monthly pricing. No surprises.

Book Your Free 20-Min Consult → ☎ (855) 532-7550

12+Years in Charleston

150+Small Businesses

4.9★Google Reviews

100%On-Time Reports

Profit & Loss

YTD

Revenue$847,320

Cost of Goods Sold$312,480

Gross Profit$534,840

Operating Expenses$298,610

Net Operating Income$236,230

Sarah's note: Your gross margin improved 4.2% this month. Nice call raising prices in July.

Meet Your Bookkeeper

Real person. Real books. Real conversations.

Sarah Lane

Founder · Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor · Xero Certified Partner

Sarah started Ledger & Lane in 2013 after spending five years at a regional CPA firm that treated small-business owners like a nuisance. Her answer: a boutique bookkeeping practice that gives business owners clean books, straight talk, and actual peace of mind — without the hourly-billing panic every time they have a question.

Today she and her small team serve 150+ Charleston small businesses across trades, retail, restaurants, real estate, and creative services. When you email Sarah, Sarah emails back. Read the full story →

Sound Familiar?

Whatever's wrong with your books, we've fixed it before.

Most new clients come to us embarrassed. They shouldn't be. Here's what we hear most — and what we actually do about it.

⚠ Behind on books

Six months (or six years) behind?

We've taken on clients who hadn't touched QuickBooks since the pandemic. Catch-up bookkeeping is our specialty — bank statements in, clean books out, with a flat price so the meter never runs.

✓ Catch-Up Bookkeeping

⚠ QuickBooks nightmare

Your QuickBooks looks like a crime scene?

Duplicate transactions. Random "Ask My Accountant" categories. Negative balances that shouldn't exist. We clean it up, document what we changed, and train you (or take it over).

✓ QuickBooks Cleanup

⚠ Tax season panic

April 10th and no idea what your CPA needs?

We keep your books tax-ready all year. When your CPA asks for a P&L, balance sheet, and year-end reports, you forward one email. No fire drill, no weekend shoebox archaeology.

✓ Year-End Tax Prep

⚠ Payroll headache

Running payroll in three different apps?

Full-service payroll with direct deposit, tax filings, W-2s, 1099s, and workers comp reporting — all running in the background while you run the business.

✓ Full-Service Payroll

Services

Everything your books need. Nothing they don't.

Choose a monthly package or add services à la carte. Every plan includes cloud access, monthly reports, and direct email access to Sarah.

📘

Monthly Bookkeeping

Transaction categorization, bank & credit card reconciliation, monthly P&L, balance sheet, and cash flow. Cloud access via QuickBooks Online or Xero. Your books, clean and current.

From $350/mo · Flat pricing

Learn more →

🧹

QuickBooks Cleanup

We untangle broken QuickBooks files — duplicate transactions, mis-categorizations, undeposited funds, uncleared reconciliations. Typically 2-4 weeks. Flat project price after a free review.

From $950 · Flat project fee

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Catch-Up Bookkeeping

Six months, eighteen months, or five years behind — we've seen it all. Bank statements, credit card exports, and receipts in, clean books out. Priced per month of catch-up, not per hour.

From $225/mo of catch-up

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Payroll Processing

Full-service payroll with direct deposit, tax filings (federal, state, local), W-2s, 1099s, and year-end forms. We coordinate with Gusto, ADP, or run it directly through QuickBooks Payroll.

From $85/mo + $8/employee

Learn more →

📋

Sales Tax Filings

Monthly or quarterly sales tax preparation and filing for SC, GA, and multi-state sellers. We reconcile what you collected, what you owe, and file on time — every time.

From $75/filing · Most clients quarterly

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CPA Hand-Off

Year-end prep for your CPA: clean trial balance, reconciled accounts, documented journal entries, and a packet your accountant can open and file. No back-and-forth. No "what's this transaction?"

Included with monthly plans

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Simple Pricing

Flat monthly. No meter running.

Most small businesses fit cleanly into one of these three tiers. We quote your exact price after a free 20-minute consult — no surprises, no "custom work" fees, no hourly billing for emails.

Foundation

Solopreneurs & simple businesses

$350/mo

Under ~$250k revenue · One bank + one card · No inventory

Monthly transaction categorization
Bank & credit card reconciliation
Monthly P&L + balance sheet
Cloud access (QBO or Xero)
Year-end CPA hand-off packet
Email support (Sarah replies, not a bot)

Start with Foundation

Growth

Established small businesses

$550/mo

$250k-$1.5M revenue · Multiple accounts · Some complexity

Everything in Foundation
Multiple bank + card accounts
A/R & A/P management
Quarterly sales tax filing
1099 prep at year-end
Monthly phone review (30 min)
Budget vs. actual reporting

Advanced

Complex / multi-entity businesses

$850+/mo

$1.5M+ revenue · Multi-location · Inventory · Job costing

Everything in Growth
Multi-entity consolidation
Class / location tracking
Inventory reconciliation
Contractor job costing
Monthly advisory call (60 min)
Priority CPA coordination

Quote my complexity

Payroll, catch-up bookkeeping, and QuickBooks cleanup are priced separately. We don't nickel-and-dime basic questions — email Sarah anything, anytime.

Industries We Know Inside-Out

We speak your industry.

Every industry has its own quirks — job costing for contractors, tips and COGS for restaurants, platform fees for e-commerce. After 12 years in Charleston, we've seen yours.

🔨 Contractors & Trades 🍴 Restaurants & Bars 🛍 Retail & E-Commerce 🏡 Real Estate & Property Mgmt 💼 Professional Services 📸 Creative & Freelance ⚕ Healthcare & Wellness 🏋 Gyms & Studios 🚚 Logistics & Transport

What Charleston Says

4.9 stars from 62 small business owners.

These are real clients — contractors, restaurateurs, shop owners, freelancers — who needed someone they could trust with their numbers. Read all reviews →

★★★★★

Sarah took over my QuickBooks after I fired my old bookkeeper for the third time. She cleaned up 18 months of mess in 3 weeks and flat-priced the whole thing. My CPA actually called to compliment her work. First time that's happened.

Marcus R.Contractor · Mt. Pleasant

★★★★★

I run a 3-location restaurant group and used to spend every Sunday entering receipts. Ledger & Lane runs it all — POS integration, tips, payroll, sales tax. I got my Sundays back AND my margins improved because the reports are finally accurate.

Alicia D.Restaurant Owner · King Street

★★★★★

Flat monthly pricing is a game changer. My old bookkeeper billed me $75 every time I emailed a question. Now I just email Sarah. She answers same-day. My bookkeeping feels like a partnership, not a meter.

Jason T.Real Estate Broker · Daniel Island

★★★★★

As a freelance photographer I always felt like bookkeeping was too expensive or too corporate for me. Sarah designed the Foundation tier for exactly my kind of business. I can actually afford clean books and it's paid for itself at tax time twice.

Kendra B.Photographer · West Ashley

★★★★★

Three years in and I've never had to nudge her about a report. Financials are in my inbox the 12th of every month. When SBA asked for 3 years of financials for a loan, she had them to me by lunch. That loan funded us.

Priya E.Retail Shop · Upper King

★★★★★

I was six YEARS behind on books when I called Sarah. I thought she'd laugh me out of the office. Instead she quoted a flat price, set a realistic timeline, and got it done. She's the reason I'm still in business.

David W.HVAC Contractor · North Charleston