We'll handle the books. You focus on what you love.
We keep your books clean and current, so you always know where you stand.
Get in touchWhat's the difference between a bookkeeper and an accountant?
What we do
Bookkeeper
We handle the day-to-day. Every transaction that hits your bank or credit card gets recorded and categorized. We match your accounts to your statements each month so nothing is missing or double-counted. We send invoices, track what customers owe you, and make sure bills get paid. We close the books each month and hand you a profit and loss statement and a balance sheet — so you can see what came in, what went out, and what you actually made.
What they do
Accountant (CPA)
Taxes. They prepare and file your returns, advise you on tax strategy, and represent you if the IRS has questions. They're licensed to do things we aren't, and some businesses also need them for audits or lender requirements.
Why the difference matters
An accountant works from whatever numbers they're given. If your books are a mess, they either spend billable hours cleaning them up — at accountant (CPA) rates — or they file based on numbers nobody trusts. Clean books mean a faster, cheaper, more accurate tax season.
Most of our clients have a bookkeeper and an accountant. We handle the books month to month and keep things organized. Your accountant handles the taxes. You get the right help for each, without paying twice for the same work.
Services
Monthly bookkeeping
Every charge, deposit, and payment gets recorded and sorted into the right category, so your numbers stay accurate as the month goes.
Bank & card reconciliation
We check your books against your actual bank and credit card statements to make sure nothing is missing, duplicated, or misrecorded.
Cleanup & catch-up
Behind by a few months or a few years? We go back through it, sort it out, and get you current.
Bills & invoicing (AP & AR)
We track what you owe and what you’re owed — sending invoices, following up on late payments, and keeping your vendors paid on time.
Month-end close
At the end of each month we finish and finalize everything, so the numbers you’re looking at are settled, not still moving.
Financial reporting
A profit and loss statement and a balance sheet every month, in plain terms: what came in, what went out, and what you actually kept. Delivered by the 15th, or on a date that works better for you.
Payroll processing
Your team paid correctly and on time.
QuickBooks Online setup
New to QuickBooks Online or never set it up properly? We build your chart of accounts, or reorganize the one you have, so your books make sense from day one.
Who we are
Meet our founder
Alabaster was founded by Graziela Gaytan, who spent over a decade watching the same thing happen: business owners doing excellent work, held back by books that kept getting pushed to the bottom of the list.
She's worked both sides of it. Years as a full-charge bookkeeper, keeping the day-to-day right — and then at a public accounting firm, supporting audits, tax returns, and monthly closes. That's where it became obvious how much the bookkeeping determines everything downstream.
The damage usually showed up at tax season — scrambling to reconstruct a whole year, paying someone to sort out what could have been handled in an hour a month. But the bigger cost was quieter. When you don't know your numbers, you're making decisions on instinct alone.
That's why she started Alabaster. For people who love their craft but don't love tracking expenses and sending invoices. With clean books, our clients spend less at tax time and actually know their business as they go — able to compare month to month and year to year, and make decisions with real numbers instead of a guess.
Graziela lives in the Chicago area with her husband and their two boys. When she's not in the books, she's showing them as much of the world as she can.
Get in touch
Let's talk about your books
Tell us a little about your business and we'll get back to you within one business day. No pressure and no commitment — we'll take a look at where your books stand and tell you honestly what it would take to get them current.