FAQs
Questions we hear before we start.
How an engagement begins, who is on your team, how pricing works, and what happens after you reach out. For businesses and nonprofits.
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Questions and answers
- How does an engagement start?
Most start with the form on our Get Started page, or an email to hello@lucahq.com. A person on our team reads it and comes back to you within one business day, usually sooner. From there it is a conversation, not a pitch, and there is nothing to decide on the call.
Get Started
- Is there more than one way in?
Yes. Some organizations start with ongoing accounting. Others start with a single standalone engagement, like a Financial Operations Assessment, a tax return, a filing, an integration, or LUCA Launch for a new business. Any of these can come first.
- Can I hire you without moving my accounting to you?
Yes. Tax, payroll, filings, transaction advisory, CFO advisory, the Financial Operations Assessment, and our custom builds can each be engaged on their own. If you already have a bookkeeper you like, keep them.
- Is there a minimum size?
No. Our accounting work fits businesses and nonprofits across a wide range of sizes. If your books are simple and you need something more accessible, Real-Time Bookkeeping exists for exactly that.
See Real-Time Bookkeeping- Do you work with nonprofits?
Yes. We work with churches, foundations, and community organizations: fund accounting, restricted fund and grant tracking, the 990, payroll allocated across programs, and financials a board can read. The team shape is the same three core seats.
How we work with nonprofits- Do you work with organizations outside Alabama and Kentucky?
Yes. Our offices are in Birmingham, Alabama and Louisville, Kentucky, and our 400+ clients are spread across the country.
- Who is on my team?
Every account has the same three core seats. A Financial Operations Specialist handles the day to day: transactions, bills, deposits, and checking the books against the bank. A Controller runs month-end close and builds the reporting package. A Director is your ongoing fractional CFO. Specialists in tax, payroll, sales tax, advisory, implementation, and grants join as the work calls for them.
Build your team
- What do the first ninety days look like?
In the first thirty days we get bank and card access, collect documents, set you up on the right platforms, and hold a kick-off call with your team. From day thirty to sixty we build the workflows: coding cadence, bills and deposits, approvals, and a close date you can plan around. By day ninety the work runs on a steady rhythm.
- Our books are behind. Do you do cleanup work?
Yes, as part of a broader engagement. We are not QuickBooks doctors, the people you call when the books are sick and never hear from again. If we are taking on your accounting, getting the books current is part of getting started. We do not take on cleanup as a standalone project.
- Do I have to change accounting software?
Sometimes. If you are already on a well-known modern platform, you can usually stay on it. If not, we move you to QuickBooks or Xero, because those are what let us connect the other tools around your books. Larger organizations sometimes sit on a more enterprise platform instead. Either way, we handle the full migration and transition, so that work does not land on you.
- What software do you work in?
Every major ledger and financial platform. The ones we use most are QuickBooks Online, Xero, Ramp, Bill.com, Stripe, Shopify, and Square, along with the major donor management platforms for nonprofits, and many more besides.
- What is the difference between Accounting Operations and Real-Time Bookkeeping?
Accounting Operations is the full team: bookkeeping, month-end close, financial statements, and controllership, with a Director on every account. Real-Time Bookkeeping is a smaller scope for simple books. The ledger codes and reconciles continuously and our team reviews it, but there is no controller, no close review, and no advisory.
See Real-Time Bookkeeping- How does pricing work?
We do not publish prices or packages. We quote each engagement once we understand the work, after a short conversation. For payroll, headcount usually makes the right tier obvious.
- Is there a contract?
Yes, and the term depends on the service. Engagements range from ad hoc project work to a one-year term. We tell you which applies before you sign anything.
- What happens if we part ways?
Your books, your file, and your access are yours. We help with the transition out the same way we help with the transition in.
- What happens after I submit the form?
Your note goes to our team, not a queue. Someone reads it that day and comes back to you within one business day, usually sooner.