About Zebra Ledger

not a faceless firm — one room, one ledger, read twice

Zebra Ledger is a small bookkeeping room at 511 Cumberland St in Westfield. We keep the books and run payroll for independent veterinary clinics, and we do it at the pace the work asks for: statements read against the ledger twice, questions sent as one short list, the quarter closed before the next one opens.

See the flat fees Ring (732) 535-6537
An open ledger on an oak desk with a pencil and a stethoscope
Fig. 2 — the desk on Cumberland Street
02

How the work is done

four habits we won’t shortcut

Software can import a bank feed in a second. These are the parts we still do with a pencil, a printed statement and a second look.

i.

Every month

tick every line

Each bank and card line is matched to a deposit, an invoice or a receipt before it’s called reconciled. An auto-categorized feed is only a first draft.

ii.

Every deposit

match the PIMS to the bank

Your Cornerstone, AVImark, ezyVet or Shepherd daily close is laid beside what actually landed in the account — including the CareCredit and Scratchpay payouts that arrive days late and net of fees.

iii.

Every clinic

cut the chart to fit

A wellness-plan general practice and a dental-and-surgery referral shop earn differently. Each gets its own chart of accounts, not a template pasted from the last client.

iv.

Every quarter

write it in plain English

The close ends with a one-page note you can read in five minutes: what moved, what to watch, and what we’d ask your CPA.

03

Why veterinary clinics only

a trade with its own arithmetic

A vet clinic’s money doesn’t behave like a shop’s. Wellness plans are paid monthly and used unevenly. Pharmacy is bought from distributors on account and sold at a markup. Lab work passes through at cost. A digital X-ray sits on a lease for years. Relief vets arrive on 1099s and leave on Friday.

Book a general bookkeeper against that and the pieces get lumped into “sales” and “supplies.” We keep them apart, because the owner needs to see whether dental is paying for itself, and boarding isn’t.

That is why we take independent practices only — one owner, a partnership, a few associates. It is the single kind of clinic we learn deeply, and the reason a clean set of books at the end of the year isn’t luck.

“Double-entry has shown where money went since Venice, 1494. We’re only keeping up the habit.”House note, Zebra Ledger
04

House rules, posted by the door

four rules the desk keeps

The fee comes first

The scope and flat price are written on one page before we open a statement. Scope grows? You get a new quote, never a bigger invoice.

Read before touching

If your books live in QuickBooks Online, we start with a view-only login and tell you what we’d change before we change it.

We hand over, we don’t file

Your CPA files the return. We deliver a reconciled year and a tidy folder, which most CPAs bill less to work from.

Leave it kinder

Books are kept so whoever inherits the practice — a partner, a buyer, a daughter home from school — can read them cold.

05

Flat fees

the price list, pinned up plainly

One fee per engagement, stated up front. Choose the piece your clinic needs and ask for the written scope.

Project · one time

cleanup project

$1,840from · up to 12 months of catch-up, usually 2–3 weeks

Every account reconciled back to the first month that won’t tie, and the loose ends listed on one page.

Ask for a cleanup quote

Per month

monthly keep

$640per month, flat · done by the 10th

Bank and card reconciliations, weekly categorizing and PIMS deposits matched against the bank.

Start a monthly keep
Most picked

Per quarter

quarterly close

$1,270per quarter, flat

Three months locked, a P&L by service line, a balance sheet and a plain-English note.

Reserve a quarterly close

One time + monthly

payroll setup

$385flat · then $96 a month, up to 12 staff

Staff, pay rates, PTO and NJ withholding entered and checked twice, with your first two runs walked through.

Set up payroll

Pay by card or ACH transfer, invoiced after the engagement is agreed in writing. Open weekdays 10am–5pm at 511 Cumberland St, Westfield, NJ 07090.

Ring us Flat fees