Bills, paperwork and caregiver payroll · any state
Help with a parent's bills and paperwork, from wherever you live.
A pile of unopened mail on the counter. A late notice for a bill you thought was on autopay. A parent who insists everything is fine and a sibling who wants to know why the water bill doubled. This is ordinary, solvable work for a bookkeeper who does it for families every week, and none of it needs you to move back home.
Most people find this page after a few months of quietly doing the job themselves, at night, from a different time zone, while worrying that something is being missed. Requests from this site go to one independent bookkeeping firm that pays bills, keeps records and runs household payroll for families in every state, entirely remotely. The first conversation is free, and your parent stays in charge of their own money for as long as they are able to be.
Requests answered within one business day · Calls Mon–Fri, 9am–5pm Eastern
From $250 a month · Fully remote, any state · A person replies within one business day
What it costs
Ongoing help starts at $250 a month. That covers a parent with an ordinary set of bills: paying them on time, reconciling the accounts each month, and a short report for whoever in the family needs to see it. More accounts, a private caregiver on payroll or a second property move the figure up, and it is quoted after a short call rather than from a table. If there is a backlog, months of unopened mail or bills already in collections, that catch-up is quoted as a deposit up front, a monthly retainer until things are current, and then the ordinary monthly fee.
What usually brings a family here
It is rarely one big event. It is a run of small ones: a utility shut-off notice, a magazine subscription renewed four times, a check written to a charity nobody has heard of, a credit card that has quietly been paid late for six months. Each one is fixable. Together they tell you that the system your parent used for forty years has stopped working, and that somebody needs to take a look.
Sometimes it is an event. A fall and a hospital stay, a spouse who handled the money dying, a move to assisted living, a diagnosis that everyone knows means things will get harder. Then the question is less whether to help than how to take over without upsetting your parent, falling out with your siblings or losing your own evenings for the next five years.
Is this for your family?
- Your parent is still in charge but missing bills, double-paying some and losing track of others
- You have been paying a parent’s bills yourself and it has become a second job
- You live far away and only find out about problems when a late notice is forwarded
- Several siblings share the responsibility and nobody can see the same numbers
- Your parent employs a private caregiver and nobody is sure the payroll is right
- There are boxes of paperwork and no one knows what can be thrown away
Probably not yet: a parent who pays everything on autopay from one account, opens their mail and asks for help when they want it. In that case a conversation about passwords and a power of attorney is worth more than a monthly service. The guides are free either way.
How it starts
You send a request or call. A person replies within one business day and sets up a short conversation, with your parent on the line if they are willing: what the bills are, how many accounts, who has authority, whether there is a caregiver on payroll, and what is overdue right now. Nothing needs to be gathered first.
From that call comes a written proposal. It says what your bookkeeper would take on each month, how bills and statements would reach them, who approves payments, who gets the monthly report, and what it costs. If there is a backlog to clear, the proposal separates that from the monthly fee so you can see both.
If something is urgent today, a shut-off notice or a suspected scam, call rather than write. A person answers on weekdays, and the first question will be what the notice says and when it is due.
What the monthly work looks like
Bills in, bills paid
Mail is redirected or scanned, and e-bills go to an address your bookkeeper can see. Every bill is checked against the last one before it is paid, so the doubled water bill and the renewed subscription get a question rather than a payment. Due dates go on a calendar so nothing depends on memory.
Accounts reconciled
Each bank and card account is matched to its statement every month. That is the part that catches the problems a quick look misses: the charge your parent did not make, the pension deposit that came in short, the check that cleared for more than it was written for.
A short report
What came in, what went out, anything that looked wrong, and what is due next month, sent to your parent and to whoever the family names. One page, in plain language, without the jargon.
The rest, as needed
Payroll for a private caregiver, sorting and scanning old paperwork, putting online accounts and passwords in order, and the year-end package for your parent’s tax preparer.
Your parent stays in charge
Good help with money takes jobs off a parent without taking their independence with them. Your parent can keep their checkbook, keep writing checks to their grandchildren, and keep deciding where their money goes. What changes is that somebody checks the details every month and tells the family if something is off. Many parents accept that far more readily from a professional than from their own children, which is often the point. The guide on talking to a parent about money has more on how to raise it.
What a bookkeeper is and is not the right person for
A bookkeeper keeps records, pays bills, reconciles accounts and runs payroll, and is good at noticing when something does not add up. Some questions in this area belong to other people: drafting a power of attorney or a will is a job for an attorney, choosing investments is a job for a licensed adviser, filing the tax return is a job for a tax preparer, and a court appoints guardians and conservators. Your bookkeeper works alongside all of them, and the guides on this site say plainly which questions to take where.
What your bookkeeper can take on
- Daily Money Manager Services
- Bill Paying Services for Elderly Parents
- Caregiver Payroll Service
- Organizing a Parent's Paperwork
- Online Accounts and Passwords for a Parent
- Monthly Money Reports for the Family
Who this is written for
Taking over a parent’s money looks different depending on where you sit. A daughter two states away has different problems from a widower doing the bills for the first time in fifty years, and both differ from an executor trying to account for an estate. Each page below is written for one of those situations.
- Adult Children Managing a Parent's Billsa stack of mail on the counter, a parent who says it is fine, and a job you never applied for
- Long-Distance Caregiversa parent in one state, you in another, and a phone call every Sunday that does not cover the bills
- Siblings Sharing the Jobone of you does the work, all of you have opinions, and nobody can see the same numbers
- After a Spouse Diesthe person who handled the money is gone, and the bills still arrive in their name
- A Parent Moving to Assisted Livinga house to wind down, a new monthly bill, and mail going to two addresses for months
- Older Adults Who Want Help With Their Own Billsyou are managing fine, mostly, and would like someone to check the details before your children have to
- Executors and Trustees Who Need the Records in Orderan estate or trust to account for, a parent's papers in four places, and a ledger nobody kept
- Families Recovering From a Scammoney gone, accounts to secure, and a parent who is embarrassed to talk about it
Guides
- What a Daily Money Manager Does, and What Is Someone Else's Job
- Signs an Aging Parent Needs Help With Money
- Taking Over a Parent's Bills: Permission, POA and Joint Accounts
- Paying a Private Caregiver Legally (2026 Thresholds)
- Elder Financial Scams, and How a Second Set of Eyes Catches Them
- What Daily Money Management Costs (2026)
- A Parent's Paperwork: What to Find, Keep, Scan and Shred
- Talking to a Parent About Money Without Taking Over
Common questions
What does it cost to use this site?
Nothing. The introduction is free and there is no obligation after the first call. If you go ahead, you pay the bookkeeping firm directly at whatever you agree with them, and we take no share of it.
Does my parent have to agree?
If your parent is able to make their own decisions, yes, and the work goes better when they are part of it from the first call. Banks and billers will also want their permission, or the authority of someone legally acting for them. Where a parent can no longer decide for themselves, the question of who has authority is one for an elder law attorney, and the guide on taking over a parent’s bills explains the usual routes.
Do I need power of attorney first?
Not always. A parent who is fully capable can sign the forms that let a bookkeeper see statements and pay bills on their behalf. A durable power of attorney matters because it keeps working if that changes. If your family does not have one, it is worth raising with an attorney now, while your parent can still sign it.
Whose account do the payments come from?
Your parent’s own. Bills are paid from their accounts straight to the company that sent the bill, and every payment shows on their statement. How payments are released, and who approves them, is agreed in writing at the start.
We live in different states. Does that matter?
No. Everything is done remotely: mail can be redirected or scanned, statements come through online banking, and documents go through a secure portal. The bookkeeper does not need to be near your parent, and neither do you.
Can a private caregiver be paid through proper payroll?
Your bookkeeper can run payroll for a privately hired caregiver in any state: registrations, withholding, pay stubs, the quarterly state filings and the year-end W-2. The caregiver guide explains when a family becomes a household employer and what that involves.
What happens to my parent’s tax return?
Your bookkeeper keeps the records a tax preparer needs and hands them a tidy year-end package: the 1099s and SSA-1099, medical and care costs, property tax, donations and caregiver payroll totals. The return itself is prepared by whichever preparer your parent uses.
Can my brother and I both see what is going on?
Yes, if your parent agrees. A short monthly report goes to whoever the family names: what came in, what was paid, anything unusual, and what is coming up. It tends to end a lot of arguments.
Are you the bookkeeping firm?
No, and you should know that before you share anything. This site is an advertising and referral service. When you call or send a request we pass it to an independent bookkeeping firm that does this work for families every week. We do not handle anyone’s money, we are not attorneys or financial advisers, and we take no cut of what you pay.
Tell us about your family's situation
A few lines is enough: who needs the help, what is piling up, and whether anything is urgent. A person replies within one business day to set up a short, free call. Requests answered within one business day · Calls Mon–Fri, 9am–5pm Eastern Or call (888) 833-9039 if you would rather talk first.