- Every bank, credit-card and loan account is reconciled to its statement each month, not only at year-end.
- Each month ends with a close package: financial statements, reconciliations, receivables and payables aging, and notes on anything unusual.
- A CPA partner oversees the file, so the books meet the standard that year-end statements and tax filings need.
- Payroll, HST and source-deduction remittances are tracked against CRA deadlines.
- Bookkeeping
- Bookkeeping is the ongoing recording, categorizing and reconciling of a business's financial transactions, so that its books agree with its bank, credit-card and loan statements and can be used to prepare financial statements.
What bookkeeping means here
Bookkeeping is the daily and monthly record of what your business earned, spent, owes and is owed. Done well, it is invisible: the numbers are simply right when you need them. Done poorly, every decision, loan application and year-end starts with a clean-up.
Our standard is simple. Your books should be kept so well that your accountant does not have to redo them. Every account is reconciled each month. Transactions are coded consistently. Receivables and payables are current. Each month ends with a close package a CPA can review and sign off on.
Because our CPA partner oversees the bookkeeping, the monthly work is done with year-end in mind. Accruals, HST and payroll are handled correctly through the year, so most of the year-end file is assembled before the year ends.
Who it's for, and who it isn't
A good fit
- Owner-managed businesses whose books are kept by the owner, a family member or a part-time bookkeeper and have started to slip.
- Companies outgrowing a basic bookkeeper that want CPA oversight without hiring a full-time controller.
- Professional practices and trades companies with payroll, HST and regular supplier bills.
- Real-estate investors with several properties or corporations that must be kept separate.
- Owners who want monthly numbers they can read and act on, not a year-end surprise.
Probably not
- Businesses looking for data entry only, with no reconciliation or review.
- Owners who prefer to keep receipts in a box and hand them over once a year.
- Very early ventures with a handful of transactions a month. A well-set-up accounting file may be all you need for now.
What's included
How we work
- ConsultationWe learn your business, your software, your volume of transactions and who uses your numbers.
- DiagnosticWe review the current books: reconciliations, coding, open receivables and payables, and HST and payroll filings.
- Written proposalScope and monthly fee in writing, including any clean-up or catch-up work needed first.
- Clean-up and set-upWe bring the books current, fix the chart of accounts and set up the monthly routine.
- Monthly cycleRecord, reconcile, review, close. Each month ends with a close package and a short note on what changed.
- Year-end hand-offThe year-end file goes to our CPA partner already reconciled, so accounting work starts from solid ground.
What a month-end close package includes
- Month-end close
- A month-end close is the routine of reconciling every account, recording adjustments and reviewing the results, so that a month's financial statements are complete and can be relied on.
| Item | What it shows | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Income statement | Revenue, costs and profit for the month and year to date | Tells you whether the month made money |
| Balance sheet | Cash, receivables, payables, loans and equity at month-end | Shows what the business owns and owes |
| Bank and card reconciliations | Each account matched to its statement | Proves the cash figures are real |
| Receivables aging | Unpaid customer invoices by age | Flags collection problems early |
| Payables aging | Unpaid supplier bills by due date | Plans cash for upcoming payments |
| HST and payroll summary | Amounts collected, owed and remitted | Helps avoid CRA penalties and interest |
| Notes | Unusual items, open questions and adjustments made | Gives context the numbers cannot |
Our full routine is in The month-end close checklist we use for every client.
Cash or accrual?
Cash basis records income when money arrives and expenses when money leaves. Accrual basis records income when it is earned and expenses when they are incurred, whether or not cash has moved. Cash basis is easier to follow day to day. Accrual gives a truer picture of profit for any business with receivables, payables or inventory.
For tax purposes, CRA generally expects business income to be reported on an accrual basis. Farming and fishing businesses are the main exceptions.
We keep most clients on accrual, often with a cash-flow view alongside it. Read more in Cash vs accrual accounting: which one should your business use?
How it's priced
Bookkeeping is quoted as a fixed monthly scope, in writing, after a diagnostic of your current books. Any clean-up or catch-up work is quoted separately and up front, so you know what it involves before it starts.
The fee is driven by transaction volume, the number of bank, card and loan accounts, how many employees are on payroll and how often you run it, receivables and payables activity, inventory, multiple entities or locations, and the condition of the books today. Good source documents and connected bank feeds reduce the work. For more on how bookkeeping is priced, read How much does monthly bookkeeping cost in Ontario?
Questions owners ask
How much does monthly bookkeeping cost in Ontario?
It depends on volume and complexity: the number of transactions and accounts, payroll, receivables, inventory and how clean the books are now. We quote a fixed monthly scope in writing after a short diagnostic. Our guide to bookkeeping cost in Ontario explains the drivers in detail.
Cash vs accrual: which should my business use?
Most businesses with customers on credit, supplier bills or inventory are better served by accrual, and CRA generally expects business income to be reported that way. Cash basis can work for internal tracking in very simple operations. See Cash vs accrual accounting.
What should a month-end close package include?
At minimum: an income statement, a balance sheet, bank and credit-card reconciliations, receivables and payables aging, and an HST and payroll summary. We add notes on anything unusual. Our month-end close checklist lists every step.
Which accounting software do you work with?
We work in the major cloud accounting platforms used by Ontario small businesses. If your current software no longer fits, we will say so, and our ERP and CRM practice can help you choose and migrate. We take no referral fees from software vendors.
My books are a year behind. Can you catch them up?
Yes. Catch-up work is scoped separately: we reconcile month by month from the last reliable point, file any outstanding HST or payroll returns, and then move you onto the monthly routine.
Do you handle payroll?
Yes. We run pay, calculate CPP, EI and income tax deductions, remit to CRA on your schedule, prepare records of employment when needed, and issue T4s by the last day of February.
How long should I keep my business records?
CRA generally requires records to be kept for six years from the end of the last tax year they relate to. We keep the books and supporting documents organized so you can find them when asked.