Bookkeeping is not an end in itself. It exists so that the year end is not a scramble, so the tax return is built on something real, and so you can see during the year whether the business is working. We keep the books monthly or quarterly, reconciled to the bank rather than approximately.
If the books have fallen behind — a year, two years, since you started — that is the job we do most often.
What this includes
- Transactions recorded and categorised, monthly or quarterly
- Every bank and credit-card account reconciled to the statement
- Accounts receivable and payable kept current
- The HST control account reconciled to what has actually been filed
- Catch-up work on books that were never finished
- Figures ready for the year end rather than rebuilt at it
Catch-up work is normal
Most businesses that call us have a gap somewhere: a year that was never closed, an account that was never reconciled, a software migration that lost the history. We rebuild it from the bank records, agree it with you, and then keep it current so it does not happen twice.
What good books let you do
Decide what to pay yourself before the year end rather than after it. Know what the tax bill will be in time to put money aside. Answer a CRA review in days instead of weeks. Sell or refinance the business without a three-month delay while someone reconstructs the accounts.
Works with the rest of it
Bookkeeping feeds the corporate return, the HST filings and the year-end statements. Having one firm do all of it means nothing is reconciled twice and nothing falls between two people.
Questions we are asked about this
How far behind can the books be before it is a problem?
There is no point at which it becomes unfixable, but it gets more expensive the longer it is left, because the records needed to reconstruct it get harder to obtain. Bank and credit-card history is usually the limiting factor.
Do I have to change accounting software?
No. We work in what you already use. If your setup is genuinely making the work harder we will say so, but changing software mid-year is rarely worth the disruption on its own.
Monthly or quarterly?
Monthly if you have payroll, stock, or more than a handful of transactions a week, or if you want figures you can actually act on. Quarterly is usually enough for a small holding company or a consultant with few transactions.
Worth reading
Where we work
We are based in Scarborough and act for clients across Toronto and the GTA in person — see accountant in Scarborough and small business accountant in Toronto — and everywhere else in Canada by email and video call.
Our other services
Corporate Tax Returns (T2) · Personal Tax Returns (T1) · Trust Returns (T3) · HST and GST Filing · Payroll · CRA Audits and Disputes · Financial Statements · Tax Planning · Incorporation and Business Setup · Estate and Succession Planning · Cross-Border Tax
Our office
ClearWealth Accounting Advisors
1457 McCowan Rd, Suite 202
Toronto, Ontario M1S 5K7
Get directions
Open Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Phone: (437) 290-5117
Email: info@clearwealth.tax
