Bookkeeping questions, answered
What it costs and what I do
What does a monthly bookkeeper actually do?
Month to month, I reconcile your bank and credit card accounts against the statements, categorize every transaction, chase whatever is missing, and produce financial statements you can actually read. GST/HST gets filed on your schedule, and at year end your accountant gets a package they can work from without coming back to you. The reason it happens every month rather than once at year end is that a decision you make in March should not rest on last December's numbers. Closing monthly means that when you are weighing whether to hire, take on a big job, or buy a piece of equipment, you are looking at what is actually true now instead of guessing.
How much does a bookkeeper cost in Ottawa?
My packages start at $800 a month at one flat rate, so there are no surprise invoices. That covers monthly reconciliations, transaction coding, financial statements, GST/HST filing, and a year-end package for your accountant. Businesses with more accounts and more volume move up to Control at $2,000 or Momentum at $4,500. If your books need cleaning up before the monthly work starts, that is quoted separately based on how far behind things are.
Do I need a bookkeeper or an accountant?
Most growing businesses end up with both, because they do different jobs. I handle the ongoing work: coding transactions, reconciling accounts, filing GST/HST, and producing statements you can actually read. Your accountant takes that and files your corporate return and advises on tax strategy. The cleaner I keep things during the year, the less your accountant has to bill you at year end.
Are you a CPA?
No, and it is worth being clear about what that means. I am a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor and a CPB Canada Technician. I do the ongoing bookkeeping: reconciliations, transaction coding, GST/HST, payroll, and financial statements. I do not prepare or file corporate or personal income tax returns, and I do not give tax advice. That is your accountant's job. Mine is to hand them books clean enough that their bill goes down.
Do you work with corporations and sole proprietors?
Both. The bookkeeping itself barely changes between them. A few account types differ, and what happens at year end on the tax side is different, but that part belongs to your accountant. The monthly work is the same either way.
Can you file my GST/HST?
Yes, GST/HST filing is included in every package. Clarity covers annual filing, and quarterly filing is available as an add-on. Control and Momentum include quarterly or annual filing, whichever your business needs. What I do not do is prepare or file corporate or personal income tax returns, so those go to your accountant.
How it actually works
Can you take over my existing QuickBooks Online account?
Yes, and it is genuinely simple. You send an invite from inside your QuickBooks Online account and I am in. Nothing gets migrated, nothing gets rebuilt, and the file stays yours. If you ever stop working with me, you remove my access and everything is exactly where you left it.
What records do I need to give you each month?
That depends on your business and how it runs, which is one of the things I work out when I first look at your file. Typically I need a copy of every receipt or invoice for money leaving the business, so every dollar can be matched to something. If you raise invoices outside QuickBooks, I need those as well. Bank statements usually come through automatically depending on your bank, and where they do not, I will ask you for them.
Can you work directly with my accountant?
Yes, and gladly. We are not doing the same job, so there is nothing to protect. Through the year there is usually not much back and forth, because there is nothing they need from me until the file closes. At year end I work alongside them so the handover is clean and you are not asked for the same thing twice. If your accountant has a way they like things presented, tell me and that is how they will get it.
Can you fix bookkeeping that someone else did incorrectly?
Yes, and it is more common than books where nothing was done at all. Work that was done wrong can be harder to unpick than a blank file, because you have to work out what was intended before you can correct it. Either way the process is the same: I review the file first, then reconcile, then sort out what is left. How cleanup works
What if my books are years behind?
That is one of the most common reasons people call me, and it is fixable. Catch-up and cleanup is quoted separately from the monthly packages, based on how many months need sorting out and what condition they are in. You do not need to tidy anything up before we talk. I would rather see the real state of things.
Do I have to use QuickBooks Online?
I am a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor and QuickBooks Online is what I work in every day, so it is what I recommend and what my packages are built around. If you are already on it, I can pick up where you are. If you are on something else, or not on anything yet, get in touch and we can talk about moving you over. Setup with an hour of training is available as an add-on.
Where are you based, and do you work with businesses outside Ottawa?
I am based in Ottawa and I work with small businesses across Canada. Everything runs through cloud software, so there is no paperwork drop-off and no need for us to be in the same city.
What happens at year end?
You get a year-end package for your accountant: reconciled accounts, financial statements, and the backup they need, organized rather than handed over as a pile. Accountants bill for their time, so a clean file usually costs you less at year end than a messy one. If you do not have an accountant yet, I can point you toward someone.
How quickly will I hear back?
Within one to two business days, whether you send a message or fill in the intake form. The intake form takes about five minutes and there is no commitment and no payment details involved.