Updated Checked by the Tax-Services.ca editorial team How we check
Accounting services for small business fall into a handful of jobs: bookkeeping, payroll, GST/HST returns, year-end statements and the tax return. You rarely need all of them at once. A one-person shop with steady sales may only need help at year end, while a business with three employees and HST needs monthly attention.
We couldn’t confirm what any firm charges, and fees vary too much to quote. What we can do is help you decide what to buy, and what to ask before you sign.
What can an accountant or bookkeeper do for you?
Bookkeeping is the daily record: sales, spending, bank matching. Payroll is the cycle of pay, deductions and remittances. Sales tax work means preparing your GST/HST return and filing it on time. At year end someone prepares financial statements and, for a company, the corporate return, or for a sole proprietor, the business section of your personal return.
Advice is a separate thing from all of that. Should you incorporate? How should you pay yourself? When does an owner need instalments? Those are judgement calls, and they’re the reason to hire a person rather than a program.
Which services do you need at your stage?
| Your situation | Usually worth outsourcing |
|---|---|
| Sole proprietor, under $30,000 of sales, no staff | Year-end tax return only |
| Sole proprietor registered for GST/HST | Tax return, plus a check on the sales tax filings |
| Owner with employees | Payroll setup, remittances, T4 slips |
| Incorporated company | Corporate return, year-end statements, pay planning |
| Fast growth or a sale planned | Regular reviews and tax planning |
The $30,000 line comes from the CRA’s small supplier rule. Once your taxable revenue passes it, in one quarter or across four, you have 29 days to register for GST/HST. The CRA’s page on registering for a GST/HST account says the effective date is usually the day you stop being a small supplier, so don’t sit on it.
How can a payroll example show what you’re paying for?
Take one employee paid $2,000 a month in Ontario. The payroll remittance calculator shows $244.53 held back from pay and $147.29 added by you as the employer, so $391.82 goes to the CRA each month. The full monthly cost to you is $2,147.29.
That’s one employee and one month. Multiply it by a team, add vacation pay and a mid-year raise, and you can see why owners hand this off. It’s also an easy job to check, since the maths is published and any provider should match it. That figure is an estimate, and your real remittance depends on each employee’s forms.
Do you need an accountant, a bookkeeper, or both?
They overlap, but the jobs differ. A bookkeeper keeps the day-to-day record and tends to cost less per hour than someone doing tax planning, though we couldn’t confirm any rates. An accountant takes that record, prepares the year-end statements and returns, and gives advice. Plenty of small businesses use a bookkeeper monthly and an accountant once a year.
Take Kofi, a freelance designer in Mississauga who just crossed into HST. He hires a bookkeeper for an hour a month to keep the books straight and the sales tax separate, then brings the tidy file to an accountant at tax time. The accountant’s year-end job is quicker because the groundwork is done. If he’d handed over a pile of unsorted receipts, the cleanup would have been the expensive part. Our guide on self-employed and small business taxes covers the basics that sit around this choice.
What should you ask before you hire someone?
Start with what’s included. Does the price cover the sales tax returns, or only the annual return? Will they answer questions between deadlines? Who does the work, the person you meet or someone junior? Ask how you’ll share documents and where the files live once you leave.
Ask which professional body they belong to and look them up on that body’s public register. Ask what happens if the CRA writes to you, and whether representation costs extra. Get the scope and the fee in writing. If a quote looks far below the rest, find out what’s missing.
And test them. Give a real question, like “Would I save money by incorporating at my income?” A good answer asks about your income, other earners in the household and how much cash you need personally. A bad one says yes to everything.
What can you check yourself before you pay?
Quite a lot. On $80,000 of net income in Ontario, the self-employed tax calculator shows $22,126 of income tax and CPP, or 27.7% of income. If your accountant’s estimate is far off that, ask why. There may be a good reason, such as deductions or other income, but you should hear it.
For a company, the corporate tax calculator gives an estimate on active business income. On $300,000 in Ontario it shows $35,088, or 11.7%, though the provincial part is a blend for 2026 and not a published rate. Your accountant’s number will reflect your actual year end, associated companies and investment income.
The tax instalments calculator is another cheap check. If your expected tax owing is $6,000, it shows four payments of $1,500, due March 15, June 15, September 15 and December 15.
Mistakes when hiring help
- Handing over a shoebox in March and expecting a bargain. Tidy records cost less to process.
- Assuming the accountant will file your GST/HST unless you agreed it. Ask who is responsible for each deadline.
- Skipping your own books. The CRA expects records kept for six years, and that duty stays with you.
- Picking on price alone. Cheap and wrong costs more.
- Never reading what you sign. A return or sales tax filing goes out under your name, so look at the totals before it does.
Where the numbers come from
Registration and record rules come from Canada Revenue Agency guidance, read in September 2026. Tax figures come from the calculators on this site, which use 2026 federal and Ontario schedules. No fee or ranking claims are made, because we couldn’t verify any. No level of government runs or endorses this site.
Frequently asked questions
What do accounting services for a small business include?
Usually bookkeeping, payroll, GST/HST returns, year-end statements and tax returns. Advice on incorporating or paying yourself is a separate service.
Do I need an accountant if I'm a sole proprietor?
Not always. With low sales, no staff and simple expenses, help at year end may be enough.
How much do accounting services cost?
We couldn't confirm typical fees, so we don't quote any. Ask for the scope and price in writing.
Does hiring an accountant replace my own records?
No. The CRA expects you to keep records for six years, and that duty stays with the business owner.
How can I check an estimate I'm given?
Run the same figures through the self-employed or corporate tax calculators. A large gap is a reason to ask questions.
- How to choose a tax preparer in Canada
How to decide if you need a tax preparer, what a preparer does, the questions to ask before you hire one and where to find free help in Canada