Updated Checked by the Tax-Services.ca editorial team How we check
A bookkeeper keeps the record of what came in and what went out. That’s it, and it’s enough to save you a bad April. If you’re weighing up bookkeeping services in your area, the useful question isn’t who is closest. It’s who will hand you books the CRA can read, six years from now, with every receipt attached to a number.
We can’t confirm what bookkeepers charge or who is good where you live, so no firms or prices appear here. What we can do is tell you what to ask and what to check.
What should bookkeeping services actually deliver?
The CRA’s rule is that you must keep records of all your transactions to support your income and expense claims, and its keeping records pages explain how long and where. Income needs a date, an amount and a source. Expenses need receipts showing the date, the seller and what you bought. Your bookkeeper is really doing that job for you, month after month.
So the deliverable isn’t a report. It’s records you could hand over on request. Ask a candidate how they store receipts, how they’d give you a copy of the whole file if you left, and whether the records stay in Canada. The CRA’s position is that records held on servers outside Canada aren’t treated as kept in Canada, though you can arrange to give it true copies in a readable electronic format.
Bookkeeper or accountant?
A bookkeeper records. An accountant interprets and files. Many small businesses use both, with the bookkeeper feeding clean numbers to an accountant once a year. We couldn’t find one national rule on who may call themselves a bookkeeper, so don’t assume a title tells you anything. Ask for references and ask what they’ve handled for businesses like yours.
| Ask about | Why |
|---|---|
| Payroll remittances | Amounts held back must reach the CRA on time |
| GST/HST returns | The rate depends on where you sell |
| Receipt storage | Six years of retention from the end of the tax year |
| File handover | You own the records and need a copy if you switch |
| Written scope and fee | We could not confirm typical fees |
Do you need a bookkeeper at all?
Not always. Take Dev, who sells handmade candles at weekend markets in Winnipeg. A few dozen sales a month, one bank account, no staff. A spreadsheet and a shoebox of receipts, updated every Sunday, may do the job. The picture changes once you have employees, you collect GST/HST, or you’ve fallen three months behind and the pile has stopped being fun.
A fair test: if you can’t say what your profit was last month, you’re missing the main thing a bookkeeper gives you, and that’s worth a few bucks a month to fix.
What does payroll add to the bill?
More than most owners expect. Take one employee paid $2,500 a month in Ontario. The payroll remittance calculator puts your own share on top of the pay at $188.45. The total you send the CRA each month for that one person is $564.93, of which $376.48 is held back from the employee’s pay and the rest is yours. The full monthly cost of the job is $2,688.45. Multiply it by a team and you can see why a missed remittance hurts.
If a bookkeeper offers to run payroll, test them with that number. If they can’t reproduce it, or explain a difference, look elsewhere.
How can you check their work yourself?
Spot-check a sale. In Ontario, a $100 sale carries $13.00 of HST, and the GST/HST calculator shows a $113.00 total. If the books show a different figure, the tax code is wrong, and it’ll be wrong on every invoice that uses it.
Then look at the total. If you’re a sole proprietor with $50,000 of net business income, the self-employed tax calculator gives $11,495 of income tax and CPP together, which is 23% of the income. It excludes EI, GST/HST and business expenses. Your bookkeeper’s year-end figures won’t match that exactly, but a huge gap needs an explanation.
And keep one habit whatever you decide. Get a monthly report you can read. If you can’t follow it, say so, because a bookkeeper who can’t explain the file in plain words is a risk when the CRA asks questions, and you’re the one who has to answer them.
What if you want to switch bookkeepers?
Ask for the full file before you give notice: bank reconciliations, receipts, the payroll and GST/HST filings, and a list of what has been filed and when. A good bookkeeper hands this over without a fight, since the records are yours. Then give the new person the last two years to look over before they take anything on. Cleaning up the old books is a one-time cost; arguing over who owns them is a long, expensive afternoon.
Where the numbers come from
Record rules come from the Canada Revenue Agency‘s business records and record retention pages, read in September 2026. The calculator figures use 2026 rates from our own engine. We’re an independent site, and no government body is behind it.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a bookkeeper and an accountant?
A bookkeeper records transactions. An accountant interprets the numbers and usually files the returns. Many small firms use both.
How long must business records be kept?
Six years from the end of the last tax year they relate to, according to the CRA.
Do bookkeeping records have to stay in Canada?
The CRA says records kept abroad and accessed from Canada are not counted as kept in Canada, unless you can give it true electronic copies it can read.
How much does a bookkeeper cost?
We couldn't confirm typical fees. Get a written quote that lists what it covers.
How do I check a bookkeeper's numbers?
Test a known figure, such as HST on a $100 sale in Ontario ($13.00), and compare payroll remittances with a calculator.
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