Updated Checked by the Tax-Services.ca editorial team How we check
Yes, you can do your own bookkeeping in Canada. No rule says a business owner needs a licence or a bookkeeper. The CRA asks that your records are complete and organized, that you keep them for six years, and that you can back up every number on your return. Sales tax is where do-it-yourself books most often go wrong.
What does the CRA ask you to keep?
The CRA’s wording is that records are all of your accounting and other financial documents, and they must be kept organized. In practice that means income and expense records, and, where they apply, motor vehicle records, property records, GST/HST records and payroll records.
How long to hold on to them is a separate rule: six years from the end of the last tax year they relate to, unless the CRA has given you permission to destroy them sooner. The CRA’s page on where to keep records and for how long also covers the exceptions (page date August 3, 2026). Records of long-term property purchases and sales, and share registries, are kept with no end date. Keep records at your place of business or home in Canada. Electronic copies kept outside Canada are only acceptable with the CRA's permission and if they are accessible in Canada in a readable format. To destroy records early you need the CRA's written permission, requested on Form T137. Doing the books yourself doesn’t change any of it, and neither does hiring someone later, because you stay responsible for the records either way.
When is doing it yourself a good idea?
When the business is small and the paperwork is thin. A freelancer with a handful of clients, one bank account and no staff can usually keep a clean set of books in an hour or two a week. You know the business better than anyone, and you’ll spot a strange number faster than a stranger would.
It gets harder with volume, staff and sales tax. A shop with hundreds of sales a week, or a company that runs payroll, has more places to slip. Hand it off if the hours you spend on receipts are hours you’d otherwise spend earning money, and keep it if the work takes you twenty minutes and you find it oddly calming.
What does the sales tax side look like?
This is where do-it-yourself books most often go wrong. Take an Ontario business that sells $60,000 in a year. At 13% HST, it collects $7,800 from customers. If it also paid $20,000 for business costs, it paid $2,600 of HST on those. If the business is registered, the amount it sends the CRA is the difference, $5,200, before any other adjustments.
You can check the split yourself with the GST/HST calculator. Do you have to register at all? Not if you’re a small supplier, which means your taxable sales are $30,000 or less in any single calendar quarter and over the last four quarters. Go over either number and you must register, within 29 days of the sale that put you over the limit in the single-quarter case. You can also register voluntarily below the limit, which some owners do to claim tax back on their costs, but the CRA guide says you must then stay registered for at least one year before you can cancel. The CRA’s GST/HST registrant guide has the details.
What should you track each month?
| Task | How often | What it prevents |
|---|---|---|
| Save receipts and invoices | Weekly | Lost deductions |
| Match bank and card statements to your records | Monthly | Errors sitting unnoticed |
| Set aside sales tax collected | Every sale | A surprise bill |
| Remit payroll deductions | Per your schedule | Interest and penalties |
| Back up your files | Monthly | Losing the lot |
Use accounting software or a plain spreadsheet, whichever you’ll actually open. This site hasn’t compared any product and makes no claim about them. The best tool is the one you use every week.
Jordan, who runs a small bike-repair business out of a garage in Saskatoon, uses a spreadsheet and a Sunday-evening habit: log the week’s sales, snap the receipts, match the bank. About forty minutes. At tax time there’s nothing to dig out.
Can you do your own bookkeeping and still use an accountant?
Yes, and many owners do. You keep the books, and an accountant reviews them once a year and prepares the return. That costs less than full service, because the accountant starts with tidy records. Fees vary a lot, so get a written quote before you commit.
If you’re a sole proprietor, the self-employed tax calculator gives you an idea of what your profit will cost you in tax and CPP. One gap: it leaves EI out. If you have staff, the payroll remittance calculator covers what you owe on their pay. And a corporation can see roughly what its profit will cost in the corporate tax calculator. The wider picture is in the guide to self-employed taxes.
Which financial records and bank statements do you need?
Small business bookkeeping starts with a business bank account and one credit card used only for the business, so financial transactions never mix with personal ones. Every transaction then has a home, and the monthly bank statements become the backbone of your financial records. Record each transaction, whether a sale, an expense or a payment, match it to a statement, and keep the receipt that supports it. Payments you receive and payments you make both need a line, along with the information that explains them, such as the customer, the supplier and the date.
Once a month, take a look at the totals. Income less expenses shows whether the business is making money, and a simple cash flow list of what came in and what went out shows whether you can pay the bills. Accounting software can produce these financial statements from your entries, which is a good reason to keep the entries clean. Your bookkeeping needs will grow with the business, so review the system each year and ask whether it still fits.
Mistakes that hurt later
Mixing personal and business spending is the big one. Get a separate account and card on day one, even if you’re a sole proprietor. The next is leaving everything until March. Twelve months of receipts in a drawer is a weekend of misery, and you’ll forget what half of them were for.
The third is treating the owner’s pay wrongly. In a sole proprietorship, taking money out isn’t an expense. In a corporation, salary and dividends are treated differently. If you’re unsure which you’re in, ask before you record anything.
The fourth is skipping the sales tax set-aside. HST you collect isn’t revenue. Park it in a separate account and the quarterly bill stops being a shock.
Sources, and how we checked them
The record rules come from the CRA's page on where to keep records and for how long, and the small supplier limit and registration timing from its GST/HST registrant guide (RC4022). The HST rate for Ontario comes from the CRA’s GST/HST rates page. We read all three again on November 12, 2026. The example arithmetic is ours. No government body has reviewed or endorsed what you read here.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a licence to keep my own books?
We found no rule requiring one for your own business. The CRA asks that your records are complete and organized, and that you can support every figure on your return. You stay responsible for the records even if you hire an accountant or bookkeeper later, so doing it yourself does not change your duties.
What records must a business keep?
Income and expense records, plus motor vehicle, property, GST/HST and payroll records where they apply. The CRA says to keep them at your place of business or home in Canada, and to keep most records for six years from the end of the last tax year they relate to.
How long do I keep business records?
Generally six years from the end of the last tax year they relate to. Records of long-term property purchases and sales and share registries have no end date. If the CRA has not given written permission to destroy them early, keep them, and use Form T137 to ask for permission.
Do I have to register for GST/HST if I do my own books?
Only if you are over the small supplier limit: more than $30,000 of taxable sales in any single calendar quarter or in the last four quarters in a row. You then register within 29 days of the sale that put you over. You can register voluntarily below the limit, but you must stay registered for a year.
Should I use software or a spreadsheet?
Either works for a small business, so pick the one you will open every week. A spreadsheet suits a freelancer with one bank account and a few clients. Software helps once sales, staff or sales tax grow. We have not compared products and make no claim about any of them.
Can an accountant review books I kept myself?
Yes. Many owners keep the books and hire an accountant for the year-end work and the return. That usually costs less than full service because the accountant starts with tidy records. Fees vary a lot, so get a written quote before you commit.
- Self-employed taxes in Canada: income, CPP and GST
How tax works when you are self-employed in Canada: reporting income and expenses, paying both halves of CPP, instalments and when to register for GST