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A bookkeeping schedule for a Canadian small business can be as light as thirty minutes a week, one monthly close and a check before each tax date. What your accountant adds is the calendar: which returns you file, how often, and who needs what from whom. Write that down once and the rest is routine.
Most schedules fail for a boring reason. Someone builds an ambitious plan in January, misses it in February and gives up by spring. So start smaller than feels sensible.
What belongs in a weekly and monthly routine?
Weekly work is about not falling behind. Match your bank and card transactions to invoices and receipts, code them, and file the paper or the photo. Half an hour a week is a fair target to start with. If the pile is bigger than that, split it into two shorter sessions, and tell your accountant the backlog is real before it turns into a year-end problem for both of you.
Monthly, close the month. Reconcile each bank account to the statement, review what customers still owe you, and look at what’s unpaid on your side. Send your accountant a short list of anything odd, such as a big purchase or a personal expense that got into the business account.
Where do the dates come from? Mostly from the accounts you hold with the CRA. Payroll remittance dates depend on your remitter type, which the CRA bases on your average monthly withholding from two calendar years ago. GST/HST monthly and quarterly filers file one month after the period ends, and annual filers get three months after the fiscal year end.
| How often | Task | Who |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly | Match transactions, code them, file receipts | You or your bookkeeper |
| Monthly | Reconcile bank and card accounts, review unpaid invoices | Bookkeeper |
| Each GST/HST period | Total tax collected and tax paid, then file | Agree in writing |
| Each payroll date | Remit source deductions on your CRA schedule | Agree in writing |
| Last day of February | T4 slips filed for the year before | Payroll owner |
| Year end | Send reconciled books and source documents | Bookkeeper to accountant |
How often should I meet my accountant?
Less often than you think.
A short call each quarter and a longer meeting before year end suits many owners. Book the year’s dates in advance, so both diaries are ready before the busy season starts.
The quarter call has a plain agenda. Check the numbers, ask what’s changed in the rules that affect you, and decide who does what before the next one.
If you owe tax as a self-employed person, ask about instalments at that call. The 2026 dates are March 15, June 15, September 15 and December 15. The tax instalments calculator shows how a $6,000 expected bill turns into four payments of $1,500, with a $3,000 threshold.
How much should I set aside each month?
Do it as part of the monthly close, not at tax time. Say you’re self-employed in Ontario and expect to net $60,000. The self-employed tax calculator shows $7,879 of income tax and $6,724 of CPP, so $14,603 together. That’s about $1,217 a month to move into a separate account.
Sales tax works differently, because it isn’t your money. If you sell $8,000 before tax in an Ontario month, 13% HST adds $1,040, which the GST/HST calculator confirms on any amount you enter. That $1,040 sits aside until the return is due, less the tax you paid on business purchases.
The tax calculator leaves out GST/HST, EI and business expenses, and it uses 2026 rates. Treat the monthly figure as a floor to check with your accountant.
What breaks a bookkeeping schedule?
Mixing personal and business spending is the big one. Every mixed transaction needs a decision later, and those decisions pile up. Open a separate account and stick to it.
Another is leaving payroll and sales tax to memory. A task nobody owns gets missed. Put a name next to each deadline in the table above and put the dates in both calendars.
Then there’s the year-end scramble. If your books are three months behind in March, your accountant starts with cleanup, not advice, and you’ll wait longer. We couldn’t confirm what firms charge for catch-up work, so ask before you agree to it.
Keep your records for six years from the end of the last tax year they relate to. Electronic records count, so a scanned receipt in your software is fine. Our note on getting ready for tax season shows what to send and when.
Where the numbers come from
GST/HST and payroll timing, instalment dates and the record keeping rule come from the Canada Revenue Agency’s 2026 tax deadlines page, its GST/HST reporting page and its record keeping guide (RC188). Those dates apply to 2026 activity and to the 2025 return. Calculator results use our own 2026 federal and Ontario tables, and they’re estimates.
Frequently asked questions
How often should I do my bookkeeping?
Weekly for matching and filing, and once a month to close the books. Half an hour a week is a fair place to start.
When are GST/HST returns due?
Monthly and quarterly filers file one month after the period ends. Annual filers have three months after the fiscal year end, and sole proprietors with a December 31 year end file by June 15 and pay by April 30.
What decides my payroll remittance dates?
Your remitter type, which the CRA sets using your average monthly withholding from two calendar years ago.
Can I keep receipts as photos?
The CRA accepts electronic records, including those from accounting software. Keep them for six years from the end of the last tax year they relate to.
How much should I set aside for tax?
It depends on your income. On $60,000 of net self-employed income in Ontario, our calculator shows about $14,603 of income tax and CPP, which is roughly $1,217 a month.
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Information only. This page is general information, not tax, legal or accounting advice. Tax-Services.ca is an independent publisher: we don't prepare or file tax returns or offer tax services, and we have no connection with the CRA, Revenu Québec, any government or any company named on this page. Check the figures that matter with an official source or a qualified professional.