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The time to hand your books to a professional is when the work stops fitting into your week, or when a filing you can’t afford to get wrong shows up. Three triggers are common: you cross the $30,000 GST/HST line, you hire your first employee, or you incorporate. Professional bookkeeping is easier to start before any of those than after.
When does DIY bookkeeping stop working?
Not at a set revenue number. It stops when the mistakes cost more than the fee would, or when you dread opening the spreadsheet. Some events force the issue, because each one adds a filing with its own deadline.
| What changed | What it adds to the books |
|---|---|
| Taxable sales pass $30,000 over four quarters, or in one quarter | GST/HST registration, tax collected on sales, tax paid on purchases, regular returns |
| First employee | Payroll deductions, remittances, year-end slips |
| Incorporation | A separate set of books for the company, a corporate return, shareholder accounts |
| Instalments start (more than $3,000 owing) | Tax paid during the year, tracked against expected income |
| Bank, loan or grant application | Statements someone else will read |
The CRA says you must register within 29 days of losing small supplier status, and it counts revenue from taxable supplies only. If you sell exempt services, that changes the count, so check which of your sales are exempt before you assume the limit applies to you. The CRA’s general information for GST/HST registrants spells out the small supplier test. The GST/HST calculator shows the tax on a sale, for example $3,900 of HST on $30,000 in Ontario.
What does one missed expense cost you?
More than most people guess.
Say you’re a sole proprietor in Ontario with $60,000 of net income. The self-employed tax calculator puts income tax at $7,879.42 and CPP at $6,723.50, so $14,602.92 in all.
Now suppose you had $3,000 of real expenses sitting in a shoebox and never entered them. On $57,000 the bill is $13,652.96. That’s $949.96 you paid for nothing, or close to a month of groceries for a family.
Two cautions. The calculator lowers CPP only when you cut the income line itself, and it leaves out EI and GST/HST. So treat $950 as a fair size of the problem, not a promise. And it works the other way: an expense you can’t back up with a receipt isn’t safe to claim.
If you already owe more than $3,000 a year, the tax instalments calculator shows the schedule. Owing $6,000 means four payments of $1,500, and missing them costs interest.
How do you hand your books over?
Don’t tidy everything first. A bookkeeper can sort mess, and it’s cheaper to let them see the real state of things than to spend a month on a cleaner mess. But a few items make the first week go far better.
- Bank and card statements for every account you use for the business, including any you shouldn’t have used.
- Last year’s tax return and your GST/HST filings, if you’re registered.
- Payroll records, if you have staff.
- Invoices you’ve issued and any you still haven’t been paid for.
- Loan and lease agreements.
Paper and electronic records both count, but the CRA expects electronic ones to stay readable and backed up. The retention rule is six years from the end of the last tax year they relate to. Any bookkeeper you hire should know that rule without looking it up.
How do you pick someone for professional bookkeeping?
Ask what the fee includes, because there is no official price list for bookkeeping and we won’t guess. Then ask three plain questions. Who does the work, the person you meet or someone else? What happens when they’re away? Can you get your data out in a usable form if you leave?
On credentials, ask what they hold and check it. Provincial CPA bodies keep public directories for their own members, and CPA Ontario’s lists members, firms and licence holders. Not every good bookkeeper is a CPA, so a missing designation isn’t a red flag by itself. A vague answer to the question is.
Also ask if they’ve worked with businesses like yours. A restaurant’s books and a consultant’s books have little in common. Our page on red flags when hiring an accountant covers the warning signs in more detail.
What does the first month with a bookkeeper look like?
Expect a lot of questions. They’ll ask about odd transactions, unlabelled e-transfers and the cheque that cleared in March. Answer fast, even if the answer is “I don’t remember”, because a quick reply beats a guess. By the end of the first month you should have a reconciled set of accounts, a list of open questions and a calendar of what’s due. If you don’t, say so.
What goes wrong in the switch?
Handovers cause most of the trouble.
Access to the bank feed is set up late. Old receipts are in the previous person’s drawer. Nobody says who files the GST/HST return, so both of you assume it’s the other.
Get the split written down: who records, who reconciles, who files, who pays, and who tells you when a deadline is close. Keep the final say on the numbers yourself. You’re the one who signs the return, and the CRA holds you responsible for what’s on it.
The other limit is scope. A bookkeeper records and reconciles. Advice on structure, salary against dividends or a corporate year-end usually sits with an accountant, so ask where the line is. The payroll remittance calculator is a handy way to see what an employee adds each pay period. On $2,000 gross every two weeks in Ontario, the employer sends the CRA $555.05 in total, including the amounts held back from pay.
Do you have to hand over everything?
No. Plenty of owners keep the weekly chores, like snapping receipts and sending invoices, and pass the monthly reconciliation and the sales tax return to someone else. That hybrid costs less than full service and keeps you close to your numbers. Try it for a quarter, see where the hours really go, and move more across only if the pile keeps winning. A good bookkeeper will tell you honestly which jobs aren’t worth paying for.
One more thing before you decide: ask yourself what an hour of your own time is worth. If a Saturday of sorting receipts costs you a day you’d rather spend on customers, or with your family, the maths often favours handing it over, even before you count a single missed deduction.
Where this information comes from
Record-keeping rules and the six-year period come from Canada Revenue Agency pages on keeping records and on retention and destruction. The $30,000 small supplier rule and the 29-day registration window come from the CRA’s GST/HST registration page. Examples use this site’s calculators with 2026 data. We have no link with the CRA, any government or any accounting body.
Frequently asked questions
When should I stop doing my own bookkeeping?
When a new filing appears, such as GST/HST registration, payroll or a corporation, or when errors cost more than the help would.
How long do I keep my records after switching?
Six years from the end of the last tax year they relate to, in paper or a readable electronic form.
Do I need to clean up my books before I hire someone?
No. Gather statements, last year's return and invoices, and let them sort the rest.
Does a bookkeeper file my tax return?
Not always. Scope varies, so agree in writing who records, who files and who tells you about deadlines.
What does professional bookkeeping cost?
We couldn't confirm typical fees from an official source. Ask for a written quote that lists what it includes.
- 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