How we think about family enterprises
A family enterprise is usually several companies that grew one decision at a time. A farm on Matsqui Prairie might start as one company. Later the land moves into a holding company, a second generation starts a trucking or processing business, and a rental or two is bought with surplus cash. Each step makes sense on its own. Together they create loans, management fees and shared costs that have to be kept straight every month, or they become very hard to untangle at year-end or when the next generation steps in.
We close every entity on the same schedule, reconcile what each owes the others, and produce one view of the group that the family can read together.
What makes the books different
- Intercompany loans that agree. When the farm pays the holding company's property tax, or the trucking company hauls for the farm, both sides are recorded in the same month. A schedule shows every balance between entities. It should net to zero, and when it does not, we find out why before the close is finished.
- Shareholder loans for each family member. Parents, children and in-laws may draw from or lend to different companies. Each person's shareholder loan account is reconciled monthly, so balances are known rather than estimated. The tax rules on those balances belong with your CPA.
- Consolidated reporting through the seasons. A combined profit and loss and balance sheet for the group, with intercompany amounts removed, sits beside each entity's own statements. Farm income that arrives with harvest or the flock cycle shows next to steadier rent or hauling income, so the family sees the group's real cash position in March as well as in September.
- Employer Health Tax across the group. BC employers with $1,000,000 or less in BC remuneration are exempt from the Employer Health Tax, and associated employers share one exemption. We total BC payroll across the companies each month so the group can see where it stands. Whether your companies are associated is for your CPA to confirm.
What a monthly close looks like for you
By the 10th, every entity's bank, card and loan accounts are reconciled for the month before. Intercompany entries are matched on both sides, shareholder loan statements are updated for each family member, and the consolidated summary is prepared.
You receive each company's statements, the group view, the intercompany and shareholder loan schedules, and a short note on what moved and what we need. One person in the family can be the main contact, while whoever handles each company's paperwork works with us directly.
Tools we commonly use for family enterprise clients
QuickBooks Online or Xero, with one file per entity, and a consolidation workbook your accountant can open. Dext to capture bills for each company. Plooto with approval rules, so the right family member signs off on each company's payments. Wagepoint for payroll in each company that employs staff. Herd, flock or crop software on the farm stays as it is, and we tie its totals back to the ledger.
Partners we work with
CPAs prepare the group's returns and lead tax, succession and estate planning. Estate and corporate lawyers draft wills, shareholder agreements and reorganisations. Lenders, including agricultural lenders, review the group when credit is renewed. Planning itself sits with those advisers. What we provide is the record they start from: supported balances, reconciled loan accounts, and a clear history of which company owns what. When a group needs someone watching cash and reporting across every entity, fractional controller work adds that layer.
A good fit if
- Your family owns two or more related companies in or around Abbotsford, such as a farm, a holding company and an operating business
- Money moves between those companies, or between them and family members, most months
- You want records that will hold up when the next generation, a lender or a buyer looks at them