What is monthly bookkeeping?
Monthly bookkeeping is the work of finishing last month properly before the next one is far along: every bank, card and processor account matched to its statement, each transaction coded, accruals posted, and statements produced that an owner can read without a translator. We close each month by the 10th of the following month, so the numbers behind your decisions are a few weeks old at most.
Every close ends with a short written note. It covers what changed, what looks wrong, and what we need from you. It is written for the person who runs the business, not for another accountant.
What does Abbotsford Bookkeeping include in monthly bookkeeping?
- Reconciliation of every bank account, credit card, line of credit and payment processor
- Coding and review of transactions against a chart of accounts built around how you operate
- A monthly profit and loss, balance sheet and list of who owes you money
- Follow-up on anything unusual inside the same close, not three months later
- A plain-language summary with the questions we need answered
Which software do you use for monthly bookkeeping?
QuickBooks Online or Xero for the ledger, Dext to capture receipts and bills, and Plooto when suppliers need paying. If you already use one of these, we work in your file. If you are starting from scratch, QuickBooks Online suits most small Canadian businesses and we set it up.
Some farms keep herd, flock or crop records in their own software. We leave those tools alone and tie their totals back to the ledger each month.
How is a bookkeeper different from an accountant or a tax preparer?
A bookkeeper keeps the records current every month, an accountant reviews them and advises, and a tax preparer files the returns once a year. Most owner-operators use at least two of the three, often from different firms.
| Role | Main job | How often | Typical cost (CAD) | Usual credential |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bookkeeper | Records, reconciliations, monthly statements, GST and PST returns | Monthly | Roughly $400 to $2,000 a month | CPB or equivalent experience |
| Accountant (CPA) | Reviews the financials, advises on structure, posts year-end entries | Yearly, plus check-ins | Usually billed by the hour | CPA |
| Tax preparer | Prepares and files the corporate (T2) or personal (T1) return | Once a year | Often a fixed fee at year-end | CPA or trained tax preparer |
We are bookkeepers. At year-end your accountant receives a reconciled, documented file, so their work starts from numbers that already agree.
What is not included in monthly bookkeeping?
Tax returns. The monthly work keeps the books current. The annual close and the package for your accountant sit in year-end preparation, and the corporate or personal return is filed by your CPA. If you do not have one, we can suggest accounting firms in the Fraser Valley that work with farms and small businesses.
What does monthly bookkeeping cost in Abbotsford?
Monthly bookkeeping costs $500 to $750 a month CAD on our Steady tier (0 to 50 transactions a month), $800 to $1,200 on Considered (50 to 150, usually with payroll), and $1,250 to $2,000 on Bespoke (150 or more, or several related companies). The price moves with the number of accounts, payroll, how many entities there are, and whether a backlog has to be cleared first through catch-up bookkeeping. We quote after a 20-minute call.
How does monthly bookkeeping handle farm and seasonal cash flow in Abbotsford?
It records the year as it happens rather than as twelve even months. A berry grower's sales arrive over a few summer weeks while seed, fertiliser and labour are paid in spring. A dairy's milk income is steady, but quota financing, feed contracts and equipment payments are not. A carrier's fuel and repair bills rise and fall with the hauling season. A monthly close shows each swing while there is still time to plan around it.
For these businesses we:
- keep operating lines, equipment loans and quota financing in separate accounts so interest and principal post correctly
- record grower and supplier bills in the month they are owed, not the month they are paid
- show the sales tax and payroll amounts building up in busy months, so the slow months are not short
- compare each month with the same month last year, because July against February says very little on a farm
A good fit if
- You run a farm, fleet, shop or practice in Abbotsford or nearby
- You have anywhere from a few dozen to several hundred transactions a month
- You want the same bookkeeper in June as in January
Probably not the right fit if
- Your whole bookkeeping budget is under about $300 a month
- You only want a tax return filed once a year
- You need an enterprise system outside QuickBooks Online and Xero