Small business bookkeeping
ARC CPA is a Halifax accounting firm. We do the monthly books for around 100 small businesses across Atlantic Canada, most of them in construction, real estate and hospitality, and the tax work that comes after.
Bookkeeping goes wrong quietly
Mismanaged books come from the work being done a different way every year, in a different program, by whoever happened to be available. One year the fuel is under travel, the next year it is under automotive. Nobody is doing anything wrong on purpose. The books just stop describing the business, and that usually surfaces at the worst possible moment: a year end, a bank asking for statements, a letter from the CRA.
At ARC CPA we take the variable out. Every client runs the same software, on the same monthly rhythm, with the same bookkeeper who already knows the industry. It is the least exciting answer in accounting and it is the one that works.
We focus on the books so you can focus on your business.
Whatever you do for your customers is where your attention is worth something. Bookkeeping keeps you away from the work that grows the business: making the connections that win the next job, looking after your people, and solving the problems only you can solve.
Handing it over buys back those hours, and it buys the mental space to spend them on where the business is going instead of wondering whether the numbers are right.
Clean books are also a place to make decisions from. When everything is categorised the same way every month, you can see where the business stands whenever you want to look, measure this year against last, and act on it now instead of finding out at year end.
Owners doing their own books are wasting money left, right and centre. They are worth far more to the business managing relationships and winning work. We are giving them their time back.
How a month runs with ARC CPA
Every client runs the same five steps, because the ARC method does not change from one business to the next. That is exactly what frees your bookkeeper to learn the parts that are specific to yours.
- 01
Your transactions reach us
Your bank and card feeds run into QuickBooks, so what you spent and what you were paid arrives on our side without you doing anything.
- 02
You send the receipts
Photograph them into Dext (what we use for receipt management) as you go. That is the part of the month that needs you, and it takes seconds at a time.
- 03
Your ARC bookkeeper does the books
The same person every month. Everything categorised the way your business is set up, and every account reconciled.
- 04
We ask about what we cannot see
A payment nobody can identify, a transfer that needs context, anything that will not reconcile. You get that list within weeks of it happening, not in April.
- 05
The month is closed
Finished by the end of the month that follows it, with the numbers ready for whatever comes next: your HST filing, your year end, or a lender asking.
Every bookkeeping client we work with is on QuickBooks and Dext, monthly, with no quarterly or annual version. That is what lets any accountant on our team open your file and know immediately where everything is, because every business we look after is built the same way.
See what your first month would look like.
Tell us how the books get done today. We will walk you through what moves over, what we would need from you, and when your numbers would be current.
What ARC's bookkeeping method gets you, every month
One bookkeeper assigned to you
Matched to your industry, and it stays that person. The same one every month, so nobody is relearning the nuances of your business.
Everyone runs QuickBooks and Dext
It is how we work, for every client, and we set it up for you: the conversion, your history, the walkthrough. Your side of it is photographing a receipt.
Your books reconciled every month
Bank, credit card and loan accounts matched to the dollar, so what the books say is what actually happened.
Questions asked while you remember
Once a month we come back with a short list: the payments we cannot explain from our side, asked while you still know what they were for.
The month finished on time
Every month is closed by the end of the month that follows it, so the state of the business is something you can check rather than something you wait for.
Numbers worth comparing
Categories that stay consistent are what make this year measurable against last year. Large changes in category budgets is one of the red flags that CRA looks for, and it is the whole reason we do it the same way every month.
Your ARC bookkeeper knows your industry
We match you to a bookkeeper who already works with businesses like yours, and they stay your bookkeeper. Years inside one industry is what makes someone quick: they know which claims draw attention, what the seasons do to your numbers, and how the rules that changed this year apply to a business that runs the way yours does.
A dedicated bookkeeper also knows your business’s history. When something needs correcting or catching up, the person doing it is the person who has watched the file from the beginning. Above them, ARC accountants review your statements against prior years, so the numbers get a second look from someone whose job is to notice when this year does not resemble last year.
Real estate
Commission reporting works differently at every brokerage, income arrives in waves, and vehicle and meal claims draw more CRA attention here than almost anywhere else.
Construction
HST on multi-month projects and holdbacks is where the money is won or lost, and subcontractor reporting is stricter than most owners realise until a penalty arrives.
Restaurants
High transaction counts, constant payroll movement and thin margins, where a month that closes late is a month you can no longer do anything about.
Why every ARC client uses QuickBooks and Dext
Bookkeepers that are experts in QuickBooks and only using that software is what enables us to catch what other accounting firms juggling five different accounting programs never will. We hold QuickBooks ProAdvisor status and the team trains on it every year, and that training is only worth something because every client we have is in the same place.
At ARC CPA, our methods go further than the software. Expenses are categorised our way, to the structure we know is right for a business like yours, which is why the first thing we do with a set of inherited books is recategorise them. It means your numbers compare properly from one year to the next, and it means the tax team can open your file in the middle of a question and trust what they are looking at.
We do the books for over 100 businesses every month and every one of them runs this way, because years of doing this have shown us what works. It is the ARC method, not a software preference.
Bookkeeping for a corporation is more complicated than for a sole proprietorship
For a sole proprietorship, bookkeeping can be simple. We could teach most sole proprietors enough to satisfy the CRA in half an hour, with a spreadsheet and a rule about which column things go in.
A corporation is a different job. It needs proper double entry books, where every dollar in or out is accounted for, matched to the account that moved it, and reconciled until the whole thing balances. A lot of the work we take on comes from owners who incorporated last year, kept the spreadsheet that served them fine for a decade as a sole proprietor, and found out later that the two are not the same thing.
The rules are a different weight too. A corporation is its own taxpayer, so what it earns, what it pays you and how it pays you are separate questions with separate consequences: salary against dividends, shareholder loans, what the company can and cannot claim, and a corporate return with its own deadlines and its own penalties. Those rules also move. They shift with every federal budget, and HST alone is a world people badly underestimate. Getting any of it right depends on books that were kept properly in the first place.
Nagging feeling the numbers are not right?
Have you incorporated recently, changed bookkeepers, or felt the books have never quite matched what you see in the business? Send us a note and we will tell you what we find, including if the answer is that you do not need us.
What reconciled books catch
When the work is done properly, the things that do not add up become visible. We have opened a set of books and found a company credit card sitting at a balance in the millions, for a business that pays it off every week, because the person doing the work did not know what they were looking at and the owner had no reason to question it.
The same goes for money that cannot be explained. Once every account is reconciled every month, a gap is obvious, and an owner who can see it can do something about it. Proper books are a control, not just a filing requirement.
Proper bookkeeping leads to paying not a dollar more in tax or HST than you have to. You are capturing everything and making sure you are not leaving money on the table.
What bookkeeping costs
There is no price list, because two businesses that look identical from the outside are often very different once the accounts are open. We talk, we look at your last month of statements, and you get a number in writing before any work starts.
- What moves the number:
- How many bank, credit card and loan accounts have to be reconciled
- How many transactions run through them in a month
- Whether the business is the size it was a year ago, or growing quickly
- How far behind the books are when we take them on
- Payroll, and how many people are on it
Dates and rules to know.
- GST/HST returns
- Filed on whatever frequency your business is registered for, from books that are already reconciled
- Corporate tax
- A T2 return is due six months after your year end, so the books have to be current well ahead of it
- Keeping records
- The CRA expects business records to be kept for six years from the end of the tax year they relate to
General guidance only. We confirm the dates that apply to your business when we talk.
“Working with Clem at ARC has been an absolute game changer for our business. Their team is incredibly hardworking, efficient, and always available whenever we need support or answers.”
Trent Scarfe & Sarah HaydenSmall business bookkeeping, answered.
How much does a bookkeeper cost for a small business?
It depends on how many bank and credit card accounts have to be reconciled, how many transactions run through them each month, and what shape the books are in when we take them over. There is no price list. We look at a month of statements, talk it through, and give you the number in writing before any work starts.
What does monthly bookkeeping actually include?
Your transactions categorised, every bank, credit card and loan account reconciled, your receipts matched to the transactions they belong to, a short list of questions for anything we cannot explain from our side, and the month closed on time with your numbers ready for HST filings and your year end.
What is the difference between a bookkeeper and an accountant?
A bookkeeper records what happened: every transaction categorised and every account reconciled, month after month. An accountant works from that record to file returns, plan tax and advise on decisions. At ARC they are separate departments under one roof, so the accountant is working from books we keep ourselves rather than from something they have to take on faith.
Do I need a bookkeeper if I already have an accountant?
Most accounting firms do very little bookkeeping, so the two usually sit with different people who never speak. That is where things go wrong: by the time anyone looks properly, the year is over. Keeping both in one place means the tax side can look at your numbers at any point in the year and trust them.
Does my corporation need a bookkeeper, or can I do the books myself?
A corporation needs proper double entry bookkeeping, where every dollar in or out is matched to the account that moved it and the whole thing reconciles. It is a different job from the spreadsheet that works fine for a sole proprietorship, and it is the single most common reason newly incorporated owners come to us.
How should a small business keep track of receipts?
Photograph each one as it happens rather than collecting them in a glovebox for the year. Our clients send theirs through Dext from their phone, which matches them to the transaction they belong to, so the record is built as you go instead of reconstructed in April.
Do I have to use QuickBooks if ARC does my bookkeeping?
Yes. Every client runs on QuickBooks Online with Dext for receipts, because that is the system we are expert in. You do not have to do the switch yourself: we handle the conversion, bring your history across and set the file up for your business.
Will the same bookkeeper work on my business every month?
Yes. You are matched to a bookkeeper who already works with businesses in your industry and they stay your bookkeeper, so nobody is relearning how you work. The partners review your statements against prior years on top of that.
How far behind can my books be before you can help?
We have taken on businesses more than six years behind with nothing filed. Catching up is quoted as its own piece of work with its own timeline, but when we take you on we start with our system, so going forward from day one your books are in order while we work on the backlog.
Can a bookkeeper file my HST returns?
Your GST/HST returns are prepared from books we have already reconciled and filed on whatever frequency your business is registered for, so the numbers on the return match the numbers in your books.
Are there bookkeepers who specialise in construction?
Construction is one of the three industries we specialise in. It matters because holdbacks, multi-month projects, subcontractor reporting and HST treatment are where the money is won or lost, and a bookkeeper unfamiliar with the construction industry will categorise them wrong without knowing it.
Do real estate agents need a bookkeeper?
Most do, for two reasons. Commission reporting works differently at every brokerage, and vehicle and meal claims draw more CRA attention in real estate than in almost any other line of work. Agents are one of the three groups we specialise in.
Can bookkeeping be done remotely, or do I need someone local?
It works remotely, and most of our clients never meet us in person. Your transactions arrive through your bank feeds, your receipts through your phone, and meetings happen on Teams. We work with businesses across Atlantic Canada.
Ready to hand the books to ARC?
Send us a note about your business. A conversation is usually enough to tell whether we are a fit, and we will say so either way.
Our other business accounting services
Catch-up & clean-up bookkeeping
Books that have fallen behind, or were done wrong, caught up and corrected, then kept current every month.
Learn moreCorporate tax returns
Your corporation’s return prepared from clean books, walked through with you line by line, and filed well before the deadline.
Learn moreCRA help for your business
Someone who deals with the CRA for you when a letter, review or audit arrives, with the books to back up every answer.
Learn moreIncorporating your business
Whether incorporating makes sense for you, and help making the move properly if it does.
Learn more