Bookkeeper or accountant? Who does what for a Canadian small business

Small business owners often hire an accountant once a year and hope the books in between are good enough. Usually they are not, and the accountant spends the first weeks of tax season fixing them, at accountant rates. Knowing who does what saves money.

What a bookkeeper does

• Records every transaction and keeps bank and card accounts reconciled.
• Enters bills, sends invoices and tracks who owes what.
• Prepares sales tax returns: GST/HST, PST and QST.
• Closes each month and produces statements you can run the business on.

What an accountant does

• Prepares your year-end financial statements.
• Files your corporate income tax return (T2) or the business part of your personal return.
• Advises on tax planning, structure, salary versus dividends.
• Provides review or audit engagements when lenders or investors ask.

When you need each

Almost every business with regular sales benefits from monthly bookkeeping. Every incorporated business needs an accountant at year-end. The expensive mistake is using the accountant as the bookkeeper: catching up a year of entries in March costs more than keeping them current all year.

How we fit in

Axanium is the bookkeeping side, done every month with AI and reviewed by people. At year-end we hand your accountant a clean package and give them direct access to AxLedger. If you do not have an accountant, we will introduce you to one we trust.