Home/Services and pricing
Bookkeeping services and pricing
Paperless, cloud-based monthly bookkeeping and payroll for practice-based and service businesses, with sample prices to guide you and a tailored quote, in writing, before any work starts.
How we price
Value pricing, not a ticking clock
We don’t sell set packages. Every business is different, so every quote is custom: one fixed monthly fee for the work your books need, agreed in writing before we start. Full-service bookkeeping starts at $350 a month, plus applicable taxes.
One fixed monthly fee
Priced on the scope and value of the work, not the hours it takes, so you can budget with confidence.
Ask questions freely
Full-service clients get unlimited support during business hours, so an email never turns into a surprise bill.
Add what you need, when you need it
Need a little more, like payroll or bill pay? We add it as an add-on service. Projects outside your usual scope, like a catch-up or a new software setup, are quoted separately, in writing, before we start.
What moves your fee
- TransactionsHow many sales, deposits and expenses we post each month. One transaction is one line on your bank or credit card statement, so a payout covering forty appointments counts as one, not forty
- Bank or credit card accountsEvery month we check each account against its statement, line by line, so nothing is missed or counted twice (bookkeepers call this reconciling)
- How your clients pay youSquare, Stripe, Moneris, Jane, Vagaro, and the like. Each one sends your money in lumps, and every lump gets matched back to the sales behind it
- Sales taxWhether you charge GST, HST, PST or Manitoba’s RST, and how often you file
- People you payStaff on payroll, and the contractors you pay who need a year-end tax slip (a T4A)
- Loans and complexityVehicle or equipment loans, and books that need extra care
Counting transactions is an odd way to price, and we know it. It is the closest honest measure of how much work your file takes each month. It also means you have some say in it: every transfer between your own accounts is another line we match, so fewer accounts and fewer transfers between them is a smaller count, and a smaller fee.
Software subscriptions are included in full-service fees. See how it adds up for three example businesses.
Examples, not packages
Three example businesses, three custom quotes
These aren’t real clients or packages to pick from. They’re examples shaped like the businesses we work with every day, to show how the things that move your fee add up. Your own quote is built from your numbers.
Solo
Mobile esthetician
$380 a month, plus taxes
Lashes and facials from home and on the go. Vagaro for booking and payments, one business account, and a GST return once a year.
What gets tricky
Vagaro deposits land in batches, with fees taken off and tips and product sales mixed in. And that once-a-year GST return has a way of sneaking up.
How we help
- Every Vagaro payout matched to the bank, fees and tips included
- Services, retail products, and tips kept separate
- GST tracked all year, so the yearly return is ready when it’s due
- Monthly reports and a monthly meeting, in plain language
What the fee is based on
- About 20 transactions a month
- 1 bank or credit card account
- 1 payment processor
- Yearly GST filing
- Software included
A studio
Neighbourhood yoga studio
$655 a month, plus taxes
Monthly memberships and drop-in classes booked online, a card reader at the front desk, and eight contract teachers. GST or HST filed every quarter.
What gets tricky
Money comes in through two processors with fees taken off, and busy sign-up months don’t line up neatly with busy bank deposits. Then there are eight teachers to pay, and eight T4A slips at year-end.
How we help
- Payouts from the booking software and the card reader matched to the bank, fees included
- Recurring monthly memberships tracked separately from drop-in classes
- GST or HST tracked and filed every quarter
- Payments to 8 teachers tracked, with T4A slips done at year-end
- Monthly reports and a monthly meeting
What the fee is based on
- About 70 transactions a month
- 3 bank or credit card accounts
- 2 payment processors
- Quarterly GST or HST filings
- 8 T4A slips a year
- Software included
A busy clinic
Multi-practitioner wellness clinic
$1,280 a month, plus taxes
Twelve contract practitioners, five front desk and admin employees, two payment processors and bi-weekly payroll. Some services are GST/HST exempt and some aren’t, so it files GST once a year and tracks the two apart.
What gets tricky
Lots of people to pay, on different schedules, and two processors to keep in step with the bank. The owner needs clear, current numbers to plan hiring and rent.
How we help
- Bi-weekly payroll for 5 employees, with remittances and T4 slips
- Payments to 12 practitioners tracked, with T4A slips done at year-end
- Both payment processors matched to the bank every month
- GST tracked all year, so the yearly return is ready when it’s due
- Monthly reports and a monthly meeting to plan from
- A year-end package ready for the accountant
What the fee is based on
- About 200 transactions a month
- 4 bank or credit card accounts
- 2 payment processors
- Yearly GST filing
- 12 T4A slips a year for the contract practitioners
- 5 T4 slips a year for the employees
- Payroll included in this fee
- Workers’ compensation reporting
- Software included
Sample fees, rounded, plus applicable taxes. Your fee comes from your own numbers, and you get it in writing before we start.
Example quotes, side by side
Which example sounds most like your business?
The three sample businesses, side by side, with DIY Assisted for anyone just starting out. These are examples, not packages to choose from: after your free consult and a look under the hood at your books, we’ll build a quote around your own numbers.
| What’s included | DIY Assisted BookkeepingFor small, new studios and practices | Mobile estheticianSolo, on the go | Neighbourhood yoga studio8 contract teachers | Multi-practitioner wellness clinic12 practitioners, 5 staff |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Business transactions posted each month | You post them | About 20 | About 70 | About 200 |
| Bank or credit card accounts reconciled monthly | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Payment processors matched to your bank | Included | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Sales taxGST, HST, PST, or RST | You prepare, we review, you file | Yearly GST filing | Quarterly filings | Yearly GST filing |
| T4A slips for contractors | Not included | Not included | 8 a year | 12 a year |
| Payroll | Not included | Not included | Not included | Bi-weekly, 5 employees |
| Monthly financial reports | You prepare, we review | Included | Included | Included |
| Monthly meeting to review your reports | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Accounting software and receipt app subscriptions | Not included | Included | Included | Included |
| Support during business hours | Questions by portal or email | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Year-end package for your accountant | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Example monthly feePlus applicable taxes | From $180 | $380 | $655 | $1,280 |
DIY Assisted is a stepping stone, and the goal is for you to grow into full-service bookkeeping. It’s a special option for small studios and practices with modest yearly revenue (typically under $100,000). We know bookkeeping isn’t cheap when you’re new. DIY Assisted lets you learn how your books work while we review and coach, and put together a year-end package for your accountant. For sales tax, you prepare, we review, you file.
How support works on DIY Assisted
- Ask questions by portal or email, and we’ll answer within 3 business days.
- Save bigger questions for your monthly meeting.
- Hands-on, how-to help is available as paid QuickBooks Online training sessions.
- Posting your transactions for you or catching up your books is quoted separately.
- Needing more help than DIY covers? That’s the goal: it usually means you’re ready for full service, and we’ll talk it through.
Knowing the basics makes you a savvier business owner, and when you’re ready to hand it all off, you’ll really appreciate full service. We want you to succeed, and we’ll be here when you’re ready to grow.
Example fees are rounded. Prices plus applicable taxes, confirmed in writing before we start. Full-service bookkeeping starts at $350 a month.
Payroll
Payroll processing, done on time
Add payroll to your monthly bookkeeping. You approve the hours; we enter them into your payroll software and take care of the routine work, like remittances, year-end slips, and ROEs.
Starting at $100 a month, plus a one-time set-up fee
The one-time set-up fee covers setting up new payroll software and getting your employees onboarded into it. If your payroll system is already set up and working, we waive it. Payroll is added on top of your monthly bookkeeping fee. Where an example below says “payroll included”, it is already inside that quoted price.
What changes your price: how many people you pay, and how often you run payroll. You get your full price in writing before any work starts, plus applicable taxes.
We’re bookkeepers, not payroll specialists or HR experts. For complicated payroll or HR situations, we recommend working with an HR professional or checking the employment standards in your jurisdiction. If you’re not sure who to call, our short guide on who to ask can help.
- Pay runs entered every pay period, with the payroll software subscription included
- Source deduction remittances to CRA
- T4 slips for employees at year-end
- T4A slips for contractors, or T5018 slips if you are in construction
- Records of Employment (ROEs), filed with Service Canada whenever someone’s earnings stop
- Workers’ compensation reporting (WCB, WSIB or WorkSafeBC, depending on your province)
Add-ons
Add to your monthly bookkeeping
Pick what helps. Everything is priced into your tailored quote.
Bill pay
We set up your bill payments and you approve them, through a secure payment platform like Plooto with a full audit trail. More than one person can approve, which suits non-profits and boards.
Advanced reporting
Deeper monthly reports: KPIs, break-even point, trends, and cash flow forecasting.
A second location or business
Two studios, or a holding company alongside your practice. Each set of books kept separate, and the money moving between them kept straight.
One-time services
One-time help, whenever you need it
Every project is quoted in writing before we start, so you know the cost up front.
Catch-up and clean-up
Behind on your books? You are in good company. Most of our new clients need some catch-up before their monthly bookkeeping starts.
Catch-up is priced by the month: roughly your regular monthly fee for each month we go back. If the neighbourhood yoga studio in our examples came to us two months behind, its $655 plan makes the catch-up $1,310. Six months behind would be $3,930.
It sounds like catch-up should be cheaper than day-to-day bookkeeping, since the work is already behind you. It is usually the opposite. Old statements and receipts are harder to track down than this month’s, and the details fade: nobody remembers what a payment from fourteen months ago was for.
We will be straight with you. A long catch-up is expensive, and there is no version of it that is not. What we can do is talk about the shape of it: fewer supporting documents where the risk is low, letting your accountant handle an older year in one pass instead of rebuilding it month by month, or starting clean from a cut-off date and dealing with the past separately.
We look first, quote the whole thing in writing before we start, and payment plans are available. Catch-up prices, like our monthly fees, are plus applicable taxes.
The cheapest catch-up is the one you never need. If you are doing your own books and starting to fall behind, bringing someone in early costs far less than rebuilding a year later.
Free guide: is it time to hire bookkeeping help?Fresh start set-up
A new QuickBooks Online or Xero file, set up properly and connected to your practice software, like Square, Jane, Mindbody, Vagaro, or SimplePractice.
Software migration
Switching software? We’ll move your books from QuickBooks Desktop, Wave or spreadsheets into QuickBooks Online or Xero, and check that your opening balances match before we carry on.
Books health check
Keeping your own books? We’ll look through them carefully, send you a clear list of fixes, and walk you through it in a 30-minute video meeting.
Free guide: books health checkAnnual budget set-up
We set up your budget with you, then report on how you’re tracking. Rather build it yourself? Tell us once it’s in, and we’ll add it to your monthly report at no charge.
Free guide: next year’s budgetBusiness benchmark
See how your business compares with similar Canadian businesses. We match you by your industry (NAICS) code, so the comparison group can be broad, like other schools or other personal care businesses. We’ll point out where that matters.
Free guide: benchmarking your businessQuickBooks Online training
One-on-one, 1-hour video sessions for current clients, booked and paid online.
We don’t prepare personal income tax returns (T1) or corporate income tax returns (T2). That is different from sales tax: your GST, HST, PST, or RST remittances are ours, and so is your payroll and your bookkeeping. We work alongside your accountant, and if you need one, we can refer you to a CPA we trust.
Tools we work with
Your software, connected
It’s all paperless and in the cloud. Everything flows into QuickBooks Online or Xero, and your receipts and questions live in one secure client portal. We love technology, and we’re always up for puzzling out how to connect all your tools. Don’t see yours? Ask on your free consult.
Accounting, receipts, and reports
Practice, booking, and online class software
Payroll
Payments, bill pay, and banking
Pricing questions
The questions everyone asks
Are taxes included in these prices?
No. Prices are before sales tax, which is added at the rate for your province.
What changes my monthly fee?
Mostly your number of transactions and accounts, whether you run payroll, and how many revenue streams you track. Your proposal spells it out before you sign.
How do I pay, and do you charge extra for cards?
Your monthly bookkeeping fee is paid by pre-authorized debit (PAD). We set up a PAD agreement with you when you start, so it comes out automatically each month. Other charges, like one-time projects, can be paid by credit card or e-transfer. There are no card surcharges.
What if my business changes?
We review your fee once a year and adjust it if your number of transactions, bank accounts or the complexity of your books has changed.
What if my books are behind?
Catch-up work is quoted separately, in writing, before we start. Plenty of clients begin there.
Let’s build your quote.
A free 30-minute consult, a look under the hood at your books, then a written proposal. No surprises.