Bookkeeping for counsellors, therapists, and clinics

Yes, and it doesn’t much matter which one you use. Jane, SimplePractice, Owl Practice, and Zanda all work the same way for bookkeeping: I connect what your practice software records with what lands in your bank, so every payout, fee and refund is matched in QuickBooks Online or Xero. If yours works differently, I’ll build something that fits.

Every quote is built just right for your practice, based on your number of transactions, bank or credit card accounts, payroll and how complex your books are. You get a fixed monthly price in writing before any work starts. Full-service bookkeeping starts at $350 a month, plus applicable taxes. See sample pricing.

Yes. Plenty of new and part-time practices start with DIY Assisted Bookkeeping: you post your own transactions, and I reconcile your accounts, review your books and monthly financial reports, and meet with you monthly. For sales tax, you prepare, I review, you file. It starts at $180 a month, plus applicable taxes, and you can move to full service whenever you’re ready. See sample pricing.

Your software shows what you booked and billed. Your books show what actually reached your bank, what the practice cost to run, and what’s yours after fees. I tie the two together every month, and help you keep an eye on cash flow, so a slow month or a big bill doesn’t catch you off guard.

This is general information: your accountant or CRA has the final word on your status. It depends on the profession and the province. Psychologists’ services have been GST/HST exempt for years, and so have registered social workers’, so the 2024 change did not affect them. What changed on June 20, 2024, is that psychotherapy and counselling therapy services were added to the exempt list. Massage therapy was not, and is still taxable.

For psychotherapists and counselling therapists, the exemption is not automatic. CRA looks at whether the practitioner is licensed by a provincial regulator, or, in a province with no regulator for the profession, whether they hold qualifications equivalent to the licensing requirements in a province that does. Psychotherapy is regulated only in Ontario, and counselling therapy only in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island, so most practitioners elsewhere are working from the equivalent-qualifications route.

Where services are exempt, the books also need to stop claiming tax credits on the costs behind them. I’ll set things up to match your situation.

A note for clinic owners. Practitioners’ services being GST/HST exempt does not automatically make a clinic exempt. Where a clinic keeps an administrative fee or a percentage of what its associates bill, CRA can treat that kept amount as payment for a separate, taxable service, depending on how the agreements are written. I’ll set your books up so the amount is easy to see either way.

Right where you are, with no lecture. You get a catch-up plan and a price in writing before any work starts, then I keep you current every month.

I only need your financial records, like payout reports and invoices. Everything is shared through your secure client portal, and as a CPB I follow the CPB Canada Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, which includes keeping client information confidential.

No. I keep your books and sales tax remittances ready and work alongside your accountant. If you need one, I can refer you to a CPA I trust.

Yes. Everything is online, and I work with practices across Canada, whether you charge GST, HST, PST, or RST.

The one exception is Quebec. I don’t take on clients there, because Quebec has its own sales tax, payroll and reporting rules. I recommend finding a bookkeeper who is fluent in French and knows Quebec’s regulations.