Bookkeeping for Aldergrove businesses

The books feed every filing that follows: the T2 or T2125, the GST/HST return and its input tax credits, the CCA schedule and the CRA instalments.

A chart of accounts that fits the business

Default charts of accounts are built for far larger businesses than an Aldergrove sole-operator company: a hundred and fifty accounts, nine ever used. Coding becomes guesswork, with seven plausible accounts for one transaction and different picks each month. A short chart named after what the business buys is faster to code, easier to review, and gives a readable profit and loss statement. Building a chart of accounts covers the sizing.

One account for the business, and only the business

No software choice improves small books as much as a business bank account and card used for nothing else. Shared accounts mean each month starts with sorting, done by someone who was not there when the money moved. A separate account makes the bank feed nearly a finished ledger and the record defensible — a personal account with business items picked out invites the question of what else was there. Opening a business bank account covers the practical steps.

E-transfers and cash are the weak points

Small Aldergrove businesses still take e-transfers and some cash, and neither comes with a description. An e-transfer shows a name and amount, not which invoice it settled or whether it was a deposit; cash may never reach the bank. That is fine if an independent sales record, an invoice or sales log, exists to match deposits against, and serious if the bank feed is the only record of earnings. Decide how sales get recorded before the money arrives.

When sales tax registration becomes mandatory

GST registration is required once taxable revenue exceeds $30,000 in a single calendar quarter or over four consecutive calendar quarters. Below that, voluntary registration allows input tax credits on purchases but means charging tax and filing returns. A growing Aldergrove business risks passing the threshold unnoticed, since revenue triggers it, not a notice. The bookkeeping must watch the rolling total, not the calendar year. The GST registration guide covers what counts toward the threshold.

Two sales taxes once you are registered

BC has not harmonized, so a registered Aldergrove business may handle 5% GST and 7% PST separately, with two registrations and filing cycles. GST paid on purchases is generally recovered as an input tax credit; PST paid on business inputs is generally a cost. Separate accounts from the first transaction beat untangling them later.

Being behind is common and it is finite

Many small businesses arrive one, two or three years behind, often because a busy first year left a mess for the second. It is defined work: the ledger is rebuilt from bank statements and surviving records, outstanding returns are filed in order so interest stops compounding, and a monthly rhythm starts. Difficulty depends on whether the records still exist. Catch-up bookkeeping sets out how it works.

How the work is done

EverStone is a fully virtual, one-CPA firm with no Aldergrove office or local staff. The bank feed arrives electronically, receipts are captured by phone, and the file lives in cloud software under your own login. The CPA coding transactions prepares the year end, so you have one relationship, not two. Monthly versus annual bookkeeping covers how often the work is worth doing.

Keeping the books accurately and knowing what they mean are different jobs, and it is worth being deliberate about where bookkeeping stops being the answer.