Bookkeeping for London, Ontario businesses
A London ledger rarely holds just sales and expenses. It carries stock on the shelves, machines losing value, crews on payroll and holdbacks waiting to be released. EverStone keeps those books for London businesses remotely from Abbotsford, from $300 a month with the HST return included.
Quick answer: Monthly bookkeeping for a London, Ontario business means reconciling every bank and card account and coding the 13% HST so every input tax credit is claimed. It also means recording payroll so it matches what was remitted, and keeping inventory and equipment right before year-end. EverStone does it remotely, reviewed by a CPA, at a fixed monthly fee. Monthly bookkeeping starts at $300 a month, GST/HST filing included.
Stock belongs on the books, not only in the building
Many London businesses hold goods: bar stock and steel at a fabrication shop, packaging and ingredients at a food processor, parts at a repair yard, wine and dry goods in a restaurant. A ledger that expenses every purchase as it lands shows a bad month when the shelves fill and a good one when they empty, and neither is true. Recording inventory as an asset and moving it to cost of goods sold as it is used gives you a margin you can manage by. The year-end count then confirms the balance rather than inventing it. The year-end inventory count explains what the CRA expects.
One HST account, and the credits you are owed
Ontario’s 13% HST is a single tax, and the provincial part is recoverable like the federal part. The bookkeeping job is making sure every credit is captured: fuel, repairs, supplies, subcontractors, software. A farm selling mostly zero-rated products charges no HST on those sales but still claims the tax on its inputs, so its returns often show a refund. A restaurant charges HST on nearly everything it sells. Your filing period follows revenue — annual at $1.5 million or less, quarterly up to $6 million, monthly above that — and the ledger has to be closed on the same rhythm. Input tax credits covers what qualifies.
Payroll entries that agree with the remittances
Payroll is where books and government accounts most often drift apart. Gross wages, the employee deductions, the employer share of CPP and EI, and the remittance itself each need their own entry, and the liability account should return to zero after every remittance. Ontario adds Employer Health Tax once payroll passes the exemption and WSIB premiums on insurable earnings. Recording both as payroll runs, rather than when a bill arrives, keeps the monthly numbers honest. Where you employ people, payroll in London can sit in the same engagement.
How the books differ across London’s industries
The chart of accounts should look like the business. For a London manufacturer that means materials, labour and overhead split so a job can be costed. A farm outside the city usually keeps cash-method books with separate lines for each crop or livestock enterprise. A contractor needs progress billings, the holdback receivable and subcontractor payments set up for T5018 slips. A carrier needs fuel and kilometres recorded by jurisdiction for fuel tax reporting, and costs tracked per unit. A restaurant needs the POS, the deposits and the tip payouts reconciled every day.
The shareholder loan account, kept current
In an owner-run London company the line between the business and the household is often a debit card. Groceries on the company card, a truck payment from the personal account, a draw taken in cash on a Friday: each one moves the shareholder loan balance. Posted as it happens, the account tells you at any moment whether you owe the company or it owes you. Left to year-end, it becomes a guess, and a balance you owe the company that is not repaid within one year after the year-end is generally taxed as your income. Shareholder loans sets out the rule and the ways it is usually handled.
What the monthly fee covers
One fixed fee, agreed in writing before the first month is touched:
- Every bank, credit card and loan account reconciled to the statement
- HST returns prepared and filed on your assigned period
- Payroll, Employer Health Tax and WSIB entries posted as they arise
- Inventory and equipment additions recorded, with a count at year-end
- A short monthly report: profit, cash and what is owed to you and by you
- A clean hand-off to the corporate return, prepared by the same CPA
When the books are months behind
A busy season on the floor or in the field is the usual reason books fall behind, and the fix is ordinary. We start from the bank statements, rebuild the months in order, reconcile each account and prepare any HST returns that are outstanding, oldest first. Once the ledger is current, the monthly engagement takes over so it does not happen again. A bookkeeping catch-up describes the process.
Prepared and reviewed by a Chartered Professional Accountant at EverStone CPA, an Abbotsford CPA firm working with small businesses and incorporated contractors across the Fraser Valley and Canada. Updated September 2026. About the firm · Book a free consult
What gets done, and when
| Cadence | What we do |
|---|---|
| Monthly | Bank, card and loan accounts reconciled; payroll and inventory entries posted |
| Each HST period | Return prepared from the reconciled ledger and filed |
| Year-end | Inventory count recorded, equipment additions listed, books handed to the T2 |
| Ongoing | Owner draws and shareholder loan balance tracked as they happen |
| Sales tax where you operate | 13% HST, a single registration and a single return |
Source: How often to do the books. General information, not advice.
London bookkeeping questions
What does monthly bookkeeping cost in London?+
Which software do you use?+
Do I need to track inventory monthly?+
My farm gets HST refunds. Is that normal?+
Can you take over from our current bookkeeper?+
How long do I keep receipts?+
We sell to customers in Michigan. Does that change the books?+
Do you have a London office?+
Do you work with businesses outside London itself?+
Related services and local guides
Nearby cities, the rest of what we do for London businesses, and the reference pages behind this one.
Keeping books in London, Ontario?
Get the HST return, the payroll entries and the monthly close handled by one CPA, at a fixed monthly fee.
Remote bookkeeping from Abbotsford
EverStone is a sole practitioner CPA firm at 32615 South Fraser Way in Abbotsford, serving London, Ontario entirely online. There is no London office and no local staff. Bank and card feeds come in electronically, receipts and statements arrive through a secure upload link, and the ledger lives in cloud software you hold your own login to. The CPA who reconciles your month is the one who prepares your year-end.
Talk to a CPA about this
One Chartered Professional Accountant, start to finish. Fixed fees, quoted in writing before any work begins, and no obligation from a first conversation.
