--- title: "Behind on Bookkeeping? How Catch-Up Works | EverStone" url: https://www.everstonecpa.com/behind-on-bookkeeping description: "Books months or years behind? How catch-up bookkeeping works, what CRA does while you wait, and how long it takes to fix. Send us an enquiry." type: service-or-info updated: 2026-10-08 summary: "Catch-up bookkeeping means reconstructing your records for periods that were never completed, then filing whatever became overdue as a result. It is quoted as a one-time job separate from ongoing monthly fees, sized by how many months are outstanding and how complete the source records are. Most catch-ups are finished in two to six weeks." faq_count: 5 publisher: EverStone CPA Inc., a Chartered Professional Accountant firm registered with CPA British Columbia and CPA Alberta service_area: British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Manitoba language: en-CA contact: info@everstonecpa.com · https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online --- [Home](https://www.everstonecpa.com/) Behind on your bookkeeping? It is fixable. [Home](https://www.everstonecpa.com/) [Accounting](https://www.everstonecpa.com/accounting-services) Behind on bookkeeping Catch-up bookkeeping # Behind on your bookkeeping? *It is fixable.* Updated 8 October 2026 Months behind, or years. Either way it is a normal engagement, not a confession — here is what actually happens next. **Quick answer:** Catch-up bookkeeping means reconstructing your records for periods that were never completed, then filing whatever became overdue as a result. It is quoted as a one-time job separate from ongoing monthly fees, sized by how many months are outstanding and how complete the source records are. Most catch-ups are finished in two to six weeks. **Months of books never done?** We rebuild the missing months from bank and card statements, file whatever became overdue, then keep the bookkeeping current. Catch-up from $2,200 a year of records. [Get My Fixed Quote](https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online?service=catch-up#enquiry-form) Catching up costs less than it looks once the months are batched together. [How catch-up work is priced](https://www.everstonecpa.com/catch-up-bookkeeping), or [start with an enquiry](https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online). What this covers, at a glance. ## Being behind is more common than you think Most catch-ups start the same way: the business got busy, a bookkeeper left, a year-end slipped, and the gap became awkward to mention. It is rarely as bad as the owner fears, and a look is the quickest way to know. ## What happens while the books are behind The uncomfortable part is not the bookkeeping. It is what accumulates around it: - **CRA does not wait for your numbers.** Where a return is outstanding, CRA can assess the corporation on its own estimate of what you owe. See [arbitrary and notional assessments](https://www.everstonecpa.com/blog/cra-arbitrary-assessment-notional). That assessment is legally valid until you file the real return to displace it. - **Filing obligations do not pause.** [GST/HST returns](https://www.everstonecpa.com/gst-hst-hub) and [payroll remittances](https://www.everstonecpa.com/payroll-hub) keep coming due on their own schedule regardless of whether the books behind them are current. - **Interest runs from the original due date**, not from the day you catch up, which is why the cost of waiting compounds quietly. The [penalty and interest rules](https://www.everstonecpa.com/blog/t2-deadline-penalties-canada) set out how. - **Decisions get made blind.** Without current books you cannot see margin, cash position or whether you can afford to hire, and that is usually the more expensive problem. None of this gets worse because you called an accountant. All of it gets worse if nobody does. ## How far behind is too far? No books are beyond recovery. Bank and card history can be retrieved, and an undocumented year can be reconstructed and disclosed properly. If past filings were wrong rather than missing, understand the [Voluntary Disclosures Program](https://www.everstonecpa.com/blog/voluntary-disclosures-program-canada-fixing-past-returns) before you file. Not sure where you fit? [Start here](https://www.everstonecpa.com/start-here) explains the engagement from the first email. ## What a catch-up actually involves | Stage | What happens | What we need from you | | 1. Scope | A free call to establish which periods are open, which returns are outstanding, and what records exist. | Roughly what year you last filed. | | 2. Fixed quote | A one-time catch-up fee in writing, separate from any ongoing monthly fee, agreed before work starts. | Your decision. | | 3. Reconstruction | Bank, credit-card and processor history pulled in and reconciled period by period; gaps identified and resolved. | Read-only access or statement exports. | | 4. Filing | Overdue returns prepared and filed in the right order, so each one is built on the period before it. | Signatures, electronically. | | 5. Staying current | [Monthly bookkeeping](https://www.everstonecpa.com/monthly-bookkeeping-services) from that point, so the same gap cannot reopen. | Nothing. That is the point. | Most catch-ups run two to six weeks end to end. The variable is almost never the bookkeeping; it is how quickly the missing records can be retrieved. ## What it costs Catch-up work is quoted separately, sized by the months outstanding and the state of the records. Ongoing bookkeeping then starts at $325 a month; the [fee estimate tool](https://www.everstonecpa.com/fee-estimate) shows your likely range, and [our published fees](https://www.everstonecpa.com/pricing) set out the rest. If the returns themselves are outstanding rather than only the bookkeeping, that is a defined job with its own page. See [catch-up filing for unfiled returns](https://www.everstonecpa.com/behind-on-taxes-catch-up). Being behind does not increase your ongoing monthly fee once you are current. It is priced once and then it is over. ## Common questions about catch-up bookkeeping **How many years behind can you take on?** There is no cut-off. Multi-year catch-ups are routine and done in order, each year closed before the next. More years affect the quote and retrieval time, not feasibility. [Ask about your case →](https://www.everstonecpa.com/quick-question) **Will filing late returns trigger an audit?** Filing late does not itself trigger an audit; not filing is riskier, because an unfiled year stays open indefinitely. If past returns were wrong, the Voluntary Disclosures Program is the route to correct them; get advice before filing. **What if I have lost some of the records?** Most records can be retrieved. Banks, card issuers, processors and payroll providers keep years of history, and CRA holds slips filed under your business number. Real gaps are reconstructed on a documented basis and disclosed, which is normal practice. **Do I have to come in with a box of receipts?** No. EverStone is fully remote: statements and documents are exchanged securely by email or shared folder, meetings happen by video or phone, and everything is signed electronically. There is no office visit at any stage of a catch-up, wherever in Canada you are. **Can you take over from my previous bookkeeper mid-year?** Yes, often. We pick up the file as it stands and reconcile forward from the last period that ties out. [Switching](https://www.everstonecpa.com/switching-accountants) is easier than owners expect — the handover is a records request. ## Related reading [In-house or outsourced bookkeeping?](https://www.everstonecpa.com/in-house-vs-outsourced-bookkeeping) [Bookkeeping health check Score your books out of 100 across reconciliation, receipts, payroll, GST/HST and year-end readiness.](https://www.everstonecpa.com/bookkeeping-health-check) [If a demand to file has already arrived](https://www.everstonecpa.com/cra-letter-demand-to-file) [Books months or years behind? This is fixable. Months or years behind on your books? Catch-up bookkeeping with a CPA, handled calmly and without…](https://www.everstonecpa.com/catch-up-bookkeeping) ## Find out how big the gap actually is An email enquiry, no obligation, and no lecture about how it got this way. [Get My Fixed Quote](https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online) [Ask a Free Question](https://www.everstonecpa.com/quick-question) ★★★★★ “…He is very knowledgeable and has saved me tons in taxes by restructuring my group of companies — the best accountant I've worked with in the last 10 years, after switching from three different firms.” Matt Hildebrandt · Google review ### Starting fees Every fee is fixed in writing before any work begins. - **Catch-up bookkeeping** from $2,200 per year of records *This page* - **Monthly bookkeeping, sales tax filing included** from $325 a month - **Payroll, remittances, T4s and ROEs** included in monthly bookkeeping - **Books, payroll and the year-end T2 together** $500–$700 a month - **Corporate year-end and T2 return** fixed fee, quoted in writing - **Personal tax return (T1)** from $125; self-employed or rental $275–$500 - **Controller or CFO support** controller from $1,650, CFO from $2,750 a month - **One-off advice call with a CPA** $225 plus GST [Get My Fixed Quote](https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online?service=catch-up#enquiry-form) Unsure whether last year’s work was handled correctly? You can [have the return reviewed independently](https://www.everstonecpa.com/second-opinion), a fixed-fee, no-obligation review. --- Source: https://www.everstonecpa.com/behind-on-bookkeeping Prices: https://www.everstonecpa.com/pricing · Contact: info@everstonecpa.com · https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online