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Running QuickBooks Without an Accountant?

Reviewed by EverStone CPA · August 2026

Quick answer: QuickBooks — or Wave, or Xero — keeps the ledger, and if it is reconciled you have done the hard part. What software does not do: file the T2, prepare statements a lender accepts, decide how to pay yourself, or answer the CRA’s letters. We work on top of the software you already run — you keep the books, we do the CPA layer.

What you already have, and what is missing

Software-run books fail in two spots, reliably. First, the judgement entries software will not make alone — asset treatment, the shareholder loan, accruals at year-end. Second, everything that is a filing rather than a ledger: the T2, the slips on the slip clock, elections with deadlines. The monthly record can be excellent while the corporation quietly misses things software never claimed to watch.

How the arrangement works

  • You keep doing what works. Accountant access to your file — no migration, no new subscription, no re-keying.
  • We review and adjust at year-end, post the entries back properly, and produce the statements and T2 from books we have actually examined.
  • In-year, you get answers — the “can I deduct this” and “what does this letter mean” questions land with a CPA instead of a forum. Fixed fees, so asking costs nothing.
  • If the file is behind or messy, catch-up is scoped once, separately, before anything starts.

The honest version of “do I even need this?”

A sole proprietor with simple affairs may genuinely not — software plus a diligent owner covers a lot. The line moves at incorporation: a corporation has filings, deadlines and owner-compensation mechanics where the software-only setup starts leaking money, usually invisibly. If you are incorporated and software-only, the free consult is us looking at your actual file and telling you which side of that line you are on.

Common questions

Do I have to move my books to you?+
No — the point of this page is the opposite. You grant accountant access to the software you already use; the books stay yours and stay where they are.
My QuickBooks is a mess. Does that disqualify me?+
It makes you normal. The file gets assessed on the first call, and any cleanup is quoted once as a separate one-time job — the catch-up page describes exactly how that works.
Can you just answer questions without taking the year-end?+
The engagement that works is year-end plus in-year access — advice divorced from the file it concerns is guesswork. If you only want a second opinion on something specific, the second-opinion service exists for that.
Which software do you support?+
The mainstream packages — QuickBooks, Xero, Wave and their peers. The workflow is the same: access, review, adjust, file. If you run something unusual, ask; the answer is usually still yes.

Keep the software. Add the CPA.

A free consult with your actual file on screen — and a straight answer about whether you need us at all.

Book an intro callinfo@everstonecpa.com