Holy moly! Where did the summer go?! Kids are back in school and the daily grind is once again. Time for a post! This one is special because it is near and dear to my heart. So here goes.

We advertise ourselves as ‘London’s Premier Bookkeeping Firm’ and I truly believe that because we have well trained, highly qualified staff who care that your books are correct and accurately represent your financial situation. We go out of our way to be sure your bookkeeping entries are made correctly, that payroll is calculated appropriately with the correct statutory withholdings, and government remittances are not only correct but on time avoiding costly penalties and interest. Because many people are intimidated by the CRA, business owners are happy to have us liaise with the CRA, WSIB or other organizations on their behalf. We understand the terminology and requirements of such organizations and can easily translate that information to you, the business owner.  We communicate with your accountant about certain aspects of your books and answer questions when he/she has them. Overall, we take care in the smooth running of the ‘business’ end of your business.  For some of you, we go further and manage bank accounts, human resources and general business administration. We do all of this, and more, and take great pleasure and pride in doing so.  Now, in an ideal world, business owners would provide the information needed in a clear, concise way and on time which would allow us to easily provide this type of service that we pride ourselves on.

Alas, we do not live in an ideal world. The type of service we provide may be considered as an extravagance as we go above and beyond the basic, fly by night bookkeeper. There is definitely a price for this; but business owners who understand the value of not having to worry about getting the sales and expenses recorded accurately, making sure remittances are correct and on time avoiding penalties and hate mail from CRA and that the books are accurate and provide them with good, solid decision making information don’t mind the cost. But what happens when a client is not feeling the value of the bookkeeping service they are paying for? Some investigation is in order.  The first question I ask is ‘Is the client providing ALL of the information required to correctly do the books and are they providing it on time’? In most cases the answer is no.  Ideally, we should be receiving a copy of every invoice you create as a business owner whether or not it ever gets paid. Alternately for retailers, we should be receiving a copy of the daily or weekly sales so they can be accurately recorded. When you get paid, we need proof of where the money went i.e., a deposit slip. We need to be able to match your sales to money received or your AR will be all out of whack. We should also be receiving copies of all expense invoices or receipts. We cannot claim expenses for tax purposes if you don’t have proof of purchase. And no, your bank statement or credit card statement are not sufficient. Cheque stubs from cheques you have written are also helpful. Speaking of bank statements and credit card statements, we need those every month to reconcile your accounts and make sure your books are balanced. These are the very basics of what we require in order to provide our services. Many clients only provide about half of that so we are left to fill in the blanks to the best of our ability. Yes, we can ask the owner questions but often an answer eludes them.

The point, dear clients, is that to get the full value of the service you are paying for, whether it is with us or not, you need to take responsibility in ensuring that you have all of the necessary records to give your bookkeeper. Failure to do so will only be doing a disservice to yourself.