Question 1

What does a virtual bookkeeper actually do?

Accepted Answer

Bookkeeping, not accounting — and the line between the two is where owners most often end up paying twice. A bookkeeper produces the finished record: a set of books an accountant can pick up without rework. The accountant then works on top of it, filing the T2 for a corporation or the T2125 inside your personal T1, setting salary against dividends, and planning for next year. When the record arrives wrong, they fix it at their hourly rate, which is the most expensive bookkeeping there is. Two things a bookkeeper does not do at any price: give you tax advice, and issue an audit or review report on your statements. Both require a licensed public accountant.

Question 2

What does a virtual bookkeeper cost in Canada?

Accepted Answer

Our Starter plan is $350/month for businesses under 50 transactions a month. Standard is $500/month with unlimited transactions, catch-up for up to three prior months, and CRA correspondence handling. Both are flat — no hourly billing, no overage tiers, month-to-month with no setup fees. Independent freelance bookkeepers typically charge $25–$65/hour, and local firms $75–$150/hour, which is why a busy month costs more than a quiet one under those models.

Question 3

Is a virtual bookkeeper cheaper than hiring in-house?

Accepted Answer

For most small businesses, yes, and the gap is not close. A part-time or full-time in-house bookkeeper in Canada runs roughly $45,000–$65,000 a year in salary, before employer CPP and EI contributions, vacation, and the software you buy for them. Standard at $500/month is $6,000 a year with software management included. The in-house hire makes sense once the work genuinely fills a role — multi-entity structures, daily cash handling, or an accounting function you want sitting inside the business.

Question 4

How do I get receipts and paperwork to a bookkeeper who isn't in my office?

Accepted Answer

CRA accepts electronic images of source documents as long as they stay legible and are kept for the full retention period — six years from the end of the tax year they relate to. That is why a photo taken at the till counts, and why most clients stop keeping the paper once the image is filed. A few things trip people up. Thermal receipts from gas pumps and restaurants fade to blank inside a year or two, so photograph those the day you get them. A statement line is not a receipt: it proves money left the account, not what was bought or why. And for meals and vehicle costs, note the purpose at the time — reconstructing it in March is guesswork, and it is the first thing a reviewer asks about.

Question 5

What does my bookkeeper need from me each month?

Accepted Answer

The list is short. The useful part is knowing what breaks when a piece is missing. No feed and no statements means the month cannot be reconciled at all, so the close waits and the reports slide past the 10th. Missing receipts do not stop the close, but an expense with no source document behind it is the line CRA disallows on review, and you pay the tax back with interest. Missing payroll reports leave the remittance account out of step with what CRA actually received, which resurfaces as a discrepancy notice instead of a bookkeeping question. Flags left unanswered sit in a holding account, so your margin is fiction until they clear. And a loan nobody mentioned reads as revenue on the bank feed, while equipment booked as an expense understates profit and skips the capital cost allowance schedule your accountant builds from it.

Question 6

Does a virtual bookkeeper handle payroll?

Accepted Answer

We handle the books side of it. Payroll journal entries are posted so each run lands in the right accounts, and your CRA remittances are reconciled against what was actually filed. We coordinate directly with your payroll provider. Running payroll itself — calculating deductions, issuing pay, preparing T4s — is not part of the $350 or $500 plans; it sits in Enterprise scope for multi-entity and high-volume clients.

Question 7

Can a virtual bookkeeper file my HST/GST with CRA?

Accepted Answer

Yes. We prepare the return, review your input tax credits, and file with CRA on your reporting cycle — monthly, quarterly, or annually depending on how you are registered. Provincial filings that sit outside CRA are handled too: PST in British Columbia and Saskatchewan, RST in Manitoba, and QST with Revenu Québec. Those are separate returns with separate regulators, and they are the ones most often missed when a business changes bookkeepers.

Question 8

What should I ask before hiring a virtual bookkeeper?

Accepted Answer

Judge the answers, not the questions. On price, you want a figure for your worst month rather than an average — "it depends on volume" is how the invoice will read too. On timing, listen for what happens when your paperwork arrives late, because that is the part of a schedule nobody can dress up. On provincial filings, ask which ones they filed last quarter and how often; a yes with no example behind it usually means they subcontract it. On year-end, ask for a redacted sample package — a firm that has one sends it the same day, a firm that does not describes it instead. On the exit, you want the notice period in writing and the removal of their CRA representative authorization spelled out, because that access outlives the engagement if nobody cancels it.

	In-House Hire	Freelancer	Virtual Bookkeeper (Us)
What it costs	$45,000–$65,000/year in salary	$25–$65/hour	$350 or $500/month, flat
What sits on top	Employer CPP, EI, vacation	Hours you did not plan for	Nothing — that is the number
Software subscriptions	You buy them	Sometimes theirs, sometimes yours	QuickBooks or Xero management included
Time to start	Job post, interviews, references	Referral, then a trial month	Onboarding in under 48 hours
A 300-transaction month	Overtime, or it slips	A bigger invoice	Same flat rate
Vacation and sick days	You are the backup	The work waits	Covered by us, not by you
Provincial sales tax	Depends who you hired	Depends on the freelancer	PST, RST and QST handled
When it ends	You start hiring again	You start looking again	Month-to-month, cancel anytime

Virtual bookkeeper in Canada.
The role, without the hire.

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What a Virtual Bookkeeper Does

Virtual Bookkeeper, In-House Hire,
or Freelancer?

When Your Bookkeeper Is Not
Down the Hall

One list, not ten interruptions

Paperwork goes one place

Reports arrive with a plain-English note

Reachable when something lands

What Your Bookkeeper
Needs From You

How to Choose
a Virtual Bookkeeper

Ask what the price looks like in a busy month.

Ask for an actual delivery date.

Ask which provincial filings they handle.

Ask what your accountant receives at year-end.

Ask what the exit looks like.

Best Virtual Bookkeeping Services
in Canada (2026)

Outsource Bookkeeping Canada

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Hiring a Virtual Bookkeeper —
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Virtual bookkeeper in Canada.The role, without the hire.