Monthly, quarterly and catch-up bookkeeping
Bookkeeping Services in London, Ontario
A&P Accounting & Tax Experts keeps the books for owner-managed businesses across London and Southwestern Ontario: coding every transaction, reconciling bank and credit card accounts, tracking HST and producing reports you can actually use. We work in QuickBooks Online or Xero, either in your existing file or one we set up for you.
Our bookkeeping clients include sole proprietors filing a T2125, incorporated contractors, retailers, clinics and landlords with several properties. Some need a steady monthly service, others arrive with a shoebox of receipts and two years of unreconciled accounts.
Because the same firm that keeps your books also prepares your HST returns and year-end tax filings, nothing gets lost in a handoff. Clean, reconciled records shorten year-end work, which keeps your accounting bill lower and your CRA filings easier to defend.
- 5.0 stars on Google
- Downtown London office
- In person or fully online
- Open Saturdays
What we handle
Our Bookkeeping Services for London Businesses
Good bookkeeping is quiet: invoices go out, bills get paid, the bank balance matches the ledger and nobody scrambles in April. Whether you want a full monthly service or a one-time rescue of a messy file, here is the work we take off your plate.
Monthly and Quarterly Bookkeeping
We code each transaction to the right account, match receipts to bank feed entries and record HST collected and paid as it happens. Monthly service suits businesses that file HST monthly or quarterly, carry inventory or run payroll.
Quarterly service works for smaller sole proprietors and annual HST filers who still want their numbers current before each instalment date.
Catch-Up and Clean-Up Bookkeeping
Catch-up bookkeeping brings months or years of unrecorded activity up to date, usually because a T2 or HST deadline is approaching or the CRA has asked for records. Clean-up fixes a file that exists but cannot be trusted.
Common problems in inherited files include duplicated transactions, opening balances that do not match the last tax return and personal expenses mixed into business accounts.
Bank and Credit Card Reconciliations
A reconciliation proves that the ledger balance agrees with the bank or credit card statement at month-end, item by item. It catches missed deposits, double-entered expenses and bank feed gaps before they reach a tax return.
Unreconciled accounts are the single biggest reason HST returns and T2 financial statements come out wrong, because every figure downstream depends on them.
Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable
On the payable side, we enter supplier bills, track due dates and prepare payment batches for your approval. On the receivable side, we issue invoices with the correct 13% HST and your HST registration number, record payments and produce an aged receivables report.
That aging report shows which customers are 30, 60 or 90 days late, so collection calls happen before an account goes stale.
Warning signs
Signs Your Books Need Professional Help
If you cannot say with confidence what your business earned last quarter, your books need attention. Most owners notice the problem only when a deadline, a lender or a CRA letter forces the issue.
- Hundreds of transactions sitting in "Uncategorized Income" or "Uncategorized Expense"
- HST returns filed from bank deposits rather than recorded sales, so they never match the ledger
- An "Ask My Accountant" account in QuickBooks that grows every month
- A shareholder loan balance nobody can explain
- Bank accounts that have not been reconciled since last year-end
- A bank loan, BDC application or lease coming up that needs current financial statements
None of these is unusual, and every one of them can be fixed. The earlier it is caught, the fewer months need to be rebuilt.
Behind on your books before a tax deadline?
Call our London office to describe where your records stand. We will tell you what a catch-up involves and quote it before we start.
Cloud accounting
Bookkeeping Software We Work With
The right bookkeeping platform depends on how you sell, how many people need access and whether you run payroll. We work in both of the major cloud ledgers used by Canadian small businesses and help you choose if you are starting fresh.
| Platform | Best for | Approximate monthly cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| QuickBooks Online | Service businesses, contractors and firms that want built-in payroll | Entry plans start around $30; higher tiers cost several times that | Plans limit the number of users; frequent promotional pricing |
| Xero | Retail, e-commerce, multi-currency and businesses with many users | Roughly $25 to $80 at regular list price | Unlimited users on every plan; Hubdoc receipt capture included |
| Receipt capture apps | Businesses with high receipt volume or staff spending | Free with some ledgers; paid apps add a monthly fee | Feeds receipts and bills straight into the ledger |
Software prices change often and are set by the vendors, not by us. Check the vendor's current Canadian pricing before you subscribe.
QuickBooks Online
QuickBooks Online is the most common ledger among Canadian small businesses, and its bank rules, mobile receipt capture and payroll add-on make it a practical all-in-one choice. It handles Canadian sales tax codes well, including Ontario HST and out-of-province rates.
Xero
Xero's strength is its bank feeds and its handling of foreign currency, which suits online sellers taking payments through Shopify, Stripe or PayPal. Unlimited users make it popular with businesses where several staff need access.
Receipt Capture and Bank Feeds
Bank feeds pull transactions into the ledger daily, and receipt capture tools such as Hubdoc or Dext attach the supporting document to each one. That pairing is what makes an input tax credit claim defensible if the CRA asks for proof. You can also upload receipts through our secure client portal.
Our process
How Our Bookkeeping Process Works
Every bookkeeping engagement follows the same rhythm, whether you have 40 transactions a month or 400. The goal is a file that closes cleanly each month and rolls straight into your tax return at year-end.
Setup and Chart of Accounts
We connect your bank and card feeds and build a chart of accounts mapped to the CRA's GIFI codes, the standard codes used on T2 financial statement schedules. Mapping early means year-end statements fall straight out of the ledger.
Monthly Close
We agree on a close date each month, commonly mid-month, so HST and payroll figures are settled before they are due. Each close includes coding, reconciliations and a review of anything unusual.
Month-End Reports and Questions
You receive a profit and loss statement, balance sheet and aged receivables and payables. Questions about unclear transactions come to you in one short list, not a stream of messages.
Year-End Handoff to Your Tax Return
The reconciled ledger feeds your T2 corporate return or the T2125 on your personal return. Adjusting entries, capital cost allowance and shareholder loan balances are settled with the same team.
Fees
Bookkeeping Packages and Pricing
Bookkeeping fees are driven mainly by how many transactions you have each month and how clean your records are when we start. Across the London market, monthly bookkeeping for a small business typically runs from about $150 to $500 or more, and some firms advertise entry packages from around $100 a month.
We review a recent bank statement and your current file, then give you a fixed monthly quote before any work begins. The table below shows typical market ranges by volume, not our rates.
| Monthly transactions | Typical business | Typical London market range |
|---|---|---|
| Under 50 | Consultant, freelancer or holding company | About $100 to $200 a month |
| 50 to 150 | Trades contractor, clinic or small service firm | About $200 to $350 a month |
| 150 to 300 | Retail store, restaurant or e-commerce seller | About $350 to $500 a month |
| Over 300 | Multi-location or inventory-heavy business | $500 a month and up |
- Number of bank, credit card and payment processor accounts
- Inventory, job costing or multi-currency transactions
- Whether payroll and HST filing are bundled in
- Catch-up months, which are quoted as a separate project
Our fees and pricing guide for London accounting services explains how bookkeeping, HST and year-end work are quoted together.
Want a fixed monthly bookkeeping quote?
Tell us roughly how many transactions you have and which software you use. One phone call is enough to get a number.
The A&P difference
Why Choose A&P for Your Bookkeeping
A bookkeeper who never sees your tax return cannot know which entries matter at year-end. When the same firm keeps the books and files the returns, every monthly decision is made with the T2, T2125 and HST return in mind.
Books Built for Tax Filing
Accounts are mapped to GIFI codes and HST is tracked by tax code from day one, so year-end preparation is a review rather than a rebuild.
Local People You Can Meet
Drop off a box of receipts at our downtown London office, or work entirely online through the secure client portal if you are in Strathroy, Ingersoll or further afield.
Plain-Language Reporting
Each month you get reports with a short explanation of what changed, not just a PDF. Clients consistently mention clear explanations in their reviews.
Rated 5.0 on Google
All 11 of our Google reviews are five stars, with attention to detail and responsiveness among the themes clients mention most.
Bookkeeping FAQs
Owners comparing bookkeepers in London, Ontario tend to ask the same few questions about cost, record keeping and what happens to a file someone else started. Here are straight answers.
Do I need a bookkeeper if I already have an accountant?
Usually, yes, unless your accountant already keeps your books during the year. A bookkeeper records and reconciles transactions every month, while a year-end accountant turns those records into financial statements and a tax return.
When the two jobs sit with different people, the accountant often spends billable hours fixing the books before the real year-end work can start. Having both done under one roof removes that duplicated effort.
How much do bookkeepers charge per hour in Ontario?
Hourly rates vary widely with experience and the type of work, and many London firms now price bookkeeping as a fixed monthly fee instead of by the hour. Employed bookkeepers in Ontario typically earn around $20 to $25 an hour, and independent bookkeepers and firms bill more than that to cover software, review and insurance.
A monthly fee based on your transaction volume is usually easier to budget for than an open-ended hourly bill, especially for clean-up projects.
How long do I need to keep business records?
The CRA generally requires you to keep business records and supporting documents for six years from the end of the last tax year they relate to. That includes sales invoices, receipts, bank and credit card statements, payroll records and HST working papers.
Electronic copies are acceptable as long as they are legible and stored in a way the CRA can access. Records tied to an objection or appeal must be kept until it is resolved.
Can you fix books a previous bookkeeper got wrong?
Yes. A clean-up starts by tying the opening balances to the last filed financial statements or tax return, then reconciling every bank and credit card account forward month by month.
Along the way we correct duplicate bank feed entries, miscoded HST, personal spending posted as business expenses and suspense accounts that were never cleared. You get a list of every material adjustment so you understand what changed and why.
Is AI replacing bookkeepers?
Not entirely. Bank rules and AI categorization in QuickBooks Online and Xero now code routine transactions well, which has cut the time spent on data entry.
What software cannot do reliably is judge context: whether a Costco receipt was inventory or a personal purchase, whether a loan payment was split correctly between principal and interest, or whether HST should have been charged on a sale. People still review the output, and that review is where most errors are caught.
Keep exploring
Related Services and Areas We Serve
Bookkeeping is the foundation that payroll, HST filing and year-end statements are built on, so most clients pair it with at least one of the services below. We also keep books for businesses in the towns around London.
Payroll Services
Our payroll services for Ontario employers post wages, source deductions and remittances straight into the ledger we keep.
GST/HST Returns
Reconciled books make GST/HST return filing for London businesses a matter of review, with every input tax credit backed by a receipt.
Small Business Accounting
When a lender needs statements, our small business accounting and compilation financial statements start from the clean ledger.
Bookkeeping for Strathroy Businesses
Retailers and farm-related businesses use our accounting services for Strathroy businesses, mostly online with occasional visits.
Bookkeeping for Ingersoll Businesses
Trades and suppliers along Highway 401 rely on our accounting and bookkeeping help for Ingersoll.
Bookkeeping in Komoka and Middlesex Centre
Growing home-based businesses west of the city work with our accountants serving Komoka and Middlesex Centre.
Get Your Books in Order With a London Bookkeeper
Whether you need this month closed or three years rebuilt, a short call is enough to scope the work and give you a fixed quote. We answer the phone Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.