01 Spring
The spring surprise
You don't hear from your accountant all year. Then a bill lands with the year-end. Nobody budgets for it, and it always feels like it came out of nowhere.
Bookkeeping & corporate tax · Calgary, Edmonton, anywhere in Alberta
Chen Deng · PMP engineer, Calgary
You deal with me from the first call on.
Your books shouldn't be a shoebox you deal with in April.
Monthly bookkeeping, GST, payroll and your year-end corporate return, for one flat monthly fee. No surprise spring invoice. Every return reviewed and signed off by a Chartered Professional Accountant.
Free. You keep the one-page plan either wayFlat monthly, month to monthYour books, your software, your data
Chen Deng · PMP engineer, CalgaryYou deal with me from the first call on.
Why this is broken for most owners
You're not behind because you're disorganized. You're behind because the books live somewhere your business doesn't.
Work happens in your calendar, your invoices, your bank. Then someone re-types all of it into accounting software weeks later, from receipts and memory. Every re-typing is a place errors and hours get created.
02 Decisions
Books you can't make decisions from
Statements arrive months late and describe a business you've already stopped running. They satisfy CRA. They don't tell you whether last quarter worked.
03 Data entry
The re-typing tax
The same job gets entered in your scheduler, your invoice, your spreadsheet and your accounting software. Four times, by hand, by someone you pay.
04 In between
Nobody to ask in between
A quick "can I expense this?" turns into an email you don't send, a guess you make, and a correction someone bills you for later.
What's actually different here
I build the system that produces the books. Then I keep the books.
Most bookkeepers receive your shoebox and clean it up afterward. I connect the front of your business to the back, so a job booked becomes an invoice, becomes a payment, becomes a bookkeeping entry. Once, automatically, with nothing re-keyed.
01 Monthly
Bookkeeping that runs itself
Transactions reconciled, categorized and reviewed every month. Bank and credit card, accounts payable and receivable, in QuickBooks or Xero, under your own subscription, in your name.
Off your plate
- The receipt pile in the truck
- Reconciling in a panic before a deadline
02 Compliance
GST, payroll and WCB, on time
Filed when they're due, not when you remember. GST returns, payroll journal entries, T4s and WCB reconciliation. The compliance calendar stops being your problem.
Off your plate
- Remembering filing dates
- Late-filing penalties
03 Year-end
Year-end that's already paid for
T2 corporate return, Alberta AT1, financial statements and your personal T1, included in the monthly fee on the Books + Year-End plan. No spring invoice, because you already paid it, a little at a time.
Off your plate
- The $1,500–3,000 spring bill
- Chasing an accountant in April
04 Numbers
Numbers you can actually use
Monthly statements by the 15th, plus a live dashboard if I've built your operations system. So you see margin by job, not just a total at year-end.
Off your plate
- Guessing whether last quarter worked
- Building your own spreadsheets
The part that matters most
A CPA signs off on everything that goes to CRA.
I handle the day-to-day and the systems. A Chartered Professional Accountant reviews and files the returns. You get the responsiveness of a small shop with the sign-off of a professional practice, and I'm clear about where the line is.
MeWhat I do
Bookkeeping, GST, payroll, reconciliation, the systems that feed them, and preparing your year-end package.
The CPAWhat the CPA does
Reviews the file, prepares and signs the corporate return, issues compiled financial statements when your bank needs them.
NeverWhat I never do
Audits, review engagements, or anything requiring an opinion I'm not qualified to give. I'll tell you plainly when you need more than this.
Honest comparison
Three ways Alberta owners handle this.
| Doing it yourself | A typical bookkeeper | OxOne | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost | "Free", plus your weekends | $300–800 | $450–750 flat |
| Year-end T2 | $1,500–3,000, every spring | Usually billed separately | Included in Books + Year-End |
| Who signs the return | You do | Often a separate accountant you also pay | A CPA, included |
| Data entry | By hand, from receipts | By hand, from your shoebox | Flows from your own systems |
| Questions during the year | Sometimes, sometimes billed | Included, year-round | |
| Who owns the file | You | Often their subscription | You: your software, your data |
Pricing
Flat monthly. Month to month. No surprise invoices.
Most Alberta businesses under $2M in revenue spend $6,000–15,000 a year across a bookkeeper, an accountant and their year-end. This replaces that with one number you can budget.
Books$450 a month
The monthly cycle handled, start to finish.
- Transactions reconciled & categorized
- GST prepared and filed
- Payroll entries, T4s & WCB reconciliation
- Monthly financial statements
- Year-end package prepared for your accountant
Books + Year-End · most chosen$750 a month
Everything in Books, and the spring bill disappears.
- T2 corporate return + Alberta AT1, prepared and signed by a CPA
- Compiled financial statements, the version your bank asks for
- Your personal T1 as the owner
- Year-round questions answered, not billed
Operations + Finance$750 a month + the system
For businesses that want the system, not just the books.
- Everything in Books + Year-End
- A custom operations system: intake, scheduling, invoicing, payments, built at a fixed price after the free call ($4,500–10,000)
- Your books fed automatically by it
- Live dashboards: margin by job, not just a year-end total
- Support for the system from $100 a month
Catch-up work (books behind by months or years) is quoted separately, one time, before I start. You'll know the number up front. Software (QuickBooks or Xero, payroll) is billed at cost in your own name, so your file is always yours to take with you. Complex situations, such as holding companies, multiple corporations, inventory, or US or foreign income, are quoted after the free call.
How it starts
Four steps, and the first one is free.
Step 1 · 30 minutesA 30-minute call
We look at what you have now: software, how far behind, what's been filed. No pitch deck.
Step 2A written number
Your monthly fee, plus any catch-up quoted separately. Fixed, in writing, before anything starts.
Step 3I take it over
I get access, clean up what needs cleaning, and set the monthly cycle running.
Every month afterIt stops being your problem
Statements every month, filings on time, the year-end handled. And someone to ask in between.
No lock-in
Your file, your software, your data.
Yours from day one
- QuickBooks or Xero is your subscription, in your name. Not mine.
- Month to month. No annual lock-in, no cancellation fee.
- Leave whenever, and your books leave with you: current, clean and complete.
- You keep your own CRA access. I'm your representative, not your gatekeeper.
"What happens if I want to leave?"
You take the file and go. It's already in your name, already reconciled, already up to date. I'd rather earn next month than trap you into it. A business that can leave easily is a business that stays for the right reason.
Straight answers
What you're probably wondering.
Is a CPA actually involved, or is that just marketing?
A Chartered Professional Accountant reviews the file and prepares and signs your corporate return, and issues compiled financial statements when you need them for a bank. I do the bookkeeping, the systems and the year-end preparation. I don't perform audits or review engagements, and I'll say so plainly if that's what your situation calls for.
My books are two years behind. Is that a problem?
It's the most common situation I see, and it isn't a reason to be embarrassed. I quote catch-up separately as a one-time number before starting, so you know the cost up front rather than watching an hourly bill climb.
How is this cheaper than hiring someone?
A part-time bookkeeper in Calgary runs $1,800–3,200 a month, and you still pay an accountant for the year-end on top. This is one flat fee that covers both. And unlike an employee, it doesn't stop when they're on vacation.
Do I have to switch accounting software?
Only if what you're on genuinely can't do the job. QuickBooks and Xero are what I work in. If you're already on one of them I take it over as-is. If you're on spreadsheets I'll set it up properly and move your history across.
What if I just need the corporate return, not the bookkeeping?
I can do that, but honestly it's usually the worse deal for you. A standalone T2 is $1,500–2,000 in this market and you're still doing the monthly work yourself. The monthly plans exist because that's where the real cost and the real errors live.
Do you work outside Calgary?
Yes. Edmonton, Red Deer, Lethbridge, Okotoks, Airdrie, Cochrane, Chestermere and anywhere else in Alberta. Nothing about this requires being in the same room.
Come up for air
Find out what your year-end should actually cost.
Give me 30 minutes, at no charge. I'll look at what you have, tell you where you stand, and give you a fixed monthly number in writing, whether you hire me or not.
Free. You keep the one-page plan either way
