What is catch-up bookkeeping?
Catch-up bookkeeping is bringing books that have fallen behind back to the present, one month at a time, until every account is reconciled and ready for filing. Clean-up is the related job of fixing books that exist but are wrong: duplicated transactions, personal spending coded as business, or accounts that have never matched the bank.
Falling behind is common, and the cause is usually ordinary: a big job, a hard season, a bookkeeper who moved on. What matters is the order you fix things in, because filing deadlines keep arriving while the work is under way.
What does Langley Bookkeeping include in catch-up and clean-up?
- A diagnostic of where the books stand, which months are open, and which records exist
- A fixed scope and timeline, agreed before any work starts
- Month-by-month reconciliation from the oldest open month forward
- Correction of miscoded and duplicated entries, with a note of what was changed
- Late GST, PST, or payroll filings prepared in the right order as each period is reconciled
- A handover into monthly bookkeeping, or a clean file for you to carry on yourself
What software do you use for catch-up bookkeeping?
The rebuilt books go into QuickBooks Online or Xero. The old records can be in almost anything: PDF bank statements, a shoebox of receipts, an old desktop file, or a spreadsheet. Dext reads paper receipts in batches, and older months are rebuilt from the bank and card statements themselves.
Should you catch up the books yourself or hire someone?
If you are a month or two behind and the records are complete, you can often catch up yourself; past that point, an outside bookkeeper usually costs less than the hours it takes you. A rough guide:
| Where things stand | A sensible path |
|---|---|
| One or two months behind, records complete | Catch up yourself, then decide whether you want monthly help |
| Three to twelve months behind | Bookkeeper-led catch-up, then monthly bookkeeping |
| More than a year behind, or returns not filed | Bookkeeper-led catch-up, with a CPA handling the filings |
| Books exist but do not match the bank | Clean-up first; catching up on wrong books only carries the error forward |
What is not included in catch-up bookkeeping?
We do not negotiate with the CRA, prepare unfiled income tax returns, or advise on penalties, interest, or voluntary disclosure. A CPA or tax lawyer handles those. We produce the reconciled books they will ask for first.
What does catch-up bookkeeping cost in Langley?
Catch-up is quoted as a fixed project after the diagnostic, based on how many months are open and what records exist, and it is billed separately from monthly work. Once you are current, monthly bookkeeping starts at $500 to $750 per month CAD. You get the full catch-up figure before we start, not partway through. Fees are plus applicable taxes.
Can you catch up the books after a busy building season?
Yes, and the order of work matters more than the speed. After a summer of framing in Willoughby or finishing basements in Brookswood, the gaps tend to be the same: supplier invoices with no matching payment, progress draws deposited without the invoice recorded, and holdbacks nobody tracked.
We work through them in this order:
- Payroll remittances. If crews were paid all season, source deductions may already be late, and late remittances carry penalties of their own. Those months go first.
- The draws and holdbacks. Each deposit is matched to the job and invoice it belongs to, and holdbacks still owed to you, and by you to your subtrades, are listed so they can be collected and paid.
- GST. As each period is reconciled, its return can be filed on real figures rather than estimates.
- Subcontractor reporting. Construction businesses that pay subcontractors may need to report those payments on T5018 slips, and the season's payments are pulled together for that.
When the last month is closed, you move straight into monthly bookkeeping, so the next busy season does not end the same way.
Further reading
For the routine that keeps books current once they are caught up, read the Langley owner-operator's guide to bookkeeping.
On narrower questions:
- Job costing for Langley contractors: holdbacks, progress billing, and T5018 slips.
- How much does bookkeeping cost in Langley in 2026?: why catching up costs more than keeping up.
- A year-end checklist for Langley owner-operators: what to have ready once you are current.
A good fit if
- You are behind by a few months or a couple of years, and want a clear plan to fix it
- You have the bank and card statements, even if the receipts are patchy
- You would like to move into monthly bookkeeping once the catch-up is done
Probably not the right fit if
- You need representation in a CRA audit or dispute; that belongs with a CPA or tax lawyer
- You want the books estimated rather than reconciled, to file something quickly
- The records for the period are gone and cannot be obtained from the bank