What is year-end preparation?
Year-end preparation is closing and documenting the books for the fiscal year, so your CPA can produce financial statements and tax returns without rebuilding anything. It covers the final reconciliations, the adjusting entries, and a supporting schedule for every balance on the balance sheet.
For a corporation, the CRA sets the clock. The T2 return is due six months after the end of the tax year, and any balance of tax owing is generally due two or three months after year-end, depending on the corporation. A finished file early in that window leaves room to plan, not just to file.
What does Langley Bookkeeping include in year-end preparation?
- A final reconciliation of every account to the year-end date
- Adjusting entries for accruals, prepaid expenses, and deferred revenue
- Equipment and vehicle purchases and sales listed with their invoices, ready for capital cost allowance
- Schedules for receivables, payables, loans, and shareholder accounts
- Inventory and work-in-progress figures, where your business carries them
- A year-end package sent to your CPA, with their questions answered by us directly
What software do you use for year-end preparation?
The books stay in QuickBooks Online or Xero. Your CPA gets accountant access to the same file, plus a shared folder of schedules and source documents. Most CPAs pull the trial balance into their own working-paper software, so we leave it in a shape that imports cleanly.
What is the difference between year-end bookkeeping and the CPA's year-end?
Year-end bookkeeping makes the books complete and correct; the CPA's year-end turns those books into financial statements and tax returns. The two are separate jobs done in sequence.
| Step | Who does it | What comes out of it |
|---|---|---|
| Close and adjust the books | Langley Bookkeeping | Trial balance, schedules, and source documents |
| Compile or review financial statements | Your CPA | Year-end financial statements |
| Prepare and file the return | Your CPA or tax preparer | A filed T2 or T1, and later a notice of assessment |
| Plan the year ahead | You, your CPA, and us | Instalments, pay and dividend mix, timing of big purchases |
What is not included in year-end preparation?
We do not prepare or sign financial statements, file income tax returns, or give tax planning advice. Those belong to your CPA. We handle the bookkeeping half of year-end and stay on hand while they finish theirs.
What does year-end preparation cost in Langley?
For monthly clients, year-end preparation is scoped in the annual quote alongside the monthly fee, which starts at $500 to $750 per month CAD. If you only need year-end, we review the books first and quote a fixed fee, because a file that has been kept monthly takes far less work than one that has not. Fees are plus applicable taxes.
When should a Langley farm or contractor set its fiscal year-end?
A new corporation picks its own year-end, and the best choice is usually a month just after its busy season, when the work is finished, the cash is in, and there is little half-done work to count. That choice tends to stick: once set, a corporation generally needs the CRA's approval to change it.
Sole proprietors and partnerships of individuals are different. Their business income is generally reported on a calendar year, ending December 31. They can elect a different fiscal period under the CRA's alternative method, but that adds an extra income calculation every year, so it rarely suits a small operation.
What that looks like in practice:
- A berry, vegetable, or nursery farm that sells most of its crop by early fall often does well with a fall year-end, after harvest money has landed and before winter repairs begin.
- A builder or renovator in Willoughby or Aldergrove usually wants a month when the fewest jobs are half-built, because work-in-progress is the hardest number to pin down at any year-end.
- A boarding stable has steadier income, so the deciding factor is often when hay and feed are bought in bulk.
Make the decision with your CPA. We bring the monthly figures that show where your quiet month actually falls.
Further reading
For year-end in the context of the full year, read the Langley owner-operator's guide to bookkeeping.
On narrower questions:
- A year-end checklist for Langley owner-operators: an eight-week run-up for a BC corporation.
- Bookkeeping for BC farms: inventory, equipment, and the records a farm year-end needs.
- Running the books for a boarding stable or training barn: per-horse costs and the farm-or-hobby question.
A good fit if
- You run an incorporated business or a sole proprietorship with a CPA who files your return
- You want your CPA's time spent on advice rather than on cleaning up the books
- Your year includes inventory, work-in-progress, or equipment purchases that need schedules
Probably not the right fit if
- You need your financial statements or tax return prepared, rather than the books behind them
- Your books are more than a few months behind; start with catch-up instead
- You need audited statements for a lender or investor