Bookkeeping that keeps pace with your year

Dockweiler keeps the books for small businesses across the South Okanagan, from Summerland to Osoyoos. We work from 129 Nanaimo Ave W in Penticton, and most of our clients are the kind of businesses that make this valley run: trades and contractors, wineries and orchards, restaurants and patios, shops, guest accommodation and the self-employed.

Good bookkeeping is not about being perfect every week. It is about knowing where you stand when you need a number, and having clean records ready when a filing comes due. We start by listening to how you handle things now, then set up something that fits the way you actually work.

What bookkeeping with us includes

• Recording income and expenses each month and reconciling your bank and credit card accounts, so the numbers match what actually happened.
• Sorting receipts and invoices, whether they arrive as photos, paper or exports from your point-of-sale system.
• GST returns on your filing schedule (monthly, quarterly or annual) and BC PST where it applies. BC charges GST and PST separately rather than a combined HST.
• Payroll records, T4 slips and, for construction businesses that pay subcontractors, T5018 reporting.
• Simple monthly or quarterly summaries: what came in, what went out, and what you may owe.
• Year-end files that are ready for your T1 or T2 return, whether we prepare it or your accountant does.

Catching up on past years

Plenty of capable owners end up with a year or two that never got fully recorded. A bookkeeper moved on, the business grew faster than the paperwork, or a busy season simply took over. That is common, and it is fixable. We work through it one year at a time, oldest first, using bank statements and whatever records you still have, so each return can be filed or corrected on solid numbers.

CRA generally expects records to be kept for six years from the end of the tax year they relate to, and if a return is filed late, for six years from the date it is filed. CRA explains the record-keeping rules here. Rebuilding the books now also means you have what you need if CRA ever asks.

Built around South Okanagan seasons

A lot of local businesses earn most of their year between May and October. Wineries, orchards, patios and rentals are run off their feet in summer, then quiet from November. We plan our work around that: lighter check-ins in your busy months, and a proper look at the books over the winter, when there is time to think about the year ahead.

Winter is also when filings bunch up. Calendar-year businesses close their year on December 31, T4 slips for 2026 are due by March 1, 2027, and GST for the October to December quarter is due February 1, 2027 for quarterly filers. See CRA information return dates and GST/HST filing deadlines.

GST registration, briefly

You generally have to register for GST once your taxable revenue goes over $30,000 in a single calendar quarter or over four consecutive calendar quarters. Below that, you are a small supplier and registration is optional. CRA sets out exactly when to register. If you are close to the threshold, it is worth talking through before it happens rather than after.

Software

We work with the common bookkeeping software small businesses already use, and we can help you set one up properly if you are starting fresh or switching. If a shoebox of receipts is where things stand, that is a fine place to start too.