A year-end bookkeeping checklist for Canadian small businesses

Short answer: A solid year-end bookkeeping checklist for a Canadian small business is: reconcile every account, review receivables and payables, tidy the chart of accounts, confirm payroll and slips, review capital assets, and gather your supporting documents — before the filing deadlines arrive. Year-end is smoother when the work is spread out, not crammed into a panic in February. Here’s the practical checklist we use with clients. It’s the year-end piece of the complete Canadian small business bookkeeping checklist.

Agree the cutoff and responsibilities

Confirm the fiscal year-end, reporting basis, delivery date and who reviews adjustments. Ask which reports your accountant needs and who approves filings. A fiscal year-end is not automatically December 31, and it is not itself the filing deadline. Keep the accountant handoff guide for what to deliver after the close.

Reconcile every account

Reconcile bank, credit-card and loan accounts through year-end. Save reports and statements together, with valid outstanding items explained. Investigate differences before closing rather than posting an unexplained balancing entry. See the credit-card example.

Review receivables and payables

Review customer balances for missing payments, credits, duplicates and disputed invoices. Flag potentially uncollectible amounts with the collection history for your accountant; overdue does not automatically mean uncollectible, and a write-off can require a tax review.

Review supplier bills, credits and payments around the cutoff. List work received but not yet billed and customer advances for review under your accounting basis.

Tidy the chart of accounts

Review unusual balances and uncategorized transactions. Separate owner/shareholder activity from business expenses and flag unresolved classifications. Agree material changes before merging accounts or changing records from a filed or closed period. Preserve the correction trail.

Reconcile tax accounts

Compare the GST/HST ledger with prepared/filed returns, payments and refunds. List missing documents and unexplained differences. Confirm filing and payment dates separately using the GST/HST guide; neither should be inferred from your fiscal year-end alone.

Confirm payroll and slips

Review payroll reports, source deductions, employer contributions and remittance confirmations. Explain remaining liabilities. T4 reporting follows the calendar year, which may differ from your fiscal year. T4 information returns are generally due the last day of February following the calendar year, with CRA weekend/public-holiday rules applying. Confirm the CRA’s T4 instructions.

Capital assets

List asset purchases, financing and disposals, with dates and documents. Include lender balances and the principal/interest breakdown. Your accountant should review capitalization, depreciation, capital cost allowance and disposal treatment; a bank withdrawal alone does not establish how an item should be recorded.

Gather your documentation

Gather statements, invoices, receipts, contracts and financing records. The CRA’s general retention rule is six years from the end of the last tax year they relate to, with exceptions. Cloud access alone does not settle storage-location requirements. Check the CRA’s retention and location guidance.

What counts as ready for handoff?

Area	Evidence to include	Question to flag
Accounts	Statements and reconciliations	Unexplained differences or stale outstanding items
Customers/suppliers	Reviewed balance lists	Disputes, missing bills and cutoff issues
Tax/payroll	Summaries, filings and confirmations	Missing periods or unmatched payments
Assets/financing	Purchase/disposal and lender documents	Classification or adjustment for review
Final package	Dated reports and question list	Work awaiting records, approval or adjustment

A clear handoff shows what is complete and what needs review. Avora offers year-end preparation and catch-up support within an agreed scope.

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Start with the Bookkeeping Health Check, or discuss year-end preparation.

Reviewed October 16, 2026. General bookkeeping guidance; confirm filing obligations and adjustments with your accountant or the relevant authority.