Virtual bookkeeping in BC: how it works, and what to ask before you hire
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A virtual bookkeeper does the same work as a local one, online. Access, communication and how you compare quotes are what change.
Download the checklist · text file
What a virtual bookkeeper does
The monthly work is the same as a local bookkeeper’s: categorizing transactions, reconciling the accounts against the statements, closing the month, sending reports, and filing GST, PST and payroll when they are due. Virtual, remote, online and outsourced bookkeeping all name the same arrangement.
What is missing is the hand-over. Nothing is dropped off, collected or scanned into an envelope. You and the bookkeeper look at the same file, and it is current on the day you open it.
How access and security work
A bookkeeper works inside your accounting file as an invited user, the way you would add an employee. You grant the access from your own account and can withdraw it at any time. Your records stay in your platform, whether that is QuickBooks Online, Xero or Sage 50, and every action is logged against the user who made it.
That is the arrangement to look for. A bookkeeper who asks you to email spreadsheets or exports has moved your records out of the system that logs and controls them.
How it starts
- A written quote, scoped from your transaction volume, the accounts to reconcile, what needs filing and which sales channels you use.
- You grant access to your accounting file. Someone on spreadsheets or a desktop file migrates first, and that is quoted before it starts.
- Any months that are behind are caught up, which is quoted separately from the monthly fee.
- The first month is closed and you receive the reports. From then on the cycle repeats each month.
Virtual, local, in-house or doing it yourself
| Option | Who does the work | What it costs you besides the fee |
|---|---|---|
| Virtual bookkeeper | A practice, online, usually the same person each month | Sitting across a desk |
| Local bookkeeper | A practice, in person | Travel and appointment time |
| In-house employee | Someone on your payroll | Salary, source deductions, WorkSafeBC, and cover when they are away |
| Doing it yourself | You, in the software | Your own time, and mistakes that surface at filing time |
If a monthly face-to-face is what you value most, a local bookkeeper is the right choice. If you mainly need the books finished and the returns filed, distance changes nothing about the work.
Fixed fee or hourly
A fixed-fee bookkeeper quotes one monthly fee for a defined scope, so the fee does not rise when a month takes longer. An hourly bookkeeper bills for the time used, so the total varies with how the month went.
Either can work. What matters is that the scope is in writing: what the fee includes, what it leaves out, and how a change in volume is handled. Catch-up work and year-end filings are the two items most often quoted separately, so ask about both.
Questions to ask before you hire
What should I look for in a virtual bookkeeper?
Work done inside your own accounting platform under an access you can withdraw, the same person each month, a written scope and fee, and clear answers on catch-up work, year-end and who files what. The checklist above has the questions.
Is virtual bookkeeping as good as a local bookkeeper?
The work is the same. What you give up is sitting across a desk. If a monthly face-to-face matters most to you, choose a local firm. If you need the books finished and the returns filed, distance makes no difference.
Can a virtual bookkeeper file my GST and PST?
Yes. GST returns go to the CRA and PST returns to the BC Ministry of Finance, and both are filed online, so it does not matter where the bookkeeper sits.
How do I compare two virtual bookkeeping quotes?
Compare the scope, not the headline fee. Check what each includes and leaves out, how catch-up work and year-end are quoted, which filings are covered, and who does the work.
How remote bookkeeping works with us
Changing bookkeepers: the handover checklist
Want this handled for you
This is the work we do for clients every month. Tell us what you sell and where your books stand, and a written plan and a fixed monthly price follow within one business day.
info@orbisaccounting.ca