Monthly bookkeeping for owner-run businesses in Laval
Cash and profit are two different numbers
At the end of a month the owner's question is simple: did we make money? The bank balance looks like it answers it, and it does not. Cash and profit move on different calendars.
A customer pays in March for work done in February. A supplier is paid in April for goods sold in March. A piece of equipment bought this month will be in use for years. An insurance premium paid once can cover the whole year. Each of those moves the bank balance on one date and belongs to the profit of another. Read the balance alone, and a good month can look poor and a poor month can look fine.
Keeping the books current is what lets the two be told apart. Once every transaction is recorded in the month it belongs to, the books can show what the month earned, and separately what happened to the cash, and why those two figures disagree.
A report written for the owner
On the plan that includes it, each month ends with a one-page Monthly Money Snapshot. It is written for the person who owns the business, in plain language, to be read in a few minutes:
- **Cash in and cash out**, and where the cash went.
- **Profit**, as the books record it, and the main reason it differs from the change in cash.
- **What changed** since last month, in a sentence or two.
- **What to watch**: a receivable getting old, a cost climbing, a quarter coming due.
Your accountant works from the full books and the quarterly package. The Snapshot sits beside them, as the part meant to be read by someone who did not train in accounting and should not have to.
Laval
Laval is one city on one island, and its businesses keep their books on Québec terms. The sales tax collected and paid is recorded on every transaction, payroll is entered as your provider processes each run with the CNESST figures alongside, and your accountant files from the package we prepare.
Who is doing this
One operator, with over 20 years of experience in bookkeeping, accounting and financial analysis, for-profit and non-profit, across a wide range of sectors, in English and in French.
Questions Laval business owners ask
Why does my bank balance not match my profit?
Because they measure different things on different dates, as above. The Snapshot names the main reason each month, so the gap is explained rather than left to worry about.
Can I get the Snapshot without the call?
The Snapshot and the thirty-minute review call come together on the Books plus Dashboard plan. Every plan includes current, reconciled books you can open and read yourself.
How soon after the month ends does the report arrive?
Once the month is closed and every account reconciled. A month closed properly arrives a little later than a month rushed, and its numbers stay put once you have read them.
One next step
A fifteen-minute call about your month, at no cost. Ask for a call.