Bookkeeping
Chart of accounts design
A chart of accounts built around how your Canadian business actually operates, with GST/HST and, where it applies, provincial sales tax broken out on their own lines, and mapped so nothing is lost moving from your existing chart. Finbryn designs it, your ASPE or IFRS reporting stays consistent.
Bank reconciliation summary
Illustrative client · August 2026
CAD
| Account | Difference | Status | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating account··4821 | 184,220.16 | 184,220.16 | 0.00 | Reconciled |
| Reserve account··0937 | 60,000.00 | 60,000.00 | 0.00 | Reconciled |
| Company card··1006 | (12,418.52) | (12,418.52) | 0.00 | Reconciled |
| Card processor clearing | 8,905.40 | 8,905.40 | 0.00 | Reconciled |
| Payroll clearing | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | Reconciled |
Last weekly runFri, Aug 28, every account agreed to its statement.
Two open itemsTwo card receipts requested from you, marked on the card account until they arrive.
Illustrative. An example of the document, not a client's figures.
Built for Canadian reporting from the start
A generic chart of accounts usually buries GST and HST inside a single tax-payable line, or mixes federal and provincial sales tax together. We design the chart so each sits on its own account, matching how the GST/HST return is actually structured, and add a separate line for any province-specific sales tax your business collects.
Matched to your revenue and cost structure
Accounts are mapped to the revenue streams and cost categories that actually describe your business, not a generic template, with numbering and naming that stays consistent as the business adds locations, product lines or entities.
No lost history
Where a chart of accounts already exists, we map the old accounts to the new structure so prior-period comparisons, and anything your T2 preparer needs from last year, still work after the change.
Consistent with your reporting standard
Whether your financial statements are prepared under ASPE, the standard most private Canadian corporations use, or IFRS, the chart is built to support that standard without implying a formal accountant's report, which stays with a provincially licensed public accountant.
Who builds it
Designed by a named pod, with a recorded handover memo if the design changes hands later. Pair it with monthly bookkeeping once it is in place, and see pricing for the published rate.
Provinces and multi-entity structures
If the business operates in more than one province, or runs several legal entities or a holding structure, the chart is built to keep each one's figures separable from the start, rather than retrofitting that separation once the books have grown complex.
Questions
Frequently asked questions: Chart of accounts design
How long does redesigning a chart of accounts take?
Usually a few days once we have reviewed your current structure and agreed the new one with you before anything changes.
Will this break our historical reports?
No. Old accounts are mapped to new ones so prior-period and year-over-year comparisons still work.
Do you separate provincial sales tax from GST/HST?
Yes, on its own line, for any province where your business collects a separate provincial tax.
What exactly is included in chart of accounts design?
A chart of accounts mapped to your revenue streams and cost structure, and account numbering and naming that stays consistent as you grow. This work runs inside QuickBooks Online or Xero, whichever your business already has in place, and it rolls into your regular monthly close rather than sitting off to the side as a separate, unreconciled process.
What happens to our chart of accounts design records if we switch providers?
Everything stays inside your own QuickBooks Online or Xero account, so the full history transfers with the subscription, not with Finbryn. You can hand chart of accounts design to another provider or bring it in-house at any point without losing a reconciliation or having to rebuild the file first.
We already have a chart of accounts. Do you rebuild it?
Only where it is genuinely holding back your reporting. Often we tidy and consolidate an existing chart rather than starting over.
Will a new chart of accounts break my historical reports?
No. We map old accounts to new ones so prior-period comparisons still work after the change.
Who reviews the work before it reaches us?
Every deliverable under chart of accounts design is reviewed by a senior principal before it reaches you. You keep access to the underlying file at every stage, so nothing about the work happens somewhere you cannot see it.
What is included in chart of accounts design?
Chart of accounts design covers a chart of accounts mapped to your revenue streams and cost structure and account numbering and naming that stays consistent as you grow. The exact scope is agreed and set out in writing before work starts, so you know precisely what is and is not covered before the first deliverable arrives.
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Next step
Talk to the team that would run your books
A short call covers your setup, your software and what a first month would look like. You get a written scope and price after it.