Regional District of Nanaimo

A bookkeeper for Qualicum Beach businesses

By the Town's own count, service and retail businesses provide most of the jobs in Qualicum Beach. We do their bookkeeping online from Port Alberni, along Highway 4 past Cathedral Grove.

Who it’s for

Shops and retailers serving both residents and visitors
Home-based businesses run under the Town's home-based business rules
Contractors and mobile trades, including those based elsewhere who work in town
Farms and small producers on the agricultural side of the local economy
Service businesses, which the Town counts as the largest share of local employment

What’s included

Monthly bookkeeping, from $150/month, with each package’s capacity stated up front
Catch-up and clean-up for months or years of outstanding books
Payroll, remittances, T4s and Records of Employment
GST/HST prepared and filed on your reporting period
Personal tax returns for individuals, couples and sole proprietors

How it works

Get an estimate
About three minutes online, or call 1 (250) 731-7931.
Connect your books online
You share access to your bookkeeping software and documents securely. Nothing has to be dropped off.
Books kept current
Scope and fees confirmed in writing, then a steady monthly schedule.

Get an Estimate

Small business in Qualicum Beach

The Town of Qualicum Beach sits on the Strait of Georgia on Vancouver Island's northeastern coast, within the traditional territory of the Qualicum First Nation. The Town describes an economy built on a mix of agriculture, primary industries such as farming, logging and fishing, and services. The service sector is the largest employer at 67% of overall employment, above the provincial share of 61%, and retail and wholesale trade account for another 20.5%.

Every business operating in Qualicum Beach needs a Town business licence, including contractors and mobile businesses based somewhere else, and licences renew each December. A home-based business must be run by a resident with at most one non-resident employee, stay inside the dwelling, and see no more than four clients at a time. The Town is also writing a long-term economic development strategy in partnership with the Qualicum Beach Chamber of Commerce and the Parksville Qualicum Tourism Association.

The Qualicum Beach Chamber of Commerce calls itself the voice of local business. It keeps a member directory sorted into Eat, Play, Stay, Shop and Live, and runs Business After Business networking evenings. Its own news has raised a concern familiar to the retail and tourism side: without better highway signage, travellers can drive right past the town.

Working with us from Qualicum Beach

BC Parks places Cathedral Grove on Highway 4, 16 km east of Port Alberni and 25 km west of Qualicum Beach, so the two towns share a road. Even so, we meet clients in person only in the Alberni Valley. Qualicum Beach businesses work with us online, with no drop-offs or office visits.

You upload statements, receipts and payroll records through secure document sharing or AutoEntry, and we do the work in your QuickBooks Online, Xero or Sage file. Questions get answered by email, phone or a video call. Monthly bookkeeping, catch-up work, payroll with T4s, ROEs and remittances, GST/HST filing and personal tax returns are all handled this way.

We are based in Port Alberni. See bookkeeping in Port Alberni for more about us, or how our pricing works.

Useful local resources for Qualicum Beach businesses

Town of Qualicum Beach: business licences: What the application needs, the home-based business conditions, where to apply and the December renewal.
Town of Qualicum Beach: economic development strategy: The Town's strategy work with the chamber and the regional tourism association, and its timeline.
Qualicum Beach Chamber of Commerce: Membership, the business directory and local networking events.
Community Futures Central Island: Small business loans and advisory services for central Island communities, Qualicum Beach included.

Sources

Common questions

Can I drop my paperwork off with you, since Qualicum Beach is on the same highway?

We keep in-person work to Port Alberni and the Alberni Valley, so Qualicum Beach clients send documents through secure upload instead. Paper receipts can be photographed into AutoEntry, which is usually quicker than a drive anyway.

I run a home-based business in Qualicum Beach. Is my business too small for a bookkeeper?

Not necessarily. Plenty of home-based owners want clean books, GST/HST filed on time and their personal tax return done in one place. Our monthly packages are sized by transactions and accounts, so a small operation pays for a small amount of work.

My shop has a busy summer and a quieter winter. Can you help me see that in the numbers?

Yes. With the books reconciled every month you can compare one season against another and plan stock, staffing and cash flow around the slower months instead of guessing.

Do you prepare corporate tax returns for Qualicum Beach corporations?

We keep the books that a corporate return is built from, and the return itself goes through our retained accountant, quoted separately. We do not do financial statement audits or reviews, but we can act as your authorized CRA representative, including through a CRA audit or review.

Related services and guides

Bookkeeping for Qualicum Beach businesses

Get an estimate in about three minutes, or call 1 (250) 731-7931.

Get an Estimate Call 1 (250) 731-7931