This course is a practical walkthrough of two comprehensive checklists: A Monthly Bookkeeping Workflow Checklist, including month-end checks and reviews, and a GST/HST Filing Checklist, including real world examples of finding and fixing GST/HST errors within a Quickbooks Online (QBO) File before preparing and filing the GST/HST Return online.
The focus is on the reviews and checks required to properly finalize a bookkeeping period, understand where GST/HST numbers are coming from, and feeling confident in the amounts being filed. The course also shows how to document the details of the GST/HST filed beyond the standard snapshots that QBO provides, and why this extra step matters.
Before you can file with confidence, the bookkeeping file needs to be reviewed, checked, cleaned up, and understood. This is the step many new and learning bookkeepers miss, and it’s where most GST/HST problems actually begin.
In this course, you’ll work through a real-world walkthrough of how an experienced Canadian bookkeeper prepares a QBO file for GST/HST filing, using proper monthly bookkeeping workflow, month-end checks, and review practices. The example business used is called “Grand Gate Gardens” and is located in Ontario.
What this course covers
You’ll learn how to:
- Build and use a monthly bookkeeping workflow checklist for a Canadian small or medium business
- Confirm that reconciliations are actually complete (not just showing a zero)
- Review unpaid bills, open invoices, overpayments, and clearing accounts
- Read the Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet for reasonability, risk, and accuracy
- Understand how QuickBooks Online actually calculates GST/HST Line 101
- Find and fix common GST/HST issues caused by mis-coded tax items, deposits, refunds, and journal entries
- Confirm that GST/HST payable matches the Balance Sheet
- Review ITCs and transactions without sales tax to catch missed credits
- Perform reasonability checks before filing
- Export proper GST/HST filed amount details outside of QBO
- File GST/HST with CRA and finalize the period cleanly in QBO
Throughout the course, I show not just what to check, but why it matters, what can go wrong if it’s missed, and how these issues show up in real bookkeeping files.
