Capture
Receipts, sub invoices and job codes leave your truck the day they happen. Photo it, it's filed. The glovebox stops being a filing cabinet.
You know what's in your bank account. You don't know how much of it is yours.
Flat-fee bookkeeping built for Ottawa trades. Your books closed and a one-page Site Report in your hand by the 15th of every month — showing exactly how much of that balance belongs to you, and how much belongs to the government.
The problem
The bank balance is lying to you.
Every month, money lands in your account that was never yours. HST you collected on someone else's behalf. Source deductions off your crew's pay. WSIB premiums accruing quietly on every hour worked, including your subs'. Income tax on whatever's left.
It all sits in one account, looking like working capital. So you buy the truck, or you float the next job, or you pay yourself — and then the HST bill lands in a month with no work in it.
Three things most trades owners in Ottawa don't find out until it's expensive:
- Incorporating doesn't protect you here. For unremitted HST and source deductions, the director is personally on the hook. The corporation is not a wall.
- Payroll remittances carry a flat 10% penalty for being more than seven days late. Not annualized. Flat, on the amount.
- WSIB charges premiums on the labour portion of what you pay your subs — but if your records don't prove the split, it can deem 60% of the entire contract insurable. You end up paying premiums on lumber.
None of that is a tax problem. It's a bookkeeping problem. Which means it's fixable.
The system
Three steps. Same three, every month.
Separate
Every dollar that hits your account gets sorted into what's yours and what's the government's: HST, source deductions, WSIB, tax set-aside. This is the step nobody else names, and it's the one that stops the year-end surprise.
Close
Books reconciled and locked by the 15th. One page in your hand. A finished file to your accountant at year end — in January, not June.
The Site Report
This is the product. One page, every month, by the 15th.
Not "bookkeeping." This page. It answers the only question that actually matters at the end of a month.
$64,180 in the bank. $27,291 of it is not yours.
The number in the box — what's actually yours — is what you run your business on. Not the bank balance.
Underneath that, the report shows who owes you and how late they are, what you owe, what the month actually made, every CRA and WSIB date coming with the dollar figure attached, and a short list of things that need you.
What lands every month
The 15th Close
Every account reconciled and the books locked by the 15th.
The Site Report
The one page above, plus a 20-minute walkthrough call.
The Split
HST, source deductions, WSIB and tax set-aside tracked separately, every month.
The Deadline Board
Every CRA and WSIB date calendared and flagged ahead of time, with the dollar figure attached.
The Glovebox Kill
Receipt-capture app set up, configured and monitored. You photo, I file.
The Sub Pack
Every sub payment tagged for T5018, every invoice recorded with the labour / materials split where the invoice provides it — so WSIB charges the real number, not the 60% default. (Crew tier and up.)
The Paper Trail
A monthly record of what was owed and what was paid — so if it's ever questioned, the answer already exists.
Pricing
One flat fee. No hourly billing, no surprise invoices.
Plans start at $649/month. Most crews land at $1,097 — less than one year-end cleanup bill and a year of WSIB you didn't owe.
Solo Op
$649/mo
Owner plus a helper — painter, handyman, 1-van plumber. Up to ~100 transactions, 2 accounts.
- The 15th Close — books closed by the 15th
- The Split — HST, source deductions, WSIB, tax set-aside
- The Site Report + 20-minute walkthrough
- Receipt capture set up and monitored
Crew
$1,097/mo
2–6 people, runs payroll, pays subs — electrician, HVAC, roofer. Up to ~250 transactions, 3 accounts.
- Everything in Solo Op
- The Sub Pack — T5018 tagging + labour/materials splits
- The Deadline Board — every CRA & WSIB date, flagged early
- Quarterly job-margin review
Contractor
$1,897/mo
7–15 people, multiple crews. Up to ~500 transactions, 5 accounts.
- Everything in Crew
- Job-level cost and margin reporting
- Monthly 45-minute review call
Behind on your books? Start with a one-time catch-up — $195 per month behind, minimum $750 — then move onto a monthly plan once you're current.
All prices plus HST. Month-to-month.
The three guarantees
Three guarantees. In writing, in the agreement.
The 15th
Your records in by the 5th. Your books closed and your Site Report in your hand by the 15th. Miss it and that month is free.
No Cleanup
When your accountant does your year end, if they bill you for bookkeeping cleanup on any period I handled, I pay that invoice — up to $1,000. (Conditions: you gave me the records on time, and the accountant itemizes the cleanup separately.)
One Ring
A substantive answer from me inside one business day, by the agreed method. Miss it twice in a month and that month is free.
The full wording is in Section 15 of the engagement agreement — not just on this page.
Clear boundaries
And here's what I don't do — so nobody's surprised later.
I don't file your HST or your corporate return. I hand your accountant a finished file and they file it.
I don't remit your source deductions. I tell you the exact number and the exact date, and make sure the money is sitting there. You send it.
I don't represent you to CRA. If a letter shows up, scan it to me — I'll pull every document behind it inside one business day and hand the package to your accountant, who answers it.
I'm a bookkeeper, not a CPA. That line doesn't move, and you should be suspicious of anyone in my seat who says otherwise.
Who you're dealing with
One person does your books. That person is me.
I'm Miguel. Fieldline Financial is me, working with Ottawa trades. You will never be handed to an account manager, and you will never wonder who touched your file.
That also means I take three new files a month. Not a sales tactic — arithmetic.
Explore Fieldline
Bookkeeping answers for Ottawa contractors.
Choose the page that matches what you are trying to solve right now.
Bookkeeping for contractors
See how Fieldline works with electricians, plumbers, HVAC, roofing, painting, flooring, renovation and other specialty trades.
Who Fieldline servesMonthly bookkeeping
Understand the monthly close, what is included, what stays with your accountant and how the Site Report works.
See the monthly serviceCatch-up bookkeeping
Learn how overdue periods are scoped, reconstructed, reconciled and moved into a sustainable monthly rhythm.
Get caught upContractor checklist
Use a practical monthly record checklist with direct links to current CRA and WSIB guidance.
Read the checklistFAQ
Do you do my taxes?
No. I keep the records; your accountant files. If you don't have one, I'll introduce you to one.
What if I'm months behind?
That's normal and it's most of what I see. Catch-up is quoted separately — $195 per month behind, minimum $750 — and it's done before your first monthly close so you start clean.
I already have a bookkeeper.
Then the question is whether you get a single page every month that tells you how much of your balance is actually yours. If you do, you're in good shape. If you don't, that's the gap.
My wife does the books.
A lot of my clients started that way. The question is whether she wants to still be doing it in two years, and whether the sub invoices are being split labour vs. materials for WSIB. That one's worth checking either way.
What software do I need?
QuickBooks Online, in your name and owned by you. If you're not on it, I'll set it up. The receipt app I set up and run for you.
Do you lock me into a contract?
Month-to-month, thirty days' notice either way. The guarantees are the commitment, not the term.
Fieldline Financial
Know what's actually yours. Every month.
Book a free 20-minute fit call. No pitch—just a clear look at where your books stand and whether Fieldline is the right next step.