Questions,
answered.

It's the most common thing owners tell us — the last person let the books slide, went quiet on the emails, and you found out the hard way at year-end. So we put the opposite in writing: when monthly reporting is in your scope, your books are closed by the agreed date, you get a plain-English read on where you stand, and it's month-to-month. If we ever go quiet on you, you can walk with a clean handoff of everything — no exit fee. You stay because it's working, not because you're stuck.

No. Onboarding a new client properly takes real time: access, an opening review of your numbers, and a first-quarter fix list. We absorb that into your monthly price instead of charging upfront. One exception, so there are no surprises: if the books are months behind, the catch-up is its own job. Books Rescue costs $295 for each month you’re behind, with a minimum of $885. You get one flat quote at your free Checkup, and your monthly plan starts clean. Our aim with every new client is one visible win inside the first 30 days.

No. Everyone starts with the free Books Checkup. There are four named scopes, published: Books Compliance at $395, Monthly Books at $625, Monthly Books Bank-Ready at $850, and Monthly Books Plus at $1,200. Monthly Books Bank-Ready is our standard scope. It is the one that includes the Bank-Ready Report, which is your monthly numbers laid out the way a lender reads them. You do not have to work out which is which. The Checkup reads the books and we name the smallest scope that keeps them right. The Controller, at $2,450, is there only when you need forecasts and a broader finance function. You can change scope or pause anytime.

Yes. Month-to-month, no long-term contracts. If it's not working, we'll do a clean handoff of your records to wherever you want them — no drama, no exit fees.

One flat monthly price, listed openly on the Monthly Bookkeeping page — the software licences, the HST filing, the check-ins, all of it included. No per-email charges, no surprise invoices, no clock running while you ask a question. If your business grows past what a plan covers, we talk about the next tier before anything changes — you'll never open a bill you didn't see coming.

Yes. We're based in Charlottetown and serve small businesses across Atlantic Canada: Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland and Labrador. We meet in person on the Island and work online everywhere else — the local presence is part of the point.

HST tracking and filing is included in the monthly plans. Income tax returns are your CPA's job — we work alongside them, not in place of them, and we'll hand them a clean year-end package (and recommend accountants we trust if you need one).

The books: the monthly scope price on the Monthly Bookkeeping page. It covers the books and includes the accounting software.
Payroll, if you have staff: charged on top of that. Biweekly pay is $150 a month plus $8 per employee per month. Weekly pay is $225 a month plus $8 per employee per month.
Not ours: your income tax return. Your CPA does that and bills you for it. We are not a public accounting firm. We hand them a clean year-end package so that bill is as small as it can honestly be.

No — and we're not affiliated with any bank or credit union either. We don't lend, we don't broker loans, and we don't take a cut of anyone's financing. What we do is get your side of the desk ready: books a lender can read, a file that answers their questions before they ask, and someone beside you who knows how the other side reads it. The lending decision always belongs to the lender — our job is making sure they're deciding on your real story. And if you've already heard a no, that's exactly what Declined? The Review is for.

That's a big part of the job. The HST and payroll amounts you collect aren't really yours — you're holding them in trust for the CRA — so we keep them tracked and visible, file your HST on time, and tell you what's coming before it's due. No stomach-drop letters, no scramble at the deadline. You'll always know your number.

No — and that's deliberate. HarperCo is an advisory practice, not a public accounting firm. Our edge is Dominic's 9+ years reading businesses from the lending side of the desk — we make owners lender-ready and decision-ready. When you need work only a CPA can do — audited or reviewed financials, complex tax planning, representing you in a dispute — that's your CPA's lane, and we work alongside them. When a lender requires compiled or reviewed statements, those come from your CPA too, and our reports go alongside them. Don't have a CPA yet? We'll refer you to ones we trust.

You might use both — many owners do. Firms are built for year-end tax, assurance, and complex planning. HarperCo is built for the in-between: a former commercial banker in your corner who helps you get approved for credit, understand your numbers, and make the big calls, working with you directly all year. Want one bundled relationship? A firm makes sense. Want a former commercial banker in your corner between year-ends? That's what HarperCo is for.

Take the free help — honestly. The CBDCs and, for Island businesses, Innovation PEI run good programs, and they're built to tell you what to submit and which doors exist. What we add is the other side of the desk: Dominic's nine years where lending decisions get made, a file built the way the decider will read it, and someone who stays with your numbers so the next application is easier than this one. Worth knowing, too: CBDC is itself a lender — we work for you only, whichever lender you end up with.

Sometimes, for the project work. Innovation PEI’s Small Business Assistance covers 50% of eligible costs. Its ceiling is $4,000 over 24 months. Professional fees for a business plan and market research are eligible up to $2,500. Other professional fees, such as operational efficiency work and internal planning, are eligible up to $5,000. The program asks for at least one employee, or that the business be the owner’s primary income, and fishers and farmers are not eligible. The CBDC Consultant Advisory Services program, funded by ACOA and delivered by the PEI CBDCs, reimburses 75% of professional fees. The ceiling there is $5,000. HST is not eligible, and the program is not open to brand-new startups. So a $1,500 business plan for financing, with Innovation PEI’s 50%, costs you about $750. Both programs are for PEI businesses. Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland and Labrador run their own, and we will point you to the right one for your province. We do not administer either program and eligibility is the program’s decision, not ours. What we will do is tell you which one to phone before you commit.

QuickBooks Online, Xero, or Sage for the books — the subscription is part of your monthly price, along with receipt capture and whatever else the job needs. No separate software bills. The stack serves the advice; it isn't the product.