FAQs

How We Communicate With You

We will strive to get back to you within 48 hours during normal business hours. We may not have the answer to your question; however, we will give you a timeline for a complete response or discuss next steps. Should you need a quicker response time, please let us know when contacting us and we will do our best to prioritize your request.

  • Please communicate with our team via email, or through Karbon tasks. This is the best way to ensure that your information is logged, and we’re able to get back to you with the best information possible.

  • Brightline CPA has upgraded to Dialpad, streamlining your communication with us through a single contact number for both calls and texts, ensuring responses within 48 hours.

    Email remains the preferred method for detailed inquiries, ensuring thorough review and collaboration for optimal support. All communications are securely recorded to maintain client confidentiality. Clients should update their contact lists with the new number for all future communications.

  • If there are actionable tasks being discussed, please do not communicate via text, social media messaging, or chat. It is important that we document these action items in our workflow system and using these informal methods of communication is an easy way for tasks to be overlooked.

  • You will be sent a survey after we have completed a project for you so that you can tell us how we did – where we did well and how we can do better on future projects.

  • You will occasionally receive targeted email communications from us about new operating procedures or important tax changes that might impact you & your business. We try to ensure these emails are not overly frequent and that they are relevant to you. However, you can always unsubscribe if you no longer wish to receive these communications.

Proposals and engagement terms

We use annual engagement contracts renewed every year between August and December. We use a software called Ignition to send you proposals and to keep track of the services that we are providing for you.

  • If we include a service in your proposal but it is determined later on that the service is not required, you will not be billed for the service. This does not apply to services included in any packages you have subscribed for (such as email/phone support or regular financial reporting).

  • Outside of our packaged services, we will provide you with proposals on a project-by-project basis. These proposals are for project work that is outside the scope of the originally agreed upon services, and may require an upfront deposit depending on the type of work to be provided.

Information Requests

We strive to provide meaningful real-time financial data so that you can grow your business and make strategic decisions in a timely fashion. Although we will be working hard to take as much of the work off your plate as possible, we do need your input in the process as follows:

  • Our practice management application is called Karbon. We will regularly use this app to send you information requests, including automated reminders for outstanding information. There is a chat function that can be used within this app, however it is for the specific tasks included in our information requests and does not replace email communications. There will be an option to upload documents in Karbon as requested. Please check off the tasks in our information requests as completed when you have provided the information/performed the task requested so that Karbon does not continue to remind you of the request. Karbon will email you a secure link to open your request panel. You can create a log-in to access the history of requests and documents in the client portal. Click here to access the client portal.

  • We strive to complete your monthly bookkeeping by the end of the following month (ex: January will be completed by February 28th). To accomplish this, Bright Line will send an information request to you by the first week of the month at the latest. We expect that you will respond to that request within a week of us sending it in order to finish up your accounting by the end of the month.

  • We will supply you with basic management reports which will include statement of profit & loss (“P&L”), Balance Sheet, aged listing of accounts receivable (“AR”) and accounts payable (“AP”) if applicable, and a Cash flow statement. We will also provide you with a Loom video providing commentary and highlights of what we might have noticed while preparing the reports. If there are any changes you would like to see to the types of reports you are receiving, please let us know.

  • As we are working on your monthly bookkeeping, we may come across transactions that we need your input on. We use a program called Uncat to send you regular reminders of any transactions that we need additional information on. We expect that you will provide notes & supporting documentation for these transactions within a reasonable amount of time after you receive the reminder.

  • Bright Line will file your HST returns and/or payroll remittances by the CRA deadline. If you require a PDF confirmation, we can provide this to you via email. We will notify you of your refund or balance owing a few days before the payment due date.

How we share documents

Receipts and documents for posting in QBO are to be uploaded/emailed/Scanned into Dext or QBO receipts.

  • Karbon will send you a request if there are documents like bank or loan statements, tax returns, or personal tax support required.

  • Karbon is also used to share final document and financials with you that we have compiled.

  • You can access your QBO file at any time and go to the reports section to view the data and print customized reports.

Bookkeeping

How to help us keep track of your bookkeeping, and send reports.

  • Keep business and personal transactions separate – bank accounts and credit cards.

    No personal expenses should come out of your business accounts. If they do, these should be flagged for us.

  • You must have online banking and e-statements set up for us to do your bookkeeping.

  • All receipts to be uploaded to Dext or QBO receipts to ensure we know all of the details (payment receipts as well as the store detail receipts)

  • If you buy something significant, finance something or loan out money, we will need a copy of the paperwork to ensure it is posted properly.

  • Review your reports and respond to us about them within 10 days of receiving them if you have questions or changes to be made.

Looking for more information?

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