Bookkeeper for Taber businesses
Sugar, corn and a harvest-shaped year
Taber is home to Lantic’s sugar beet plant, built in 1950 and now Canada’s last beet sugar factory, supplying about 8% of the sugar sold in Canada. Around 200 grower families contract beet acres with the plant, and the processing campaign runs for months each fall; in 2021 it ran about 150 days from early September.
The town also calls itself the Corn Capital of Canada, and Cornfest, held the last full weekend of August by the Taber & District Chamber of Commerce, is a big week for food vendors and retail.
For bookkeeping, that means a lot of businesses with lumpy years: farm-input suppliers, haulers and contractors whose busiest quarter can look nothing like the rest. That affects GST registration, which is measured quarter by quarter, and it makes monthly reconciliation more valuable, not less.
Bookkeeping services for Taber businesses
- Catch-up & cleanup bookkeepingHarvest season left the books behind? I’ll catch you up over the quieter months.
- Monthly bookkeepingReconciled every month, so a big quarter and a quiet one both make sense on paper.
- Payroll servicesSeasonal staff on and off payroll, with ROEs and T4s handled properly.
- GST filingWatch the $30,000 quarterly threshold, and file on time when a busy quarter hits.
Local details worth knowing
Taber’s licensing rules are detailed, especially for contractors. From the Town of Taber:
- Licence required
- any trade, profession or activity providing goods or services in Taber needs a Town licence.
- Contractors
- the rule covers resident and non-resident contractors and subcontractors alike, which matters if you come in from Lethbridge or elsewhere for a job.
- Personal services
- hair, esthetics and other personal service businesses must contact Alberta Health Services before applying.
- Vehicle sales
- need an AMVIC licence.
- Support
- the Town works with Community Futures Chinook and the Taber Regional Joint Economic Development Committee, and the chamber runs events from Cornfest to the Pheasant Festival.
Working together from Taber
Taber is about 51 km from Lethbridge, so the day-to-day work is remote: QuickBooks Online, a receipt app and a phone or video call when you want to talk something through.
If a visit makes sense, for example to collect a box of paper records at the start of a catch-up project, we can arrange one.
Questions from Taber
Do you work with businesses in Taber?
Yes, remotely from Lethbridge, about 51 km away. In-person visits can be arranged when they’re useful.
I’m a contractor from out of town. Do I need a Taber licence for a job there?
The Town of Taber says its licence requirement covers resident and non-resident contractors and subcontractors. Check with the Town for your situation, and keep the licence cost in your books as a business expense.
My busiest quarter is harvest. Does that affect GST?
It can. The $30,000 small supplier threshold is measured per calendar quarter as well as over four quarters, so one strong quarter can be enough to require registration. See GST filing.
Do you work with farm-input suppliers and haulers?
Yes, small owner-operated ones. Their books tend to carry a lot of fuel, parts and supplier statements, and a busy fall that looks nothing like the rest of the year. See trucking bookkeeping for what I keep track of.
Let’s get your books level.
Tell me where things stand, even if it’s messy, and I’ll tell you honestly what it’ll take to catch up and keep it that way. Every quote is confirmed after a free review of your books.
Leave a message and Vanessa will call you back.