Help & FAQ
Quick answers about statements, receipts, GST and your account.
Getting started
What does Maxwell Books do?
It does your bookkeeping. You upload your bank and credit card statements (and receipts, if you have them). We sort every transaction, work out the GST, and keep proper books, so you can see what you made and what you owe.
Your accountant still does your year-end and your taxes. We give them clean, consistent books to work from.
What do I need to get started?
Your business name, whether you're a sole proprietor or a corporation, whether you're registered for GST, and your business year-end. Then your bank and credit card statements, as PDFs or CSV downloads from online banking.
Start with the statement for the first month of your business year, and add the rest in order. The checklist on your Home page walks you through each step.
Which year-end should I choose?
Sole proprietors: almost always December 31. Corporations choose their own year-end when they first file. It's on your last corporate tax return, or ask your accountant.
How do I know how often I file GST?
Most small businesses file once a year. Your filing frequency is shown in your CRA My Business Account, and on the letter the CRA sent when you registered. Your accountant can tell you too. You can change it later in Business settings.
I chose sole proprietor but I'm a corporation (or the other way round).
This can't be changed in the app, because it decides your whole chart of accounts. Press Feedback in the bottom corner and tell us: we'll help you start over correctly.
Does this replace my accountant?
No. Maxwell Books does your bookkeeping: the sorting, receipt matching and GST work. Your accountant still does your year-end and tax returns, and can see your books in Maxwell Books for free if you invite them.
Uploading statements
Which files can I upload?
PDF statements from any Canadian bank or credit card, and CSV downloads in TD's layout. Up to 10 files at a time. For any other bank, use the PDF statement.
Where to find them: in online banking, look for Statements or eStatements, choose the month, and download the PDF.
My bank's CSV file isn't accepted.
We only read TD's CSV layout so far. Upload the PDF statement for the same month instead: we read PDFs from any bank.
The balance check failed. What does that mean?
We add up every line of a statement and check it lands exactly on the balances printed on it. If it doesn't, nothing from that file is saved, so a misread statement never gets into your books.
It usually means one of three things: the file was matched to the wrong account (check the account you chose), a transaction is missing (for example a partial download), or a line was misread. Try again, and if it still fails, try the other format (PDF instead of CSV, or the other way round).
I picked the wrong account for a file.
Usually the balance check catches this and nothing is saved, so just upload it again with the right account. We also pick the account from the file's name when we can, like a file with "Visa" in its name going to your credit card.
I have more than one bank account or credit card.
At the bottom of the Upload page, press Add an account. Give it a name you'll recognize, like "RBC Visa 0415": adding the last 4 digits helps us pick it for you. Payments between your own accounts are counted once, as transfers.
What if I upload the same statement twice?
Nothing is added twice. Transactions you've already uploaded are skipped, including when two downloads overlap or you upload both the PDF and the CSV of the same month. Two real identical purchases (same day, store and amount) are both kept.
It says a statement may be missing.
Each statement should start where the last one for that account ended. When it doesn't, a month is probably missing. Upload the missing month and the warning goes away. The checklist on Home also lists any months it can't find.
My PDF is password-protected.
We can't open protected PDFs. Download the statement again without a password if your bank offers it, or open the PDF on your computer and use Print → Save as PDF to make an unprotected copy, then upload that.
Why does uploading take a while?
Each PDF is read line by line and then checked against its printed balances. That takes about 20 seconds per statement. Keep the page open until the results show. CSV files are almost instant.
I uploaded the wrong statement (or a personal account).
On Upload statements, scroll to Statements on file and press Remove next to it. That takes its transactions off Review and deletes the copy we kept. You can remove a statement until any of its lines are confirmed; after that, fix the lines on Transactions instead.
Can I connect my bank so statements come in automatically?
Not yet. It's planned. For now, download each month's statement from online banking and upload it here.
I use one account for both business and personal spending.
That's fine. Upload it as usual. On Review, mark personal spending as "For me" (for a sole proprietor it's recorded as money taken out by the owner) so it stays out of your business expenses. Your accountant will thank you for a separate business account, though.
Receipts
Do I have to add receipts?
It's optional, but it helps. When a receipt shows the GST, we use that exact amount instead of an estimate. And the CRA expects you to keep receipts for purchases you claim GST on, for six years.
I lost a receipt.
We still record the purchase from your statement, and estimate the GST as 5/105 of the total. The GST summary shows how much of the GST you're claiming has a receipt behind it. Ask your accountant what to do about larger purchases without one.
A receipt didn't match a purchase.
We match a receipt to a purchase with the same total, within a few days. It may not match if the statement isn't uploaded yet (it will match when it is), if the total is different (a tip added later, or a foreign currency), or if it was paid in cash.
Tips for receipt photos
Flat, well lit, and the whole receipt in the frame, especially the total and the GST line. One receipt per photo. PDFs from email work too.
Review and categories
What is Review?
Where you check what we sorted. Press Suggest categories, look over the lines we marked "Needs a look", fix anything that's wrong, then tick and confirm. Nothing goes into your books until you confirm it.
What do "Not sure" and "Best guess" mean?
We tell you how sure we are, so you know where to look. "Not sure" and "Best guess" lines are listed under Needs a look. The rest are usually right, but you can still change them.
What is "Only you know this one"?
Some lines can't be worked out from the bank's description: e-Transfers (who was it to?) and stores that sell both business and personal things, like Costco or Amazon. We ask you a plain question instead of guessing. These never become rules, because the next one can be different.
Once you've answered the same way for a store 3 times in a row, we suggest that answer next time instead of asking, and you still confirm it. After answering one, you can also answer the rest from the same store in one go.
I confirmed something with the wrong category.
Go to Transactions and press Change next to it. Pick the right category (or Split it) and save. We cancel the original entry and record it again, so your accountant can see what changed. For e-Transfers and stores like Costco, the same question as on Review is there to help.
How do I split a purchase that was part business, part personal?
Press Split next to its category (on Review, or under Change on Transactions). Type the business part, press "Put the rest in the empty part", and choose a category for each. Only the business part's GST is claimed.
What are rules?
Every time you fix a category, we remember it, like "PETRO-CAN → Fuel", and use it for the next upload. See or change them on What we've learned.
Why isn't my credit card payment an expense?
Paying your card from your chequing account just moves money between your own accounts. The expenses are the purchases on the card, so the payment is recorded once, as a transfer, and isn't counted twice.
GST
How is GST worked out?
Alberta has 5% GST and no PST, so the GST in a purchase that includes it is 5/105 of the total. When a matched receipt prints the GST, we use that exact amount. If you're not registered for GST, we never split it out.
What do I enter for "GST you owed at the start"?
GST from before your first statement that you hadn't paid yet: usually your last GST return's amount, if you paid it after that date. If you're not sure, ask your accountant, or leave it blank: you can record your starting balances later.
Does Maxwell Books file my GST return?
Not yet. The GST summary on Reports shows each number with its line on the GST return. Enter them in your CRA My Business Account (or give them to your accountant). Then press Mark as filed, which locks that period so the numbers you filed can't change by accident.
Do I need to register for GST?
Once your sales pass $30,000 in four calendar quarters in a row (or in a single quarter), you generally have to register. If you're not registered, we warn you as you get close. Your accountant can help you register.
Why only half for meals?
Usually only half of business meals and entertainment can be deducted, and only half the GST claimed. We record meals in full during the year, and your accountant adjusts at year-end.
Reports
My balance sheet doesn't balance.
Record your starting balances: Reports shows a box for them once your first statements are in. We take the bank and card balances from your statements; you only add GST owed at the start, if any.
Why don't my reports include everything?
Only confirmed transactions are in your books. Reports warns you when some are still waiting on Review.
How do I get my books out?
Any time, from Reports: print or save any report as a PDF, or download the general ledger and trial balance as CSV files that open in Excel. Your books are yours.
Working with your accountant
How do I share my books with my accountant?
In Business settings, under Your accountant, enter their email. They accept from their own Maxwell Books account, which is free for accountants. You can remove their access at any time, and you can see when they looked.
What do I give my accountant at year-end?
The year-end package. On Reports, choose your fiscal year and press Download year-end package. It's one zip file with the T2125 summary (your income and expenses by tax-form line), your reports, the trial balance and the general ledger, plus a note of anything still open, like transactions waiting for review or missing statements.
Your accountant can also download it themselves if you've shared your books with them.
What can my accountant see and do?
They can see your reports, transactions and receipts, and download exports. They can't change your transactions or settings. They can post adjusting entries (for example, the half-of-meals adjustment), which are marked as theirs and shown to you.
Your account and security
I forgot my password.
On the sign-in page, press "Forgot your password?" and we'll email you a link. Open it on the same device and browser where you asked for it. It works once, for an hour.
I didn't get the confirmation email.
Check your spam or junk folder. On the sign-in page, you can ask for a new one. While we're testing, only invited email addresses can sign up.
What is two-step sign-in?
After your password, you type a 6-digit code from an app on your phone (like Google Authenticator or Microsoft Authenticator). A stolen password alone then can't open your books. Turn it on from Profile.
I lost the phone with my two-step codes.
Sign in with your password as usual. On the screen that asks for your code, press "Lost your phone? Use a backup code" and type one of the backup codes you saved when you turned two-step sign-in on. That turns it off, so you can set it up again on your new phone.
No backup codes? Press Feedback in the bottom corner of that screen and tell us. We'll check it's really you, then reset it.
Getting a new phone? Set up Maxwell Books in the authenticator app on the new phone before you reset the old one.
Where is my data kept?
Your books, statements and receipts are stored in Canada, encrypted, and our servers run in Montréal. To read PDF statements and receipt photos, we send them to our AI provider (Anthropic), which may process them outside Canada. We never sell your data.
Who can see my books?
Only you, and any accountant you invite (until you remove them). The people who run Maxwell Books see counts (like how many transactions you have), not your transactions, amounts or documents.
How do I change my email or delete my account?
Press Feedback in the bottom corner and tell us. Keep in mind the CRA expects you to keep your business records for six years, so download your books first.
How much does it cost?
Maxwell Books is free while we test it with invited businesses. We'll tell you the price well before billing starts.
Still stuck?
When you're signed in, press Feedback in the bottom corner of any page and tell us what happened. We read every note.