Want to hire a bookkeeper for a distribution business? Test your full-charge bookkeeper candidates on inventory and landed cost first, then on AP and AR volume and the system you run. A short practical test will tell you more than another round of interviews.
Getting landed cost wrong distorts every margin you look at. If freight-in and duties sit in overhead all year, the external CPA moves them into inventory and cost of sales at year-end, and every pricing decision made in between rested on a margin that didn’t exist.
Minted is a CPA-led recruiter, and our accounting and finance practice places permanent full-charge bookkeepers with private companies across the GTA.
What “Full-Charge” Means in a Distribution Business
A full-charge bookkeeper takes the books from transaction entry through to a reviewed trial balance, and in distribution that means owning inventory as well as AP and AR. The scope covers:
- AP with a three-way match (purchase order, receipt, invoice)
- AR, collections and customer credit limits
- Bank and credit card reconciliations
- HST filings and payroll inputs
- Reconciling the inventory sub-ledger to the general ledger (GL)
- Month-end accruals and the year-end file for your external CPA
Most distributors run lean: 97.6% of Canada’s 94,165 wholesale establishments have fewer than 100 employees. This person is often the entire finance function below the owner. When you’re ready to add an accountant above them, see our guide to building an accounting team in the right order.
The Inventory and Landed Cost Skills Screen
Landed cost separates a distribution bookkeeper from a general one. Test these six skills:
| Skill | What to test | Red flag |
|---|---|---|
| Landed cost | Calculate cost per unit from an invoice, customs entry and freight bill | Freight-in and duties coded to overhead |
| Costing method | Explain average cost vs. FIFO (first in, first out) in your system | Doesn’t know which method the system uses |
| Counts | Walk through a cycle count variance | Books variances without investigating |
| Obsolete stock | Prepare write-down support | No process for slow movers |
| Credits and rebates | Match a vendor credit to its receipt | Credits left unapplied |
| Customs duty and refunds | Track duty paid and refunds claimed by entry | No tracking by entry |
For importers, there’s a customs layer too. CARM is the Canada Border Services Agency’s (CBSA) system for assessing and collecting duties. To use release prior to payment, which lets goods clear the border before duties are paid, importers must post financial security in CARM. The CBSA’s extended deadline for posting that security passed on May 20, 2025. A 2025 CFIB survey found 45% of importers weren’t registered for release prior to payment, and in a lean distributor that admin often lands on the bookkeeper’s desk.
Remission rules (refunds or waivers of Canada’s surtax on some U.S. goods) keep changing, too, so check Finance Canada’s tariff relief guidance for importers before each claim. A strong candidate tracks duty paid and remission claimed by entry.
QuickBooks, NetSuite or Another ERP: Testing System Fluency
Test system fluency by having candidates show you, in your own system, how a receipt flows into inventory. QuickBooks and NetSuite, a full ERP (enterprise resource planning) system, handle landed cost differently. NetSuite allocates landed cost by weight, quantity or value on the transaction, while QuickBooks setups vary by edition and add-on. Fluency in one doesn’t guarantee the other. Ask these three questions:
- “Where does freight-in land when a receipt is posted in your system?”
- “How do you reconcile the inventory valuation report to the GL?”
- “Walk me through a vendor credit memo for a short shipment.”
Listen for account names, report names and the order of steps. A candidate who has only used QuickBooks for a service business may be excellent, but has never had to make the inventory report match the books.
A 60-Minute Practical Test You Can Run
A 60-minute practical test built from your own paperwork shows you how a candidate actually works. Remove names, then use these three exercises:
- Landed cost. Hand over a supplier invoice, a customs entry and a freight bill for one container. Ask them to calculate landed cost per unit.
- Find the gap. Give them an inventory valuation report that misses the GL by a planted amount. Ask them to find it and explain how.
- Credit call. Show them an AR aging with one customer over their limit. Ask them to draft the email to your sales lead.
Then ask how they file supporting documents. The CRA requires businesses to keep records for six years from the end of the last tax year they relate to, and customs paperwork is easy to lose.
Minted’s CPA-led screen tests this kind of work before anyone reaches your shortlist, and each shortlisted candidate comes with a written technical summary. That frees your interviews for how they’d work with you, your sales team and your external CPA.
Pay and What Drives It
Pay depends on inventory complexity, your system, and whether they supervise anyone. A multi-currency importer on NetSuite with an AP clerk is paying for a different person than a single-warehouse wholesaler on QuickBooks. For current ranges, see our bookkeeper salary Toronto benchmarks.
Wholesale is a big sector, with $91.6 billion in sales in August 2026 alone, so you’re competing with plenty of other distributors for the same people.
Signs Your Bookkeeper Has Outgrown the Role (or the Role Has Outgrown Them)
When you start asking for margin by SKU, cash forecasts or lender reporting, the seat has become an accountant or controller job. Watch for:
- Month-end taking more than 10 business days
- Your bank asking for covenant reporting
- A second warehouse or a U.S. entity
- An ERP migration on the calendar
- Year-end adjustments that grow every year
That’s usually a sign your business has grown, not that your bookkeeper has slipped. Our guide on when to hire an accountant in the GTA covers the next seat, and the controller handover checklist helps when you get there.
FAQ
What should I ask a bookkeeper in an interview for an inventory business?
Ask where freight-in lands when a receipt is posted, how they reconcile the inventory valuation report to the GL, and how they’d book a vendor credit for a short shipment. Vague answers usually mean limited inventory experience.
Does a full-charge bookkeeper need a designation?
No, a designation isn’t required. Hands-on inventory experience and a passed practical test matter more. If you’re weighing a designated hire for a bigger role, see CPA vs. accountant hires for Ontario private companies.
Can a recruiter find a bookkeeper for a distribution company in the GTA?
Yes, and a good specialist recruiter screens for landed cost, inventory reconciliation and system fluency before you see a resume. Minted places permanent full-charge bookkeepers with GTA private companies, and every candidate is screened before you see them.
QuickBooks or NetSuite experience: which matters more?
It depends on what you run now and plan to run in three years. If a NetSuite move is likely, hire someone who has lived through a migration.
How long does it take to hire a bookkeeper?
Plan for several weeks, longer if you need niche customs or ERP experience. In the meantime, you or your outside accounting firm can usually keep AP, AR and HST filings moving.
Hire for the Inventory You Actually Carry
If your current bookkeeper can’t tell you where freight-in lands, start there. Run the test on your own paperwork, and let the answers tell you whether you need a new hire, more training or a bigger role. If you’d like a second opinion on the seat before you post it, talk to Minted Search Group. No Pressure, Just Possibilities.
