Small business profile: Gestion Tourangeau

The Montreal-area tax firm helps local SMEs manage their books

Gestion Tourangeau is a small business owner whose customers are largely small-business owners. The bookkeeping and tax-accounting firm he co-owns “works with 70 small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) on the outskirts of Montreal and in a wide variety of fields: construction, extermination, sanitizing, hair dressing,” Tourangeau explains.

His eponymous firm provides personalized, customized attention to the bookkeeping needs of SMEs, making it unique from other businesses that provide similar services.

“We try to go beyond clients’ needs,” Tourangeau says. “Some of them don’t have time to manage their books, so we do it for them. Our clients very often get caught up in their professional obligations and forget about the deadlines for their taxes. We’re here to remind them, and to follow up on [the filing] for them to get the maximum benefit.” He adds that his firm doesn’t “charge by the minute” as some other companies do.

The business is actually a second act for Tourangeau, professionally speaking. Previously, he was in an entirely different field. His wife, Andrée, had been preparing tax returns and other accounting files for friends and contacts, and needed help with the workload. Seeing the opportunity for joint entrepreneurship, Tourangeau took night courses and then made the jump to accounting.

In 2001, the couple had enough clients to move the business from their family home

to an office space in Repentigny, Que., and later added three full-time employees.

“It was a dream come true,” says Tourangeau of hanging their own shingle.

The husband-and-wife entrepreneurs gradually discovered that their small-business clients were very loyal. “We do a bit of advertising in the Yellow Pages and newspapers, but it’s primarily word-of-mouth that works,” says Tourangeau, who never takes the trust his firm has earned for granted and ensures he’s always on his toes. “You have to always be alert for tax changes. Continuing education is important because the computer tools and methods have to be updated regularly in order [for you to] remain proficient and competitive.”

Going forward, he and his wife plan to hire more employees to keep pace with the growth. And they already have a succession plan in place.

“Our daughter is still in school, but the goal is that she will take over the business in the future,” he says. “We want it to remain family-run. Clients really like dealing with a family business because it gives them confidence in the service.”