Blue Whale is swimming at capacity. Contact us to join the waitlist.
colleen@bluewhalebookkeepingservice.ca
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Meet the Team
Colleen, Rod, and Katrina
At Blue Whale Bookkeeping Service, we believe great bookkeeping starts with great people. Our small but mighty team blends experience, precision, and a down-to-earth approach. Whether you're working directly with Colleen or connecting with one of our trusted team members, you're in capable (and caring) hands every step of the way.
Colleen Whale
Owner
Colleen spent over a decade working in hotels, both at the front desk and behind the scenes in the accounting office. It was during her time as a night auditor, reconciling the books while everyone else was asleep, that she realized she had a serious knack for numbers. Unfortunately, the hours weren’t exactly family-friendly.
In 2014, Colleen went back to school for bookkeeping. She juggled full-time work, a growing family, and part-time studies, graduating with honours in 2015. From there, she hit the ground running, first assisting a local bookkeeper handling fast food franchises (with a heavy focus on payables), then moving into a full-time accounting clerk role at a building centre, where she managed both receivables and payables before being promoted to purchasing agent.
While she enjoyed analyzing reports and tracking inventory, Colleen missed hands-on bookkeeping. In November 2018, she launched Blue Whale Bookkeeping Service and hasn’t looked back. Since then, she’s worked with clients in a wide range of service-based industries, including contractors, hair salons, and marketing professionals, helping small business owners stay organized, confident, and tax-season-ready.
Rodney Reichstein
Personal Income Tax Specialist
Rodney Reichstein brings over 30 years of experience in personal income tax preparation. He completed multiple certificate programs at Sheridan College while working full-time as the Manager of IT Operations and Networking for the City of Mississauga. His credentials include:
- Certificate in Service Administration (1985)
- Certificate in Management Studies (1989)
- Certificate in Accounting (with Honours) (1998)
After retiring in 2007, Rod continued to prepare personal tax returns independently, building a loyal client base with his calm, detail-oriented approach and deep knowledge of the Canadian tax system. He specializes in straightforward personal returns, including those for retirees and individuals with employment or pension income. (For more complex filings involving self-employment, rentals, or farming income, those cases are handled by Colleen.)
Rod is a trusted and valued part of the team each tax season, bringing precision, patience, and a genuine passion for taxes to every return.
Katrina Garay
Administrative Assistant
Katrina is the organizational backbone of Blue Whale during our busiest season. Each year from February through June, she handles all administrative communications and onboarding so we can stay focused on client work behind the scenes. She works with Blue Whale through her virtual assistant business based in Barrie, Ontario.
With over 10 years of experience in administration, Katrina manages our calendar, schedules appointments, fields incoming emails, and ensures every tax client is onboarded smoothly and efficiently. During tax season, she’s the friendly and professional first point of contact for all inquiries.
Katrina is calm under pressure, highly organized, and an absolute lifesaver during those high-volume months, and we’re lucky to have her on the team each year.
