GameBiz Lab Ideation | Demystifying Accounting for Indie Game Studio Owners

GameBiz Lab is bringing education and consulting around the business side of video games. Join us for our next event!

This program helps new and aspiring video game studio owners or anyone interested in the business of video game development.

For the Spring 2026 program, NMM is focused on studio foundations and game ideation. NMM is excited to have Sasha Boersma lead a full-day workshop on accounting for indie game studio owners.

Making games is fun, but running a studio is sometimes not. Accounting is often the task that we push off to deal with “later”. But the CRA is expecting things, the bank is expecting things, tax credit analysts are expecting things. So we must deal with it. Best way to deal with it is to understand it so you can work better with your bookkeeper, accountant, or take on some of the responsibilities yourself!

In this hands-on, interactive session, we will cover:

• Sales taxes (GST/PST/HST/TVQ): obligations for sales tax filing, interprovincial rates, and the impact on budgeting and cash flow.
• Payroll contributions: payroll obligations, organizing payroll data for budgets and tax credits understand payroll obligations, and how to organize payroll data for tax credits and funding applications.
• Accounting 101: accrual cost tracking, double-entry accounting, financial statements
• Making cost reports and cash forecasting useful.

Event Agenda:

Tues, June 8, 2026, 9 AM – 5 PM
NMM at 100-62 Albert St.

9:00am – 12:00pm Morning portion of workshop

12:00pm – 12:30pm Time for lunch (provided)

12:30pm – 5:00pm Afternoon portion of workshop
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***Please note this is at our Albert St location, not at the StudioLab xR location.

Lunch will be provided.
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Speaker: Sasha Boersma

Sasha Boersma is Co-Founder/Producer at Sticky Brain Studios where she leads business affairs, including accounting, and funding proposals. First trained on film and television production accounting, Sasha adapted those methods and applied them to the games industry.

She was a contract professor at Centennial College in Toronto for 15 years, including 10 years as the faculty lead for film and television production accounting. She developed and taught two post-graduate level courses and one micro credential on production accounting for film and television.

Sasha is a frequent instructor for organizations like Interactive Ontario, Hand Eye Society, and Women in Film and Television – Toronto on accounting, budgeting, business affairs, and funding applications for games, television, and digital series.

Sasha is Vice-Chair and member of the Finance Committee for the Disability Screen Office (DSO), and Bookkeeper/Treasurer for the Canadian Alliance of Film and Television Costume Arts and Design (CAFTCAD).

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New Media Manitoba is thankful to the Canada Media Fund and Ubisoft for their support of GameBiz Lab.

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