Stages
Where the business is decides what needs doing.
A business at its first hire, at its first loan and at its sale has three different lists. This page sets out each list and which of our services covers it. Items with a figure or a deadline link to the official page that states it.
Starting a business
Sole proprietor or corporation, the first registrations, and a set of books from day one.
The decisions made in the first month are the ones that are expensive to change later: the structure, the year-end date, the accounting system, and which CRA accounts are opened. None of them take long if they are done in order.
What has to be done
- Decide between a sole proprietorship and a corporation with your accountant and lawyer, then register the business name or incorporate through the Ontario Business Registry.Source: Ontario Business Registry
- Get a CRA business number and open the program accounts the business will need: GST/HST, payroll, corporation income tax, import-export.Source: CRA: How to register for a business number
- Decide whether to register for HST before the $30,000 small supplier threshold. Registration is required within 29 days of exceeding it.Source: CRA: When to register for and start charging the GST/HST
- Choose a year-end date and set up the accounting system, a separate business bank account and a place for receipts.
- Set up a filing calendar for the year ahead so nothing is discovered late.
Services at this stage
Corporate & Compliance
Incorporation, registrations, payroll and the recurring statutory filings, planned ahead so nothing is missed.
More on Corporate & ComplianceAccounting & Bookkeeping
Monthly bookkeeping, a month-end close that runs to a calendar, and financial statements prepared under ASPE.
More on Accounting & BookkeepingSystems & ERP Implementation
Implementations, migrations and chart-of-accounts design for Oracle NetSuite and QuickBooks Online, with training for the people who will use them every day.
More on Systems & ERPGrowing and hiring
Payroll, a monthly close, and reporting that keeps up with the business.
The first hire brings payroll, remittances and slips on fixed dates. A few hires later the owner stops being able to hold the numbers in their head, and the monthly close becomes the thing the business runs on.
What has to be done
- Open a payroll account before the first pay run and collect a TD1 from each employee.Source: CRA: TD1 Personal Tax Credits Returns
- Remit CPP, EI and income tax deductions on the CRA's schedule for your remitter type.Source: CRA: Remit (pay) payroll deductions and contributions
- Issue T4 slips by the last day of February for the previous calendar year.Source: CRA: When to file information returns
- Register with WSIB where the business is required to, and file its reconciliation.Source: WSIB: Completing the reconciliation form
- Close the books monthly on a fixed date, with a short management report, so decisions are made on current numbers.
- Check the GST/HST reporting period as sales grow; the CRA assigns it by annual taxable supplies.Source: CRA: GST/HST reporting periods
Services at this stage
Payroll & Employer Filings
Bi-weekly or semi-monthly payroll, CRA remittances, T4s and Records of Employment, reconciled to the ledger every period.
More on PayrollAccounting & Bookkeeping
Monthly bookkeeping, a month-end close that runs to a calendar, and financial statements prepared under ASPE.
More on Accounting & BookkeepingBusiness Advisory
Controller and CFO-level oversight on a monthly retainer: cash flow, budgets and reporting a board or lender can act on.
More on Business AdvisoryBorrowing or raising money
Statements a lender will accept, a cash forecast, and the reporting that follows the money.
A bank or an investor asks for the same things: financial statements prepared to a recognised standard, a forecast with assumptions written down, and reconciled balances for anything they are lending against. After the money arrives, the reporting continues every quarter.
What has to be done
- Financial statements prepared under ASPE from a reconciled ledger, with a compilation engagement report where the lender asks for one.
- A thirteen-week cash flow forecast for the near term and a twelve-month projection for the plan.
- Shareholder loan, intercompany and related-party balances reconciled and documented before diligence starts.
- Covenant schedules and the quarterly reporting package the loan agreement requires, produced on the same date each period.
- Where an audit or review is required, working papers prepared so the external firm can start on day one.
Services at this stage
Business Advisory
Controller and CFO-level oversight on a monthly retainer: cash flow, budgets and reporting a board or lender can act on.
More on Business AdvisoryCompilation Engagements
Annual or interim financial statements with a compilation engagement report under CSRS 4200, prepared from a reconciled ledger.
More on Compilation EngagementsAudit & Review Engagement Support
Year-end working papers and schedules prepared so the external auditor or reviewer can start work on day one.
More on Audit & Review SupportAccounting & Bookkeeping
Monthly bookkeeping, a month-end close that runs to a calendar, and financial statements prepared under ASPE.
More on Accounting & BookkeepingSelling or winding down
Cut-off statements, a diligence file, the final returns, and the records kept afterwards.
A sale is decided on the numbers in the data room. A wind-down is decided by whether every account can be closed cleanly. Both start with books that are current to the day and a file someone else can follow.
What has to be done
- Cut-off financial statements at the transaction date, with the schedules a buyer's accountant will ask for.
- A due diligence package: reconciled ledgers, tax filings and assessments, contracts, payroll records, and answers to the standard question list.
- Final corporate, HST and payroll returns, and the program accounts closed in the right order.
- Records kept for six years from the end of the last tax year they relate to, even after the business has closed.Source: CRA: Where to keep your records, for how long and how to request permission to destroy them early
- Tax planning for the owner on the proceeds, coordinated with your lawyer and, where relevant, your investment adviser. We do not give investment advice.
Services at this stage
Transactions & Special Situations
Due diligence packages, cut-off statements and reporting through acquisitions, restructurings and wind-downs.
More on TransactionsTax Planning & Preparation
Corporate and personal returns, HST/GST filings and CRA correspondence, with planning done in the autumn, while there is still time to act.
More on Tax Planning & PreparationCorporate & Compliance
Incorporation, registrations, payroll and the recurring statutory filings, planned ahead so nothing is missed.
More on Corporate & ComplianceNot sure which stage this is.
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