All guides
What a Canadian small corporation pays for bookkeeping, compilations and the T2 return, what drives the fee, how automation changes it, and the CRA rules for 2026.
Fees, Cost Drivers and 2026 Rules
- Accounting automation for Canadian small businesses: what it costs and what it really saves
How cloud accounting, bank feeds, receipt capture and connected apps change bookkeeping and accountant fees for a Canadian corporation, with CRA record rules to keep in mind.
- Bookkeeping pricing for small corporations: hourly, monthly flat fee or per transaction?
How Canadian bookkeepers and accounting firms price monthly bookkeeping, what each model includes, and how to compare quotes for your transaction volume.
- Compilation, review or audit: which financial statements does your corporation need?
How CSRS 4200 compilations, review engagements and audits differ in assurance, work and cost for a Canadian private corporation, and who can require each.
- Corporate accountant fees in Canada: what you pay for and what drives the price
What a Canadian small corporation pays an accountant for bookkeeping, year-end statements, the T2 and sales tax, and the cost drivers you can control.
- Corporate tax filing deadlines and payment dates in Canada for 2026
The T2 due date, balance-due day, instalments, GST/HST returns, T4 and T5 slips and electronic filing and payment rules that set your corporation's 2026 accounting calendar.
- GST/HST and QST filing frequency: how it changes your accounting workload and fees
How the CRA assigns annual, quarterly or monthly GST/HST reporting, when registration is required, how QST works in Quebec, and what each frequency costs in time.
- Running a corporation in Quebec: accounting and tax differences that affect your fees
The CO-17 return, GST and QST administered by Revenu Québec, RL slips, the annual updating declaration and other Quebec rules that add accounting work.
- How much does it cost to prepare a T2 corporate tax return?
The schedules, provincial returns and situations that make a T2 corporation income tax return simple or expensive to prepare, with an illustrative estimate.
Worked Estimates and Checklists
- Does accounting automation pay for itself? A worked payback example
Calculate the payback period of moving a Canadian corporation to cloud accounting with bank feeds and receipt capture, with three illustrative scenarios including one that loses money.
- Behind on your corporation's books? How catch-up bookkeeping is priced
How to estimate the cost of catch-up bookkeeping and unfiled corporate returns in Canada, what to gather first, and how to limit penalties while the work is done.
- How to choose an accountant for your corporation: a checklist for Canadian owners
A practical checklist for choosing a CPA or accounting firm for a Canadian small corporation, covering credentials, licensing, scope, fees, software, CRA authorization and data access.
- Do your own books, hire a bookkeeper or use a full-service firm? A cost comparison
Compare the true cost of DIY bookkeeping, an independent bookkeeper and a full-service accounting firm for a Canadian corporation, including the value of your own time.
- Reading your accountant's engagement letter: scope, assumptions and extra fees
Which engagement letter clauses decide what a Canadian corporation actually pays its accountant, what is commonly billed as extra, and how to negotiate a clearer scope.
- How to estimate your corporation's annual accounting costs: three worked examples
A step-by-step method to budget bookkeeping, year-end, T2 and filing costs for a Canadian corporation, with three illustrative corporations and the arithmetic shown.
- Year-end package checklist: what to send your accountant for your corporation
A complete checklist of records a Canadian corporation should send its accountant at year end, why each matters, and how missing items turn into extra fees.
Mistakes, Penalties and Official Sources
- Bank feed and automation errors: duplicates, wrong tax codes and unsupported input tax credits
The most common errors automated bookkeeping creates for Canadian corporations, how they affect GST/HST and ITC claims, the CRA's invoice thresholds, and a monthly review routine.
- Common corporate accounting mistakes that raise your accountant's bill (and your tax risk)
The bookkeeping, sales tax, shareholder and filing mistakes that most often turn a Canadian corporation's routine year end into an expensive clean-up, and how to avoid them.
- CRA reviews and record retention for corporations: what to keep and what a review costs
How long a Canadian corporation must keep records, what electronic records must meet, how CRA review letters and audits work, and how accountant fees for responding are usually billed.
- Late-filing penalties for T2 and GST/HST returns: how they are calculated
How the CRA calculates late-filing penalties on corporate T2 and GST/HST returns, repeat penalties, e-filing and payment penalties, interest, and when relief may be available.
- Official sources for corporate tax and accounting rules in Canada
Where to verify corporate tax deadlines, GST/HST and QST rules, accounting standards, CPA licensing and complaints in Canada, and which source answers which question.
- Shareholder loans and personal expenses in a small corporation: rules and costly traps
How the Income Tax Act treats money an owner takes from a Canadian corporation, the one-year repayment rule, imputed interest, personal expenses as benefits, and how to keep it clean.
- Switching accountants or disputing a bill: how to move your corporation's file cleanly
How a Canadian corporation changes accountants mid-year or at year end, what records to ask for, how to update CRA authorizations, and where to turn when a fee or service dispute cannot be settled.