Industries
Different books, different deadlines. The same standard of care.
Every sector carries its own accounting vocabulary and its own filing calendar. These are the ones we know from the inside. If yours is not listed, ask: the question is whether we have done the work before, and we will say so either way.
Professionals and medical practices
Physicians, dentists, lawyers, architects, engineers and consultants operating through a professional corporation.
A professional corporation is a tax planning tool and a compliance obligation at the same time. The corporate year-end, the personal return, HST treatment of exempt versus taxable services, and how income is drawn all have to be decided together, once a year, before December 31.
We keep the corporation's books, prepare its T2 and the owner's T1 as one plan, and handle the practice payroll and HST so the professional can spend their time on the practice.
What that means in practice
- Salary and dividend planning for the owner and family shareholders where permitted
- HST on mixed exempt and taxable services
- Practice payroll and associate or locum payments
- Corporate and personal returns coordinated in one year-end review
Trades and contractors
Electrical, mechanical, general and specialty contractors, from a single crew to several.
Contracting accounting has its own vocabulary: holdbacks, progress billing, work in progress, subcontractor reporting. The books have to track a job, not just a month, and the HST has to follow the invoice date whether or not the cash has arrived.
We set up job costing that matches how you quote, keep holdback receivable and payable straight, and file the T5018 subcontractor slips the CRA expects every year.
What that means in practice
- Job costing and work-in-progress at month-end
- Holdbacks under the Construction Act tracked separately
- T5018 subcontractor reporting and WSIB clearance
- HST on progress billings and deposits
Real estate investors and holding companies
Rental properties, holding companies and the structures that connect them.
Property held personally, property held in a corporation and a holding company above an operating business each carry different filing and reporting obligations. Intercompany loans, capital cost allowance decisions and the paper trail for a future sale all need to be right from the first year.
We keep each entity's books separately, reconcile the balances between them, and prepare the returns so the structure works the way it was designed to.
What that means in practice
- Rental income statements by property
- Capital cost allowance decisions and recapture planning
- Intercompany loans and shareholder loan accounts reconciled
- Holding company returns coordinated with the operating company
Technology companies and startups
Software, hardware and services companies from first hire to first institutional round.
A startup's finance function has to do two things at once: keep the books clean enough for an investor's diligence and tell the founders how many months of runway remain. Neither should wait until a round is under way.
We produce monthly burn and runway reporting, keep payroll compliant as the team grows, prepare the financial statements an SR&ED claim rests on, and build the reporting package investors expect after they wire the money.
What that means in practice
- Monthly burn, runway and cash forecast
- Financial statements and cost tracking for SR&ED claims, coordinated with your SR&ED adviser
- Investor reporting packages and board decks
- Payroll and contractor compliance as the team grows
Relevant services
Retail and hospitality
Shops, restaurants, cafés and multi-location operators.
Retail and hospitality run on thin margins and high transaction volumes. The point-of-sale system, the bank, the payment processor and the ledger have to agree every day, and inventory has to be counted, costed and written off honestly.
We reconcile point-of-sale to bank to ledger, account for tips and gratuities correctly, track gift card liabilities, and report by location so a weak store is visible before it drains the strong ones.
What that means in practice
- Daily POS, processor and bank reconciliation
- Inventory counts, costing and shrink reporting
- Tips, gratuities and payroll compliance
- Location-level profit and loss
Relevant services
Wholesale and distribution
Importers, distributors and wholesalers with inventory, foreign suppliers and a lender.
Distribution businesses live on inventory and working capital. Landed cost, foreign currency payables, inventory turns and a line of credit secured against receivables and stock all have to be reported accurately and on time, because the lender is watching them too.
This is where the principal's most recent controllership experience sits: full-cycle accounting for a national wholesaler in Oracle NetSuite, with monthly reporting to a board and covenant reporting to the bank.
What that means in practice
- Landed cost and inventory valuation
- Multi-currency vendor payables and exchange exposure
- Line of credit and covenant reporting to the lender
- NetSuite or QuickBooks configuration and month-end close
Individuals and families
Personal tax returns for anyone who wants theirs prepared carefully. You do not need to own a business.
Most personal returns are not complicated. Some are: a rental property, a year of self-employment alongside a salary, a move to Canada, the sale of a home or an inheritance. Either way, the return should be prepared by someone who reads the slips, asks the questions and files on time.
We prepare T1 returns for employees, the self-employed, commission earners, landlords, retirees and newcomers, and we answer the CRA letters that sometimes follow.
What that means in practice
- T1 personal returns, including spouses and dependants
- Self-employment and rental income schedules
- First returns for newcomers to Canada
- CRA review letters and adjustment requests
Relevant services
If your sector is not listed, ask anyway.
Describe what the business does and how the books are kept. If it is not work we have done before, you will hear that first.
Or call (647) 887-6942. Replies within one business day.