A bookkeeper records transactions and keeps your ledger accurate month to month. An accountant interprets those records, files returns, and plans. Most small businesses need both functions, though not always two people.
Bookkeeping is the ongoing, transactional layer: categorising expenses, reconciling bank and credit card accounts, issuing invoices, tracking receivables and payables, running payroll, and preparing GST/HST figures.
The work is continuous and its value is accuracy. A clean ledger maintained monthly costs a fraction of reconstructing twelve months of records the week before a filing deadline, and it produces numbers you can actually run a business on.
An accountant works on top of the ledger: preparing financial statements, filing T2 and T1 returns, planning salary versus dividend mix, advising on incorporation and structure, representing you in a CRA review, and preparing compilations for lenders.
The distinction is interpretation. A bookkeeper tells you what happened; an accountant tells you what it means and what to do about it. A CPA designation also carries professional liability and standards that matter when a bank or the CRA is reading the statements.
Accountants generally charge more per hour than bookkeepers. If your accountant spends that time sorting a shoebox of receipts, you are paying a premium rate for clerical work.
Worse, reconstructed records are less defensible. Expenses categorised eleven months after the fact, from memory, are exactly what the CRA challenges in a review. Contemporaneous records — entered when the transaction happened, with the receipt attached — are the difference between a review that ends in correspondence and one that ends in an assessment.
Self-preparation is realistic if you are a sole proprietor with a single revenue stream, few expenses, no employees, no GST/HST registration and no inventory. Software handles that competently.
It stops being realistic once any of the following appear: incorporation, employees, GST/HST registration, inventory, vehicle or home-office claims, multiple provinces, or foreign income. Each adds rules where the cost of getting it wrong exceeds the cost of advice.
The common arrangement is monthly bookkeeping to keep the ledger current, plus an accountant at year-end for statements, returns and planning. That gives you accurate numbers throughout the year and professional judgement where it matters, without paying professional rates for data entry.
We provide both under one fixed fee, which removes the handover friction — the person filing your return is working from records prepared to the standard that return requires.
Reviewed for the 2025 tax year by Udit Gupta, Certified Tax Accountant. General information, not advice for your specific situation — book a free 15-minute call to discuss your circumstances.
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The questions Canadians actually search on this topic, answered plainly. Browse every question in the Canadian tax answers directory.
Yes. Most people file electronically through NETFILE using CRA-certified software, which submits the return directly and confirms receipt immediately. Filing online is also what makes a fast refund possible: for 2025 returns filed in 2026 the CRA service standard is about two weeks online, against a considerably longer standard for a paper return, and registering direct deposit removes the cheque step. CRA online filing for 2025 returns opened 23 February 2026 and closes 29 January 2027.
Property tax bills come from your municipality, not the CRA, so ask the city or town that issued it. Most municipalities let you view, print and download bills and statements through an online property tax account opened with your roll number and address, and will reissue a copy by mail or email on request. If property tax is collected with your mortgage payment, your lender's annual statement shows the amount paid on your behalf.
Multiply the pre-tax price by the combined rate for the province where the supply is made, then add that amount to the price. If the price already includes tax, divide the total by one plus the rate to get the pre-tax amount, and the difference is the tax. The rate depends on the province of supply rather than where your business sits, so verify the current rate for that province and confirm the item is not zero-rated or exempt.
No. Federal tax starts only once taxable income exceeds your credits, and the basic personal amount alone shelters the first $16,452 in 2026, so many students, retirees on modest income and part-year workers owe nothing federally. Everyone with employment income still pays CPP and EI, and everyone pays GST or HST on purchases. Filing remains worthwhile at any income level, because benefits and credits are all calculated from the return you file.
Employment, business and investment income of a status Indian is exempt where the income is situated on a reserve. The CRA applies connecting-factor tests: for employment, usually whether the duties were performed on reserve; for business income, where the activities take place; for interest, where the account and the debtor are located. Employment income earned off reserve is generally taxable. See the CRA's Indian Act Exemption for Employment Income Guidelines before deciding.
Yes. The employer deducts income tax from severance and from a retiring allowance before paying you. Lump-sum withholding uses flat rates that are often lower than your marginal rate, so a large payout can still leave a balance owing when you file, especially if you also had regular employment income that year. CPP and EI are generally not deducted from a retiring allowance. Set money aside, or contribute to an RRSP if you have room.
Controlled tips do. Where the employer collects and redistributes tips, through a service charge or a pool the employer allocates, they are employment income subject to income tax, CPP and EI withholding and they appear on the T4. Direct tips a customer gives you are taxable income but generally carry no employer withholding, though CPP and EI can apply in limited cases. Either way the income is reported; only the deduction route differs.
AISH benefits are not taxed. Alberta reports the assistance you received on a statement of benefits slip, and the amount is entered on your return and then deducted, so it does not increase the tax you owe. It still counts when the CRA works out income-tested amounts such as the GST/HST credit or the Canada Child Benefit, which is why the slip must be reported even though no tax results.
Reviewed and fact-checked by Udit Gupta
Ex Big 4 — Ernst & Young, Deloitte · International & cross-border tax specialist · CPA Canada (In-Depth Tax Program) · Chartered accountant, ICAI & MIA
Udit Gupta has over 15 years of experience helping corporations and business owners with corporate structuring, corporate tax filing, bookkeeping, payroll, GST/HST, cross-border tax and CRA representation. Big 4 trained at Ernst & Young and Deloitte, and qualified as a chartered accountant in India and again in Malaysia, he founded his accounting practice in 2014 to serve entrepreneurs, startups and non-resident business owners across Canada. View full member bio.
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India — member 521458 · Malaysian Institute of Accountants — member CA 44667 · Ex Big 4: Ernst & Young, Deloitte · CPA Canada (In-Depth Tax Program), completed 19 Dec 2023 · In-Depth GST/HST Part I, 12 Jul 2022 · Part II, 5 Jul 2023
Editorial policy. Every page is researched against primary sources — the Income Tax Act, CRA publications and CPA Canada guidance — and every rate or threshold is stated with the tax year it applies to.
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