6 worked Bank and Credit Card Reconciliation case studies — the position a client typically comes to us with, what we do, and what it is worth. Each is an illustrative example built on the rules that apply to bank and credit card reconciliation work, not a specific client's file.
Case Study 1 · Structure rebuilt
Corporate Structure Rebuilt For $23,500 Of Annual Savings — Wedding Photography Studio, London
The structure at a wedding photography studio in London, Ontario dated from years earlier. It had been set up for a business that no longer existed. Input tax credits claimed on receipts that had already been claimed once had become expensive.
Case 1: what we did
We set up a documented chart of accounts, a receipt-capture workflow and a monthly reconciliation that closes within ten days of month-end. The reorganisation used the rollover provisions rather than a taxable transfer, so no tax fell due on the restructuring itself.
Case 1: the result
$23,500 of annual saving, achieved on a tax-deferred basis. The minute book, elections and valuations are all in the file.
Case Study 2 · Records and systems rebuilt
Month-End Close Cut From 5 Weeks To 7 Days — Small Law Practice, Surrey
Client: A small law practice. Where: Surrey, British Columbia. Engagement: 5 weeks, fixed fee.
Close time before5 weeks
Close time after7 days
Year-endReview, not rebuild
Case 2: the situation
The accounting file at a small law practice in Surrey, British Columbia had a weak foundation. It was built on a payroll clearing account that had never been brought to zero, carrying a balance nobody could explain. The year-end had taken 5 weeks each of the last three years.
Case 2: what we did
We separated the owner’s personal spending out of the corporate accounts and cleared the resulting shareholder loan properly. We also moved the reconciliations into the monthly cycle, so the year-end stopped being a rebuild.
Case 2: the result
The file reconciles. Month-end closes in 7 days instead of 5 weeks, and the year-end is a review rather than a reconstruction.
Case Study 3 · Scaling without breaking
Scaled To 88 Staff With $77,000 Of Working Capital Freed — Owner-Operated Trades Business, Ottawa
An owner-operated trades business in Ottawa, Ontario was growing fast, with headcount reaching 88 in eighteen months. The back office had not kept up. Sales recorded from bank deposits, so processor fees, chargebacks and refunds appeared nowhere in the ledger was the first thing to break.
Case 3: what we did
We reconciled receivables and payables to source documents and wrote off the balances that were genuinely uncollectible, with support. We built the compliance calendar for the size the business was becoming rather than the size it had been.
Case 3: the result
The business reached 88 staff with no missed remittance and no late filing. $77,000 of working capital was freed in the process.
Case Study 4 · Sale and succession
$320,000 Sheltered By The Lifetime Capital Gains Exemption — Courier Subcontractor, Vancouver
Client: A courier subcontractor paid by the drop. Where: Vancouver, British Columbia. Engagement: 10 weeks, fixed fee.
Gain sheltered$320,000
ClosingOn schedule
Share qualificationMet
Case 4: the situation
A courier subcontractor paid by the drop in Vancouver, British Columbia had an offer on the table and 30 months to close. The shares did not qualify for the capital gains exemption. A shareholder loan balance that would have been picked up as income on closing was part of the reason.
Case 4: what we did
We purified the corporation so the shares met the qualifying tests. We rebuilt sales from the processor settlement reports so gross sales, fees and refunds each landed in an account of their own. All of it was done well ahead of the closing date.
Case 4: the result
The sale closed on schedule with $320,000 sheltered by the lifetime capital gains exemption across the shareholders.
Case Study 5 · Objection and relief
Desk-Review Assessment Of $50,000 Vacated — Home-Renovation Contractor, Lethbridge
A home-renovation contractor in Lethbridge, Alberta was carrying $50,000 of penalties and interest. The charges arose from a bookkeeping file where owner draws, payroll and supplier payments all landed in the same account. Much of that amount accumulated during a period the CRA itself had delayed.
Case 5: what we did
We recoded the meals and entertainment accounts to the statutory limit and reversed the over-claimed input tax credits before the next return went in. We framed the relief application on the specific grounds the CRA guidelines recognise rather than on general hardship.
Case 5: the result
The assessment was vacated. $50,000 came off the account, and the documentation now on file makes the same position straightforward to defend next time.
Case Study 6 · Cash and remittance control
Instalments Rebased, $116,000 Of Cash Returned To The Business — Equipment Rental Yard, Barrie
An equipment rental yard in Barrie, Ontario was paying instalments calculated on a prior year. That year no longer reflected the business. Eighteen months of unreconciled transactions and a shoebox of receipts was tying up $116,000 of cash.
Case 6: what we did
We rebased the instalments on the current-year estimate rather than the prior-year default. Alongside that, we converted the foreign-currency purchases at transaction-date rates and recorded the exchange difference at settlement instead of burying it in cost of sales.
Case 6: the result
$116,000 of cash stayed in the business, the penalty cycle ended, and the instalment position is reviewed each quarter against actual results.
Reviewed by Udit Gupta, Founder and Tax Accountant for the 2025 tax year. These case studies are illustrative worked examples composed from the CRA rules that apply to this type of work, not specific client files; figures are representative and outcomes depend on your own facts.
