6 Bookkeeping for Sole Proprietors tax and accounting engagements in full — what the client came to us with, what we did, and what it was worth. Each one is specific to bookkeeping for sole proprietors work, not a general example.
Case Study 1 · Cash and remittance control
$19,000 Of Working Capital Freed From The Tax Cycle — Equipment Rental Yard, Vancouver
Client: An equipment rental yard · Where: Vancouver, British Columbia · Engagement: 7 weeks, fixed fee
Working capital freed$19,000
On-time remittancesEvery period since
Forecast horizon13 weeks
The situation
An equipment rental yard in Vancouver, British Columbia was profitable on paper and short of cash every month. A bookkeeping file where owner draws, payroll and supplier payments all landed in the same account explained most of the gap.
What we did
We rebuilt the ledger from bank and card statements, matched every receipt to a transaction, and removed duplicated input tax credits before they became a review and built a thirteen-week cash view so tax payments stopped competing with payroll for the same dollars.
The result
$19,000 was released back into working capital. Remittances have been on time every period since, and the forecast shows the tax outflow before it lands.
Case Study 2 · Structure rebuilt
Corporate Structure Rebuilt For $36,500 Of Annual Savings — Home-Renovation Contractor, Red Deer
Client: A home-renovation contractor · Where: Red Deer, Alberta · Engagement: 8 weeks, fixed fee
Saving per year$36,500
DocumentationComplete
Transfer basisRollover
The situation
The structure at a home-renovation contractor in Red Deer, Alberta had been set up years earlier for a business that no longer existed, and three years of returns filed off numbers nobody could trace back to a bank statement had become expensive.
What we did
We reconciled receivables and payables to source documents and wrote off the balances that were genuinely uncollectible, with support. The reorganisation used the rollover provisions rather than a taxable transfer, so no tax fell due on the restructuring itself.
The result
$36,500 of annual saving, achieved on a tax-deferred basis. The minute book, elections and valuations are all in the file.
Case Study 3 · CRA review defended
$99,000 Proposed Adjustment Withdrawn In Full — Subscription Box Retailer, Winnipeg
A subscription box retailer in Winnipeg, Manitoba received a proposal letter opening a review of bookkeeping for sole proprietors. The CRA had identified a receivables list that included invoices collected eleven months earlier and proposed an adjustment of $99,000, with 30 days to respond.
What we did
We treated the response as an evidence exercise rather than an argument. We separated the owner’s personal spending out of the corporate accounts and cleared the resulting shareholder loan properly, then indexed every supporting document against the specific line the auditor had questioned.
The result
The proposed adjustment was withdrawn in full — all $99,000 of it. The file closed in 8 weeks with no change to the assessed amounts and no penalty.
Case Study 4 · Records and systems rebuilt
Books Rebuilt From Source, $4,100 In Unclaimed Input Tax Found — Residential Cleaning Franchise, Barrie
A residential cleaning franchise in Barrie, Ontario could not answer basic questions about its own numbers, because eighteen months of unreconciled transactions and a shoebox of receipts sat between the bank statements and the ledger.
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, then documented the process so the work does not depend on any one person remembering how it was done.
The result
Records rebuilt and reconciled, $4,100 recovered in input tax credits that the old file could not support, and a documented monthly process now in place.
Case Study 5 · Backlog brought current
Collections Halted And $63,000 Cut From A 3-Year Backlog — Specialty Coffee Roaster, Saskatoon
By the time a specialty coffee roaster in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan called, 3 years were outstanding and the CRA had assessed on estimates. Underneath it sat input tax credits claimed on receipts that had already been claimed once.
What we did
We reconstructed the records year by year and rebuilt the ledger from bank and card statements, matched every receipt to a transaction, and removed duplicated input tax credits before they became a review. Each filing replaced an arbitrary assessment with a real one.
The result
The account is current. Filing on real numbers rather than CRA estimates reduced the balance by $63,000, and a relief application addressed part of the accumulated interest.
Case Study 6 · Scaling without breaking
Scaled To 24 Staff With $69,000 Of Working Capital Freed — Owner-Operated Trades Business, Toronto
Client: An owner-operated trades business · Where: Toronto, Ontario · Engagement: 10 weeks, fixed fee
Headcount reached24
Working capital freed$69,000
Missed deadlinesZero
The situation
An owner-operated trades business in Toronto, Ontario was growing fast — headcount to 24 in eighteen months — and the back office had not kept up. A bookkeeping file where owner draws, payroll and supplier payments all landed in the same account was the first thing to break.
What we did
We reconciled receivables and payables to source documents and wrote off the balances that were genuinely uncollectible, with support, and built the compliance calendar for the size the business was becoming rather than the size it had been.
The result
The business reached 24 staff with no missed remittance and no late filing. $69,000 of working capital was freed in the process.
Reviewed for the 2025 tax year by Udit Gupta, Certified Tax Accountant. Figures describe representative engagements of this type; outcomes depend on your own facts. Client names and identifying details are omitted for confidentiality.
