6 Invoice Reconstruction 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 invoice reconstruction work, not a general example.
Case Study 1 · Objection and relief
Desk-Review Assessment Of $118,000 Vacated — Two-Location Cafe, Vancouver
Client: A two-location cafe · Where: Vancouver, British Columbia · Engagement: 4 weeks, fixed fee
Assessment vacated$118,000
Supporting recordsNow on file
AccountCleared
The situation
A two-location cafe in Vancouver, British Columbia was carrying $118,000 of penalties and interest arising from input tax credits claimed on receipts that had already been claimed once, much of it accumulated during a period the CRA itself had delayed.
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 framed the relief application on the specific grounds the CRA guidelines recognise rather than on general hardship.
The result
The assessment was vacated. $118,000 came off the account, and the documentation now on file makes the same position straightforward to defend next time.
Case Study 2 · Sale and succession
$520,000 Sheltered By The Lifetime Capital Gains Exemption — Home-Renovation Contractor, Hamilton
A home-renovation contractor in Hamilton, Ontario had an offer on the table and 25 months to close. The shares did not qualify for the capital gains exemption, and a single shareholder holding every share, with no room to multiply the exemption was part of the reason.
What we did
We purified the corporation so the shares met the qualifying tests, then reconciled receivables and payables to source documents and wrote off the balances that were genuinely uncollectible, with support well ahead of the closing date.
The result
The sale closed on schedule with $520,000 sheltered by the lifetime capital gains exemption across the shareholders.
Case Study 3 · Scaling without breaking
Second-Province Expansion Handled, $112,000 Of Cash Released — Specialty Coffee Roaster, Burnaby
Client: A specialty coffee roaster · Where: Burnaby, British Columbia · Engagement: 6 weeks, fixed fee
Cash released$112,000
New registrationsComplete on day one
Compliance gapsNone
The situation
Revenue at a specialty coffee roaster in Burnaby, British Columbia was up sharply and cash was tighter than ever. Underneath it sat three years of returns filed off numbers nobody could trace back to a bank statement.
What we did
We separated the owner’s personal spending out of the corporate accounts and cleared the resulting shareholder loan properly. Every new obligation — registration, remittance frequency, provincial filing — was set up before it was triggered, not after.
The result
$112,000 of cash was released from the working capital cycle, and the expansion completed with every registration and filing obligation covered from day one.
Case Study 4 · Records and systems rebuilt
33 Months Reconciled And $19,500 Of Input Tax Recovered — Wedding Photography Studio, Victoria
Client: A wedding photography studio · Where: Victoria, British Columbia · Engagement: 8 weeks, fixed fee
Months reconciled33
Input tax recovered$19,500
Close time10 days
The situation
A wedding photography studio in Victoria, British Columbia was carrying a receivables list that included invoices collected eleven months earlier. Nothing reconciled, and every filing started with 33 months of cleanup.
What we did
We rebuilt from source rather than correcting on top of the existing file. 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 set the routine that keeps it clean.
The result
33 months reconciled to the bank. The close now takes 10 days, and $19,500 of previously unclaimable input tax was recovered in the process.
Case Study 5 · Structure rebuilt
Reorganisation Completed Tax-Deferred, $73,000 Saved Each Year — Equipment Rental Yard, Guelph
An equipment rental yard in Guelph, Ontario had outgrown the structure it started with. Eighteen months of unreconciled transactions and a shoebox of receipts was the immediate problem; the longer-term one was that the structure blocked the next step.
What we did
We mapped the current structure, modelled the target, 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 — with the tax-deferred elections filed on time and the supporting valuations documented.
The result
The reorganisation completed without triggering tax, and the new structure saves approximately $73,000 a year while removing the exposure the old one carried.
Case Study 6 · Missed incentive claimed
Incentive Review Recovered $17,000 Across 4 Open Years — Residential Cleaning Franchise, Mississauga
An incentive review at a residential cleaning franchise in Mississauga, Ontario started from a simple question: what has never been claimed? The answer ran to 4 years, driven by eighteen months of unreconciled transactions and a shoebox of receipts.
What we did
We reconciled receivables and payables to source documents and wrote off the balances that were genuinely uncollectible, with support, documenting eligibility to the standard a reviewer would apply rather than the standard a claim form requires.
The result
The credits produced $17,000 across the open years, and the tracking now in place means the following year's claim is documented as the work happens rather than reconstructed afterwards.
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.
