6 Multi-Company Bookkeeping 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 multi-company bookkeeping work, not a general example.
Case Study 1 · Deadline rescue
11-Week Turnaround Beat The Deadline And Saved $74,000 — Specialty Coffee Roaster, Red Deer
Client: A specialty coffee roaster · Where: Red Deer, Alberta · Engagement: 11 weeks, fixed fee
Late-filing penalty avoided$74,000
Filed with8 days to spare
Next yearPapers ready
The situation
With the deadline for multi-company bookkeeping weeks away, a specialty coffee roaster in Red Deer, Alberta was carrying a receivables list that included invoices collected eleven months earlier. The exposure if the date slipped was around $74,000.
What we did
We separated the owner’s personal spending out of the corporate accounts and cleared the resulting shareholder loan properly. The filing went in complete rather than provisional, so there was no amended return to follow.
The result
Filed with 8 days to spare. $74,000 in late-filing penalties avoided, and the working papers are ready for the following year.
Case Study 2 · Cash and remittance control
Instalments Rebased, $93,000 Of Cash Returned To The Business — Mobile Pet-Grooming Company, London
Client: A mobile pet-grooming company · Where: London, Ontario · Engagement: 8 weeks, fixed fee
Cash returned$93,000
Instalment basisCurrent year
ReviewedQuarterly
The situation
A mobile pet-grooming company in London, Ontario was paying instalments calculated on a prior year that no longer reflected the business. A bookkeeping file where owner draws, payroll and supplier payments all landed in the same account was tying up $93,000 of cash.
What we did
We rebased the instalments on the current-year estimate rather than the prior-year default, 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.
The result
$93,000 of cash stayed in the business, the penalty cycle ended, and the instalment position is reviewed each quarter against actual results.
Case Study 3 · Scaling without breaking
Second-Province Expansion Handled, $155,000 Of Cash Released — Home-Renovation Contractor, Winnipeg
Revenue at a home-renovation contractor in Winnipeg, Manitoba was up sharply and cash was tighter than ever. Underneath it sat 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. Every new obligation — registration, remittance frequency, provincial filing — was set up before it was triggered, not after.
The result
$155,000 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 · Missed incentive claimed
$119,000 Credit Claim Filed And Accepted Without Adjustment — Small Law Practice, Calgary
Client: A small law practice · Where: Calgary, Alberta · Engagement: 6 weeks, fixed fee
Claim value$119,000
AcceptedWithout adjustment
RepeatableAnnually
The situation
A small law practice in Calgary, Alberta assumed the credits did not apply to a business its size. A bookkeeping file where owner draws, payroll and supplier payments all landed in the same account meant they had applied all along.
What we did
We identified the qualifying activity, built the documentation to support it, and set up a documented chart of accounts, a receipt-capture workflow and a monthly reconciliation that closes within ten days of month-end.
The result
$119,000 recovered. Because the eligibility analysis is on file, the same claim can be repeated each year with a fraction of the effort.
Case Study 5 · Backlog brought current
7 Years Filed, $47,000 Removed From The Assessed Balance — Two-Location Cafe, Barrie
A two-location cafe in Barrie, Ontario had not filed for 7 years. The CRA had issued arbitrary assessments, and the business was carrying input tax credits claimed on receipts that had already been claimed once on top of a growing interest balance.
What we did
We started with the oldest year and worked forward so each year's closing balances fed the next. We separated the owner’s personal spending out of the corporate accounts and cleared the resulting shareholder loan properly, filing the years in sequence rather than all at once.
The result
Every year is now filed and assessed on actual figures. The notional assessments were vacated and $47,000 of the estimated balance came off, with a payment arrangement covering the rest.
Case Study 6 · Objection and relief
$40,000 Of Penalties And Interest Cancelled On Relief — Residential Cleaning Franchise, Kitchener
An assessment of $40,000 landed at a residential cleaning franchise in Kitchener, Ontario following a desk review. The auditor had not seen the records behind a receivables list that included invoices collected eleven months earlier.
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, then set out the legislative basis for the position alongside the documents supporting it.
The result
$40,000 of penalties and interest was cancelled under the taxpayer relief provisions, and the underlying assessment was adjusted to match the filed position.
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.
