6 Online 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 online bookkeeping work, not a general example.
Case Study 1 · Cash and remittance control
Instalments Rebased, $103,000 Of Cash Returned To The Business — Subscription Box Retailer, Red Deer
Client: A subscription box retailer · Where: Red Deer, Alberta · Engagement: 5 weeks, fixed fee
Cash returned$103,000
Instalment basisCurrent year
ReviewedQuarterly
The situation
A subscription box retailer in Red Deer, Alberta was paying instalments calculated on a prior year that no longer reflected the business. Three years of returns filed off numbers nobody could trace back to a bank statement was tying up $103,000 of cash.
What we did
We rebased the instalments on the current-year estimate rather than the prior-year default, and separated the owner’s personal spending out of the corporate accounts and cleared the resulting shareholder loan properly.
The result
$103,000 of cash stayed in the business, the penalty cycle ended, and the instalment position is reviewed each quarter against actual results.
Case Study 2 · Backlog brought current
$129,000 Of Arbitrary Assessments Vacated After 7 Years — Two-Location Cafe, London
7 years of unfiled returns had turned into notional assessments at a two-location cafe in London, Ontario, with input tax credits claimed on receipts that had already been claimed once underneath. Collections had already started.
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 filed every outstanding year in chronological order so the CRA could vacate the notional assessments cleanly.
The result
All 7 years were accepted as filed. $129,000 of arbitrarily assessed tax was vacated, collections action stopped, and the account is current for the first time in 7 years.
Case Study 3 · Planning that cut the bill
$54,000 Saved By Correcting What Prior Filings Had Missed — Specialty Coffee Roaster, Winnipeg
A specialty coffee roaster in Winnipeg, Manitoba asked for a second opinion on online bookkeeping after three years of rising tax. The review found a receivables list that included invoices collected eleven months earlier.
What we did
We built the comparison first — current structure against two alternatives — and then reconciled receivables and payables to source documents and wrote off the balances that were genuinely uncollectible, with support.
The result
First-year saving of $54,000, with the same benefit recurring. Every position taken is documented and supported in the file.
Case Study 4 · Structure rebuilt
Corporate Structure Rebuilt For $60,000 Of Annual Savings — Equipment Rental Yard, Calgary
Client: An equipment rental yard · Where: Calgary, Alberta · Engagement: 6 weeks, fixed fee
Saving per year$60,000
DocumentationComplete
Transfer basisRollover
The situation
The structure at an equipment rental yard in Calgary, Alberta had been set up years earlier for a business that no longer existed, and a bookkeeping file where owner draws, payroll and supplier payments all landed in the same account had become expensive.
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.
The result
$60,000 of annual saving, achieved on a tax-deferred basis. The minute book, elections and valuations are all in the file.
Case Study 5 · Scaling without breaking
Scaled To 71 Staff With $70,000 Of Working Capital Freed — Small Law Practice, Barrie
Client: A small law practice · Where: Barrie, Ontario · Engagement: 4 weeks, fixed fee
Headcount reached71
Working capital freed$70,000
Missed deadlinesZero
The situation
A small law practice in Barrie, Ontario was growing fast — headcount to 71 in eighteen months — and the back office had not kept up. Eighteen months of unreconciled transactions and a shoebox of receipts was the first thing to break.
What we did
We separated the owner’s personal spending out of the corporate accounts and cleared the resulting shareholder loan properly, and built the compliance calendar for the size the business was becoming rather than the size it had been.
The result
The business reached 71 staff with no missed remittance and no late filing. $70,000 of working capital was freed in the process.
Case Study 6 · Objection and relief
Desk-Review Assessment Of $96,000 Vacated — Mobile Pet-Grooming Company, Kitchener
Client: A mobile pet-grooming company · Where: Kitchener, Ontario · Engagement: 3 weeks, fixed fee
Assessment vacated$96,000
Supporting recordsNow on file
AccountCleared
The situation
A mobile pet-grooming company in Kitchener, Ontario was carrying $96,000 of penalties and interest arising from three years of returns filed off numbers nobody could trace back to a bank statement, 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. $96,000 came off the account, and the documentation now on file makes the same position straightforward to defend next time.
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.
